You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by sashahawkins
Noli Me Tángere by Harold Augenbraum, José Rizal
4.0
Not only is an important literary work for the Philippines, it's a timeless one that I think transcends its cultural context. It grapples with corruption and colonialism and it tries to recommend the best paths in rising above this. There are no easy answers, however, as seen by how much the "good" characters are beaten down. The book delves into religion and culture and privilege. It's topics that still resonate now and how, even though sometimes people are responsible for their own doom, that only the very powerful can actually pull the strings and the rest of us are beaten down to inaction.
I want to talk a bit about Maria Clara because to me, she is very interesting and complicated. She's a known figure in the country, and she's become an archetype for the ideal pure and submissive woman. But her last actions were acts of reclaiming her agency. She is a tragic figure amidst tragic times so her end was obviously not going to idyllic. But her finally asserting her will against Padre Damaso is, I think, quite an underrated part of the book and the one that stuck with me. There are so many implications when it comes to her character; one can argue that Rizal wasn't exactly the most feminist of people given the way he wrote her. But much like the rest of the book, there's a lot more simmering under the surface than what was taught to us in high school. And I guess that was the point. She was a slave to her time, a slave to the system. She didn't ever criticize her position or her place. She was admittedly quite passive most of the time, a pretty figure, love interest to the protagonist. She wasn't a radical by any means, but her small act of defiance was, in my eye, one of the actions that symbolized that maybe a change in things wasn't so far off after all.
I want to talk a bit about Maria Clara because to me, she is very interesting and complicated. She's a known figure in the country, and she's become an archetype for the ideal pure and submissive woman. But her last actions were acts of reclaiming her agency. She is a tragic figure amidst tragic times so her end was obviously not going to idyllic. But her finally asserting her will against Padre Damaso is, I think, quite an underrated part of the book and the one that stuck with me. There are so many implications when it comes to her character; one can argue that Rizal wasn't exactly the most feminist of people given the way he wrote her. But much like the rest of the book, there's a lot more simmering under the surface than what was taught to us in high school. And I guess that was the point. She was a slave to her time, a slave to the system. She didn't ever criticize her position or her place. She was admittedly quite passive most of the time, a pretty figure, love interest to the protagonist. She wasn't a radical by any means, but her small act of defiance was, in my eye, one of the actions that symbolized that maybe a change in things wasn't so far off after all.