CHAPTER 7

NOLI ME TANGERE
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Appraise important characters in the novel and what they represent.
2. Examine the present Philippine situation through the incidents mentioned in the
Noli.

Class Activity:
1. Present a skit showcasing a theme presented in the Noli (some examples:
comparison of women in the 19th century and in the present; social change:
colonization; church ministers; social hierarchy; patriotism; social reform).
2. Divide the class into groups and have each group draw the family tree of
Crisostomo Ibarra. Have each group present in class and discuss:
(l) What were the changes from one generation to the next; and
(2) What do these changes suggest about the creoles in the Philippines?

Brief Background
The Noli, one of the two famous novels of our National Hero, Jose Protacio Mercado
Rizal y Realonda or simply known as the great Dr. Jose Rizal, came up into writing The
Book as inspired and motivated by the scene in a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe -- Uncle
Tom's Cabin, which describes and illustrates the slavery and the harsh situation of the
African Americans.

Jose Rizal, also known as Pepe, proposed the writing of his first novel in a meeting
on January 2, 1884 which was held at the Paterno's Residence in Madrid. The novel would
contain or show the current situation of the Philippines during that time. Perdo Maximo,
Antonio Paterno, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo Aguire, Eduardo de Lete, Julio Lorente,
Melacio Giguerora and, Valentin Ventura all agreed in writing the novel together with Pepe.
However, these people, as history tells, had vices on gambling and women, hence, Rizal
decide to write the novel on his own.

The Novel's Origin

The title of the book is a Latin phrase taken by Pepe from the Bible himself, meaning "Touch
me not". It is particularly found in John 20:13-17, as the newly-risen Christ says to Mary
Magdalene: "Touch me not; I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and
say unto them I ascended unto my Father, and to my God and your God."
 Although a much technical transition of the
title is a particularly painful type of cancer.
Jose intended to show through his novel the
Filipino society cancers that the oppressed
felt too much pain.

Further earlier translations led to use

English titles such as An Eagle Flight (1990)
and The Social Cancer (1912) however,
disregarding the true symbolism of the
Novel's title.

The Writing of the Novel and its

Publication

Jose Rizal
wrote the first half
of the Noli from
1884-1885 while
he was in Madrid,
Spain studying
Medicine. From
time--to-time, while in Paris, Pepe is completing the book.

A well-known political activist and writer/journalist agreed Vicente Blasco

to proofread the novel in the person of Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Ibanez (29 January
who also became the consultant of Rizal. 1867 - 28 January
1928) was a
Rizal finally completed his first novel in December of 1886 journalist,
in Berlin, Germany. However, he politician and best-
feared that he might not be able selling Spanish
to print the book since he is novelist in various
having financial difficulties, genres whose
according to the National Hero's most widespread
biographers. and lasting fame in
the English-
One Maximo Viola, appeared in speaking world is
the scene who offered help in Hollywood films
financing the publication of the adapted from his
book of Rizal. Viola is understood works.
to be the best friend of Pepe.
Hesitant at first, Rizal turned the
Maximo Viola offer of his friend down. However, Viola was insistent and
ended up lending Jose P300 for 2,000 copies. The printing
was finished earlier than the expected five month period of printing.
The Noli Me Tangere was eventually published on March 21, 1887 by the cheapest
publisher Rizal found in Berlin, the BERLINER - ACTIEN -GESSELSCHAFT,
SETZERINNEN - SCHULE DE LETTE VEREINES.

The Noli and its Goals

The Noli me Tangere, "Touch me not" or as translated in Filipino, "Huwag mo akong

Salingin" reveals the current situation of the Filipinos during the Spanish colonization. It is
also understood that the book was made to awaken the feelings of the people from
oppression. It also depicts a series of Filipino scenes such as superstitious and hypocritical
fanaticism of many who consider themselves religious people, the ignorance, corruption. and
brutality of the Filipino civil guards, the passion for gambling unchecked by the thought of
duty and responsibility, the servility of the wealthy Filipino towards friars and government
officials, the ridiculous efforts of Filipinos to dissociate themselves from their fellowmen or to
lord it over them -- all these are ridiculed in the novel. Nevertheless, Rizal clearly implies that
many of these failings are traceable to association with the Spaniard, or to the misguided
policy of the government and the questionable practices of the friars.

