3. Noli me Tangere and the Failure of Transplanted Liberalism

This chapter is an introduction to and a liberal interpretation of Rizal’s first novel, Noli Me Tangere. It provides an overview of Rizal as a novelist, explains Rizal’s notion of audience, and moves to a discussion of the Noli’s themes. In the novel, Rizal uses the skills of a journalist to reproduce nineteenth-century Philippine society with fidelity. He then uses this setting to test the viability of liberal reformism in the country. The novel’s main character, the creole/mestizo Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, tries to build a progressive school in the European mold. For his efforts, the friars brand him a subversive and frame him for inciting rebellion. Ibarra’s failure stems not only from his naiveté but also from his misunderstanding of how liberalism should be cultivated in the colony.