COMPARISON

Noli Me Tangere, “The Social Cancer.” (Huwag mo akong salingin), has 64 chapters. It was written in Madrid, Spain, in the year 1884. Then Rizal continued it in Paris, and lastly, he finished the whole novel in Berlin, Germany, in 1887. Rizal dedicated the novel to the motherland of the Philippines. The Noli Mi Tangere is a romantic novel; it is a “work of the heart"—a “book of feelings”; it has freshness, color, humor, lightness, and wit. Rizal considered it superior to El Filibusterismo. This novel is all about working pacifists to have a peaceful reform through education, as the main character, Crisostomo Ibarra, continues the legacy of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, who believes that education is important, especially for those citizens of the Philippines, for them to know and understand what the Spanish government is doing to their country. He dreams of building a school for the youth and helping them with their education. Crisostomo, his son, successfully built a school in San Diego. He seeks to give his townspeople a better perspective outside the context of the Catholic Church. The priest has higher power to decide what the Filipinos shall do and not do; in short, they are responsible for the rules and regulations in the Philippines. However, they are not fair to everyone, especially those who belong to the lower class. It reflects the reality of the Rizal era, where in their time those belonging to the rich family or part of the government could study, and those Filipinos who were middle class and were able to study were called the “illustrados” (the enlightened ones). 

Further, Noli was about the love story of Crisostomo and Maria Clara. How they overcome the circumstances in their love life, even though their challenges seem undefeatable. Additionally, Maximo Viola was the savior of the Noli by lending money to Rizal for him to publish the novel. Marcelo Hilario Del Pilar and Wenceslao Retana; both agreed that Noli is superior to El Fili.