But the real reason or purpose of Pepe in writing the- Novel is to disprove wrong
accusations of Spaniards to Filipinos and the Philippines. He also expresses the sad
conditions of the society, beliefs, hopes, dreams and the cry of the Filipino people. Rizal
wants to expose everything about the wrong use of religion or the exploitation of the word of
God which friars used for them to benefit and corrupt people. He added to portray the
cruelties, graft and corruption of the false government.

Yet, Rizal controlled and balanced the national likeness through giving highlights to
the virtues and good traits of the uninfluenced Filipinos: the women's modesty and devotion,
the openhanded hospitality of Filipino families, the commitment the parents has to their
children and vice versa, the deep sense of gratitude, and the undeniable common sense of
the uneducated Filipino peasants.

The Novel's Social Impact and Controversies

 The Noli Me Tangere was
considered to be one of the instruments
that initiated Filipino nationalism that led
to the 1896 Philippine Revolution.
Noli was originally written in Spanish so
the likelihood that the Spanish
authorities will read it first is high which
our National Hero really intended to
happen.
Copies of books were redirected to
churches, many have been destroyed,
many anti-Noli writers came into the picture and the Catholic leaders in the Philippines
during that time regarded the book as heretical, while Spanish colonial authorities declared
the Book as Subversive and against the Government.

The impact of the Novel also includes the expulsion of Jose in Clamba, laguna.
Extradition cases were filed against Rizal which led to writing his sequel of the Noli me
Tangere, the El Filibusterismo.

Rizal received a letter of summons to the Malaccan Palace by the Governor-General

Emilio Torrero. He defended himself and his book from the governor-general. Terrero got
interested on the controversial book and requested a copy of it from Jose to find out if there
are really any subversive ideas in the novel. He didn't see anything wrong in the novel but
thought that Rizal's enemies were powerful and far more superior than what he had
anticipated.

The Novel's importation, reproduction and circulation were prohibited and publicized
through the newspapers. Though this only made people more likely to read the novel even
more despite of the strictness and security of the guardia civils. Many Filipinos were still able
to secure a copy of the Noli and read it in
secret. The price of the book even raised Governor-General Emilio Torrero
from a peso to thirty pesos per copy.

The anti-Noli

• Many Spanish Officials, friars and church

persons were against the Noli me Tangere

• Father Salvador Font was the one

responsible for prohibiting the Noli me
Tangere's reproduction and circulation
 Father Jose Rodriguez, Superior of

Guadalupe, published a writing entitled “Cuestiones de

Sumo Interes" (Katanungan ng Dakilang lnteres) to
confront Rizal's Noli. His copies of the book were sold
and distributed in the church after the mass. Many
 Filipinos were forced to buy though they do not believe what the author said in his
writings.

The pro-Noli

 Many Filipinos were convinced and accepted the Noli, even great historians,
doctors, poets and church persons or clergies.

• Reverent Vicente Garcia, a Filipino priest who defended Jose Rizal and a
Catholic scholar at the Manila Cathedral, wrote a book, using the penname
Justo Desiderio Magalang, in response to the statement of Father Rodriguez
about the Noli me Tangere that contains something like these:
1. '"Hindi masasabing 'ignoranteng tao' si Riza, gaya ng sabi ni
Padre Rodriguez, dahil siya ay nagtapos sa mga unibersidad sa
Espanya at nakatanggap pa ng mga karangalang iskolastiko;"
2. "Hindi tinutuligsa ni Rizal ang Simbahan at Espanya, gaya ng sinasabi
ni Padre Rodriguez, dahil pinupuna ni Rizal sa Noli ay yaong
masasamang opisyal at tiwaling prayle, hindi ang Simbahan;"
3. "Sinabi ni Padre Rodriguez na yaong bumabasa ng Noli ay gumagawa
ng kasalanang mortal dahil nabasa nya ang Nobela."

