Tangere Rizal wanted to depict the miseries of his people under the lash of Spanish tyrants. Maximo Viola savior of the Noli Me Tangere. Elias and Salome the missing chapter of the Noli. February 21, 1887 Noli was finally finished and ready for printing. March 21, 1887 the Noli Me Tangere came of the press. Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which means Touch Me Not. Taken from the Bible Gospel of St. John (Chapter 20, Verses 13- 17). Other titles: Social Cancer, The Reign of Greed. Rizal dedicated his Noli Me Tangere to the Philippines. To My Fatherland. Recorded in the history of human sufferings is a cancer so malignant a character that the least touch irritates it and awakens in it the sharpest pains. Thus, how many times, when in the midst of modern civilizations I have wished to call thee before me, now to accompany me in memories, now to compare thee with other countries, hath thy dear image presented itself showing a social cancer like to that other! And to this end, I will strive to reproduce thy condition faithfully, without discriminations; I will raise a part of the veil that covers the evil, sacrificing to truth everything, even vanity itself , since as thy son I am conscious that I also suffer from thy defects and weaknesses. At the top, all that is best in Philippine life: woman, symbolizing constancy, religious faith symbolized by the tombstone, with a laurel (courage) and the flower of the pomelo, worn by bride and groom at a weeding and symbolizing purity. The words partly covered by the title are the secret, inner dedication y Rizal to his parents, the complete text being probably : A mis padres. Al escriber esta obra he estado pensando continuamente en vosotros que me habeis infundido los prrimeros pensamientos y las primeras ideas; a vosotros os dedi co este manuscrito de mi joventud como prueba de amor. Berlin, 21 de Febrero de 1887. To the left of the title, the flower mirasol, representing youth seeking the sun. The authors name, meaning the green of renewal, mounting up into the green of the most enduring of all Philippine trees, the bamboo. At the bottom, all that is worst in Philippine life: the helmet of the Civil Guard, the whip and instruments of torture, and the foot of the friar. Italy: Turin, Milan Geneva Stuttgart, Baden, Rheinfall Munich, Nuremberg, Ulm Lintz Danubian Voyage Vienna Prague Leitmeritz, Bohemia Dresden (Germany) Deplorable conditions of primitive Igorots were exhibited in the exposition, some died, and whose scanty clothing (G- strings) and crude weapons were objects of mockery and laughter by Spanish people and press. El Liberal Spanish newspaper it is not consistent with human dignity to be exhibited side by side with animals and plants. I have done everything possible to prevent the degradation of men of my race, but I have not succeeded. ( Rizal to Blumentritt, June 6,1887) Reasons why decided to return home: To operate his mothers eyes; To serve his people who had long been oppressed by Spanish tyrants; To find out how the Noli Me Tangere and his other writings were affecting Filipinos and Spaniards; To know why Leonor Rivera remained silent. University of Santo Tomas Faculty Committees Findings (Fr. Rector Gregorio Echavarria)
Noli was heretical, impious, and scandalous
in the religious order, and anti-patriotic, subversive of public order, injurious to the government of Spain and its function in the Philippine Islands in the political order. It found the novel to contain subversive ideas against the church and Spain, and recommended that the importation, reproduction and circulation of this pernicious book in the islands be absolutely prohibited. Rizal cannot be an ignorant man, as Fr. Rodriguez alleged, because he was a graduate of Spanish universities and was a recipient of scholastic honors. Rizal does not attack the church and Spain but instead the bad Spanish officials and the bad and corrupt friars. Father Rodriguez said that those who read the Noli commit a mortal sin; since he had read the novel, therefore he also commits a mortal sin.