Life and Works of Rizal – Activity 6
Character Trait Comparison:
1. Choose 5 characters in the novel Noli Me Tangere, show their trait and compare it to your own
characteristic(s).
A. Ibarra – he is honest, loyal, smart, has great responsibility, family oriented person, loves the country.
For me, I can call myself loyal but not honest, but I will admit that I lie sometimes to make a person
happy and myself happy also. I have a sense of responsibility but not that great, I am not so family
oriented person since I was bullied when I was in high school and hid it from my whole family. And as a
student, I truly love the country where I am in right now.
B. Elias – in the novel, he was described to be courageous, has love for the country and for its people.
Elias is also a tough character in this novel.
Having described, I can tell that Elias has a strong personality that fits a guy. And if I will compare this
characteristics of his, I can’t say that I have a strong personality like Elias but I can still say that I have a
strong personality as a women.
C. Maria Clara – as we all know. Maria Clara is a traditional filipina, modest and has a sweet personality.
I maybe the opposite of Maria Clara when it comes to sweetness but still is a modest girl. Modesty
D. Capitan Tiyago – as described in the novel, he is someone with power. He can buy his holiness and
even act as one of the Spaniards and not as his own race, Filipino.
To compare to myself, Capitan tyago is my opposite. I don’t believe in buying holiness but to gain it thru
sacrifices and obedience. I believe that holiness is a name for those who has believed in their God and
living right as they await for their God. Also, having such power like Capitan tyago, we might have
different idea. I will live as the original me, the average citizen and not be a balloon-like who gives in
their pride and live as an imitation of the powerful race.
E. Basilio – he was a son of Sisa, he is courageous and is a loving son, he is full of dreams and is smart
and diligent.
As I can say, I am only a half percent of basilio. I love my parents and is willing to give them everything
when I got my own money. I am full of dreams, especially when it comes to my future family and the
future house for my parents. I may not be that smart but I can say I am smart and yet I am diligent to
things I know is worth it to work for.
ESSAY:
1. Cite 5 social issues in the novel Noli Me Tangere and discuss the similarities and differences from
today?
Noli Mtangere is a novel that shows us the different social issues that are present in the Colonial
Era of the Spaniards in the Philippines. Mostly in the novel, the corruption of the Spaniard Government
was targeted by Rizal. Some of them are the colonialism, wrong leadership, and inequality between the
Filipino and Spaniards/Europeans. The novel itself has shown us injustice, and abuse was also present.
This social issues from the novel are still known in today’s era. We can still see colonialism in a
way that they are affecting our own culture. They are influencing us thru social media that we can’t see
as a simple colonialism. Also, we can obviously see inequality in our country today. Even from the recent
cases, like the recent hit-and-run case (in other’s perspective) and other inequality that can be seen.
Also, the injustices in our Judicial system, especially the cases that were closed due to lack of money to
pay for an attorney. Lastly, nowadays, we can definitely see, or maybe have experienced abuse. This is
the way of treating us and even the way of treating the children. Just like forcing them into labor in such
an early age can be an abuse and also violence against women is known as a crime in our country today.
This explains the social issues that are present in the novel and in our country today. These
social issues have been presented in the novel thru the word-drama and is present in our country today
thru real life experiences.
2. Explain why knowledge of history is important in reading historical novel and explain the conditions of
the Philippine society through Noli Me Tangere.
Knowledge is defined as the awareness, or familiarity of a certain information. Having
knowledge about history is important in studying historical events, books, novels, people and many
more things related to history. Without knowledge of history, we can’t tell whether a historical thing is
authentic or stating a fact. With enough knowledge of history, we can criticize the things we encounter.
This helps us in determining whether a history is real or is it just a hoax. And it is important to know
what is the real history is, because it is part of our identity as Filipinos. And this includes the novels that
was written by Rizal.
From the novel Noli Me Tangere, we can see that the Philippine society is a mess. In the
government and its officials, Rizal showed us that corruption is rampant and was led by the GovernorGeneral of the Spaniards. The church aspect of the Philippine society in the novel was used by the
Spaniards as a was to rule the people of the country. Also it was used as a financial source by the friars.
The aspects of Rich and Poor social issues are also seen in the novel. The novel shown that the rich
people has more power than the poor ones.
In general, the Philippine society based on Rizal’s view as he wrote the novel, Noli Me Tangere,
is a toxic society. The corruption, inequality, and the sufferings of the people of the country made it
toxic. It is unhealthy for the citizens having such social issues. And this made the Philippine Society,
present in the novel Noli Me Tangere, a toxic society.