 Marcelo H. Del Pilar, with the penname "Dolores Manapat", praises Rizal's Noli
through writing another book entitled, "Caiingat Cayo" (Maging Madulas katulad ng
Igat). He used the same technique as how Padre Rodriguez did in confronting the
Noli, but this time, del Pilar made the act in a church in his hometown in Bulacan.

The Characters and the Summary

Major Characters

 Crisostomo Ibarramedia y Magsalin,

  Or commonly referred to as Crisostomo or
Ibarra. He is the protagonist in this novel.
Son of Don Rafael Ibarra, a Filipino
businessman, who has recently returned to
the Philippines from Europe after spending
seven years studying abroad. Ibarra is well-
educated and respected, though the friars in
his hometown are suspicious of him because
his father was imprisoned just recently and
labeled as a subversive and heretic which
eventually causes his father's death in jail.
 In the story, Ibarra insists on
reforming the Philippines
from the inside out, and
working with government
officials and especially the
friars without dismantling the
system. However, by the end
of the novel, branded as
heretical subversive, his ideas about reform and revolution begun
to align with Elias's more radical theories.

Visual interpretation of the

 Maria Clara de los Santos y Alba
Character Ibarra
 Also
known
as, Maria Clara. She is a wellrecognized
woman in their hometown, San Diego, for
her high social standing. She was raised by
Captain Tiago, San Diego's cabeza de
barangay, however, a spineless socialite
who disvows Ibarra to stay in the good
graces of friars like Father Damaso. Maria
Clara is the most beautiful and widely
celebrated woman in town. Maria Clara and
Ibarra are bound to get married, although
Visual interpretation of the
Father Damaso - her godfather – is
Character Maria Clara
displeased with this arrangement and does
Torrero
what he can to make sure the marriage do
not push through and marry a certain Linares instead. She doesn't speak up
against this idea because she doesn't want to cross her father, Captain Tiago.
Later in the novel. Maria Clara found out that Captain Tiago isn't her
biological father - rather, Father Damaso impregnated her mother, who died
during childbirth. Maria Clara, blackmailed in the story, provided letters from
Ibarra to the courts - letters his prosecutors unfairly use as evidence of
malfeasance. She feels intense remorse at having sold Ibarra out.

 Father Damaso Verdolagas,

  Or just Padre Damaso, is a Franciscan friar in the
Philippines and a former curate of San Diego. Father
Damaso is an arrogant and dull priest who is best known as
a notorious character that speaks harsh words and a cruel
priest during his stay in the town. Only because Rafael
refused to go to confession and supported secular means
of empowering Filipino citizens, Damaso jumped at the
opportunity to cast Rafael as a heretic and a subversive.

 In the story, Damaso is Ibarra's rival who seems to

Visual interpretation of the leverage by provoking the young man during dinner at their
Character Maria Clara house making loud mentions of Rafael's death. Ibarra is
Torrero unable to ignore these provocations, and his violent
response leads to his own excommunication. To make matters worse for Ibarra, Father
Damaso is very well-connected in San Diego, he gets away with his corruption.

 Don Santiago de los Santos,

 Or more known as Capitan Tiago. A Filipino
socialite and well-respected member of the
country's wealthy elite.

 In the novel, Capitan Tiago is the richest

man in the region of Binondo and he
possesses real properties in Pampanga and
Laguna de Bay. He is also said to be a good
Catholic, friend of the government and was
considered as Spanish by the colonialists.
Tiago never attended school, so he became
a domestic helper of a Dominican friar who
taught him informal education. He is
Visual interpretation of the
concerned with making sure his daughter,
Character Capitan Tiago
Maria Clara, marries an affluent man with
sufficient social capital, which one of the reason he quickly abandons his
support of Ibarra when the friars disgrace the young man's name. When they
present their nephew Linares (nephew of Doctor de Espadana, a fraudulent
doctor for rich people, and his wife, Dona Victorina, an obvious social climber)
as a possible new match for Maria Clara, Captain Tiago is quick to assent,
thinking that such a pairing will ensure respectability.

 Elias
  He is Ibarra 's mysterious friend and ally. Elias
made his first appearance a pilot during a picnic
of Ibarra and Maria Clara and her friends. He
wants to revolutionize the country and to be
freed from Spanish oppressions. After Ibarra
_saves his life from a vicious crocodile, Elias
swears to protect the young man from his
enemies. Elias discovers plots against Ibarra as
he lurks in the town in the disguise of a day
laborer. He also tries to persuade Ibarra to join
Visual interpretation of the him and some other groups of revolutionaries
Character Elias who want to strike back against the abusive
guardia sibil that empowers the church and
coerces the people it claims to govern. Elias desires his friend to understand
that nothing good will come within the existing power, since the government
and the church are both corrupt and unconcerned when it comes to actually
improving the Philippines society.
 The 50th Chapter of the novel explores the past of Elias and history of his
family. In the past, Ibarra's great condemned Elias' grandfather of burning a
warehouse which led into misfortune of Elias' family. His father was refused to
be married by her mother because his father's past and family lineage was
discovered by his mother's family. In the long run, Elias and his twin sister
were raised by their maternal grandfather. When they were teenagers their
distant relatives called them hijos de bastardos or illegitimate children. One
day, his sister disappeared which led him to search for her. His search led
him to places, families, and finally, he became a fugitive and subversive.

 Pilosopong Tacio, old Tacio

 Don Anastasio, or commonly known as
Pilosopong Tacio, is another major
character in the novel. Tasio respects
Tharra and hopes dearly that Ibarra will
succeed in building a school that is
independent of the church. Seeking for
reforms from the government, he expresses
his ideals in paper written in cryptographic
alphabet similar from hieroglyphs and
Coptic figures hoping "that the future
generations may be able to decipher" it and
realize the abuse and oppression done by
the conquerors.
Visual interpretation of the
Character Pilosopong Tacio
 Sisa, Crispin, and Basilio
 Narcisa or simple Sisa, is the deranged
Visual interpretation of the
mother of Basilio and Crispin. Described as
Characters Sisa, Crispin and Basilio
young and beautiful. Although she loves
her children so much, she cannot protect
them from the beatings of her husband,
Pedro.
 Crispin is Sisa's seven-year old son.
A very young child learning to be a
sexton, or a warden of the church.
Unfornmately, the chief sexton falsely
alleges Crispin of thieving money
from the church. Father Salvi and the
head of the sacristan killed him after the allegation of stealing money.
Though it was not directly told in the story, it was dreamt by Basilio of the
possible incident against the life of Crispin.
 Basilio is Crispin's ten-year old brother who also trains to be a sexton. His
Task is to ring the church bell during Angelus. At the end of the novel, Elias
wished Basilio to bury him by burning in exchange of a chest full of gold
located in his death ground.

 La Doctora Victorina de los Reyes de

Visual interpretation of the
Espadaña
character Dona Victorina
 Dofia Victorina is an ambitious Filipina
who classifies herself as Spanish and
mimics Spanish ladies by putting heavy
make-up. The novel narrates Dona
Victorina's younger days: she had lots
of admirers, but she did not choose from
any of them because nobody was a
Spaniard. Later on, she met and married
Don Tiburcio de Espadana, an official of
the customs bureau. However, the
marriage is childless. Her husband
assumes the title of Medical Doctor even
though he never attended medical
school; using fake documents and
certificates. He practices illegal
medicine.

Other Characters

• Padre Bernardo Salvi, a Franciscan curate of San Diego who is described as a very thin
and sickly priest who is secretly harboring lust for Maria Clara. It is also implied that his last
name, "Salvi" is a shorter term for "Salvation" or be a short term for the word "Salvaje"
meaning a bad character who is willing to kill a child merely because of an alleged stealing
of money.

• El Alferez or Alperes, chief of the Guardia Cibil, and mortal enemy of the priests in San
Diego. He is the husband of Dona Consolacion.

 Dona Consolacion, wife of Alperes, nicknamed as la musa de los guardius civiles (The
muse of the Civil Guards) or la Alrereza, was a former laundrywoman who passes
herself as a peninsular; best remembered for her abusive treatment of Sisa.

 Don Tiburcio de Espadana, Spanish quack doctor who is limp and submissive to his
wife, Dofia Victorina.

 Teniente Guevara, a close friend of Don Rafael Ibarra. He reveals to Crisostomo how
Don Rafael Ibarra's death came about.

 Alfonso Linares, a distant nephew of Tiburcio de Espadana, the future fiancé of Maria
Clara. Although he presented himself as a practitioner of law, this was later revealed
that he, just like Don Tiburcio, is a fraud. He later died due to given medications of Don
Tiburcio.

 Tia Isabel, Capitan Tiago's cousin, who raised Maria Clara.

 Governor-General, unnamed person in the novel, he is the most powerful official in the
Philippines. He has great disdain for the friars and corrupt officials, and sympathizes
with Ibarra.

 Don Filipo Lino, Vice-mayor of the town of San Diego, leader of the liberals.

 Padre Manuel Martin, he is the linguist curate of a nearby town who delivers sermons
during San Diego's fiesta.

 Don Rafael Ibarra, father of Crisostomo Ibarra, though he is the richest man in San
Diego, he is also the most virtuous and generous.

 Dona Pia Alba, wife of Capitan Tiago and mother of Maria Clara. She died of giving
birth to her daughter. In reality, she was raped by Damaso so she could bear a child.

Summary of the Noli

A lot of summaries of the Noli me Tangere by Jose Rizal was made and out for
the public for a better and easier understanding of the novel. Anyone could use any author's
plot summary of the Noli, however, in this textbook we would use the Plot Summary of
Lannamann, Taylor (2017).
 "Noli Me Tangere takes place in the Philippines during the time of Spanish
colonization. In the opening scene, a wealthy and in influential Filipino man
named Captain Tiago hosts a dinner party to welcome Juan Crisostomo
lbarra y Magsalin back to the Philippines. Ibarra has spent the last seven
years studying in Europe. In talking to the various guests at Captain
Tiago's dinner party, he discovers that his father, Don Rafael, recently
died, though he doesn't know why or how. During the dinner, Father Damaso, a
loud-mouthed friar Ibarra has known since childhood, stands up and insults
Ibarra, disparaging him for having traveled to Europe to pursue an education he could
have obtained in the Philippines. In response, Ibarra swallows his pride and
refrains from directing insults at the half-drunk friar. Instead, he leaves the dinner
early, ignoring Captain Tiago 's plea that he stay a little longer in order to see
his fiancé (and Captain Tiago's daughter), Maria Clara.

On his way home, Ibarra walks with Senor Guevara, a lieutenant of the
Civil Guard, Spain's colonial armed forces in the Philippines. The lieutenant
explains that a few months after Ibarra left, Father Damaso accused Don Rafael
of not going to confession. Don Rafael was a very powerful man, which meant he
had many enemies in both the Spanish government and in the church. The
lieutenant tells Ibarra that one day Don Rafael came upon a government tax
collector beating a boy in the street. When Rafael interfered, he accidentally
pushed the man too hard, causing the tax collector to hit his head on a rock. This
injury eventually led to the man's death, and Ibarra’s father was thrown in jail and
accused of subversion and heresy. At this point, Father Damaso heaped new
accusations on him and everybody abandoned him. By the time he was
finally proven innocent, Guevara explains, Don Rafael had already died in
prison.

Ibarra goes to his hometown, San Diego, where the unfortunate events of his
father's death took place. Since Captain Tiago owns multiple properties there,
Maria Clara also relocates to San Diego. November is approaching, a time the
town celebrates with a large festival. This festival is surrounded by various
religious holidays, such as All Souls' Day, which commemorates dead people in
purgatory waiting for their souls to be cleansed before ascending to heaven.
Taking advantage of this, San Diego’s priests implore the villagers to purchase
indulgences, which they claim shorten the length of time a soul must languish in
purgatory. Ibarra quickly sees the power of the Catholic friars in the Philippines
has greatly increased since he left for Europe, a fact made clear by their control
over even governmental officials. For instance, Father Salvi, San Diego's new
priest, is constantly at odds with the military ensign in charge of the village's
faction of the Civil Guard. Salvi uses his important religious position to spite the
ensign, fining the man for missing church services and delivering purposefully
boring sermons when he does attend.

The friars interfere with other elements of everyday life in San Diego too,
which Ibarra learns after speaking with the schoolmaster. The schoolmaster tells
him that Father Damaso actively meddles with his educational techniques by
demanding that he teach only in the country's native language, Tagalog,
instead of instructing the children to speak Spanish. Damaso also insists that the
schoolmaster beat the children, creating a hostile environment that doesn't send
itself to productive learning. Hearing this, Ibarra decides to build a secular school
in San Diego, a project his father dreamed about before his death. On the advice
of the town's old philosopher, Tasio, Ibarra presents his ideas to the town's
religious and civic leaders, making it seem as if he wants them to be involved
with the school, even though he plans to ignore their influence after it is built.

Meanwhile, two poor boys named Crispin and Basilio study to be sextons, or
people who take care of the church. They do so in order to financially help their
mother, Sisa, but Crispin is unfairly accused of theft and thus must work
constantly with his brother to pay off the absurd amounts the chief sexton claims that
Crispin owes the church. When he protests this injustice one night, Crispin is hauled
away and severely beaten. Scared for his brother's life, Basilio searches him out
before running home during a storm and waiting in vain with his mother for Crispin to
appear. This never materializes, and the next day Basilio goes back into town.
Frightened, Sisa looks for both her boys and is told that the Civil Guard has been
ordered to arrest them for theft, though nobody can find them. She
herself is arrested and then released, at which point she searches throughout the night for
her boys, working herself into permanent insanity and destitution as she wanders
the town and the surrounding woods.

Visiting the Catholic cemetery, Ibarra speaks to a gravedigger and learns

that, upon Father Damaso's orders, he dug up Don Rafael's body. Although the
friar had instructed the gravedigger to take Rafael's body to the Chinese
cemetery - a less respected cemetery - the gravedigger threw Don Rafael into the lake,
thinking it a more honorable resting place.

Ibarra and the town's influential religious and government leaders decide to
celebrate the new school on the same day as the town's fiesta. The church
makes plans to bless the new educational building (though it is not yet
completed) directly after a long sermon by Father Damaso. During this sermon, a
mysterious figure approaches Ibarra. His name is Elias, a man whose life Ibarra
recently saved on an eventful fishing trip. Elias tells Ibarra that there is a plan to
kill him during the school's benediction ceremony, warning him not to walk
beneath a certain large stone suspended by a pulley system. Ibarra ignores this
advice, and sure enough, the stone hurdles toward him. Luckily Elias takes
action and covertly puts the criminal - the man plot ring against Ibarra - in the
way of the stone, killing him instead of Ibarra. The festivities go on, but Ibarra
how knows he has enemies.

That night, during a celebratory dinner hosted by Ibarra, Father Damaso arrives
uninvited. All of San Diego's most respected individuals are in attendance,
including the governor and the town's other friars. Damaso loudly insults the
school and its architecture while also making callous remarks about "indios," a
racial slur for native Filipinos. He flippantly speaks about how "indios" abandon
their country because they think they're superior, traveling to Europe instead. "In
this life the fathers of such vipers are punished," he says. "They die in jail, eh,
eh, or rather, they have no place ... " When Ibarra hears Damaso make this
crude reference to his father's unfair death, he jumps up and pins the priest
down, holding a knife in his free band and publicly accusing Damaso of
exhuming his father's body. Ibarra says he won't kill Damaso, but his actions say
otherwise, and as he lifts the knife to bury it in the friar"s body, Maria Clara
snatches it from his hand.

In the aftermath of this scandalous event, Ibarra is excommunicated from the

church. Captain Tiago proves himself a spineless socialite by calling off the
wedding between Ibarra and Maria Clara, instead betrothing his daughter to
Linares, a young man from Spain. Linares is the nephew of Don Tiburcio de
Espadaña, a fraudulent doctor who treats Maria Clara for a sudden illness that
incapacitates her for several days after the incident between Ibarra and Father
Damaso. Meanwhile, the Captain General the topmost government official
representing Spain-visits San Diego. The friars implore him to punish Ibarra, but
because his priorities are more civic than religious and because he supports
Ibarra's mission to build a school, he pulls strings to have the young man's
excommunication lifted.

While Ibarra continues his project, Father Salvi makes arrangements with a man
named Lucas, the brother of the man hired to kill Ibarra with the large stone.
Because his brother died, Lucas wants revenge on Ibarra. Father Salvi - who
secretly loves Maria Clara and who believes Ibarra is a heretic - hatches a plot
with Lucas to frame Ibarra. With Lucas's help, he organizes a band of rebels to
attack the Civil Guard's military barracks, telling them that Ibarra is the
ringleader. Hours before the attack takes place, Father Salvi rushes to the
ensign and warns him of the plan, making sure to request that the ensign let it be
known that he-Salvi-was the one to save the town by discovering the plot and
issuing a warning.

The attack goes according to Salvi and Lucas's plan, and Ibarra is arrested. He
is imprisoned and found guilty, a verdict based on an ambiguous line in a letter
he sent to Maria Clara. Once again Elias comes to the rescue, breaking him out
of prison and taking him away in a boat. Before they leave town, Ibarra stops at
Maria Clara's house, climbs onto her patio, and says goodbye to her. She
explains that she only parted with his letter - which led to his guilt sentencing -
because she was blackmailed. Apparently, a man came to her and told her that
her real father is Fray Damaso, not Captain Tiago. The man threatened to
spread this information if she didn't give him Ibarra's letter. Feeling that she must
protect captain Tiago's honor and the memory of her deceased mother, she
handed over Ibarra's letter. Nonetheless, she tells Ibarra that she will always love
him and that she is deeply sorry for having betrayed him.

After saying goodbye to Maria Clara, Ibarra gets into Elias's boat. As the two
men row into the night, they continue a heated discussion they've already begun
about the nature of revolution and reform, debating the merits of working within a
corrupt system to change it rather than overthrowing the system completely. As
they talk they realize they're being chased by another boat. Elias tries to out-row
their pursuers, but quickly realizes they'll eventually catch up. As bullets whip by,
he tells Ibarra to row, deciding to jump off the boat to confuse the people behind
them. Before diving, he tells Ibarra to meet him on Christmas Eve in the woods
near San Diego, where Ibarra's grandfather is buried with the family's riches.
When Elias plunges into the water, the boat follows him instead of Ibarra. Elias
throws them off by diving deep into the water, only surfacing periodically. Soon,
though the people chasing him don’t see him come back. They even think they
see a bit of blood in the water.

Back in San Diego, Father Damaso visits Maria Clara, who tells him she can't
marry Linares because she doesn't love him. She was reading a newspaper,
which falsely reported that Ibarra was found dead on the banks of the lake. She
tells the friar that this news has given her no reason to live and, as such, she
can't go through with the wedding, instead deciding to enter a convent.

On Christmas Eve, the young Basilio wanders forth from a cabin in the woods,
where he's been living with a kind family ever since the Civil Guard started
looking for him. He goes into San Diego in search of Sisa, his mother. When he
finds her, she doesn't recognize him and runs away, leading him back to the
woods, where she goes to the old tomb that contains Ibarra's grandfather. Once
he finally catches up to his mother, though, Basilio faints. Seeing finally that he is
her son, Sisa covers him with kisses. When Basilio wakes up, he finds that she
has died by his side. At that moment, Elias appears. He is wounded, and seeing
that Ibarra has not arrived he tells Basilio he is about to die, instructing the boy to
burn his and Sisa's bodies on a pyre. Looking up at the sky, he utters his final
words: "I die without seeing the dawn's light shining on my country ... You, who
will see it, welcome it for me ... don't forget those who fell during the nighttime.
The book ends without mention of Ibarra’s fate.”