Riz Allen S.

Armenia November 7, 2023

BSEE - II GE 9 - X

1. What was the reason why Rizal decided to travel to Paris and Berlin after his medical studies in
Spain?
- After completing his medical studies in Spain, Jose Rizal decided to travel to Paris and Berlin to
specialize in ophthalmology. He chose this field of medicine because he wanted to cure his
mother’s growing eye ailment. In Paris, he visited the Bibliotheque Nationale to get some
references. He also served as an assistant to the famous oculist of Europe. In Berlin, he lived for
almost six months and continued his specialization in ophthalmology.

2. What was Rizal's life like in Berlin?

- During his stay in Berlin, Rizal continued his specialization in ophthalmology. He lived in the city
for almost six months. Struggling financially and in poor health, he completed his novel “Noli Me
Tangere” in his apartment at Jägerstraße. He also immersed himself in other intellectual pursuits,
such as reading academic works on the Philippines, exchanging views with German scholars of
his time, honing his medical expertise at the Charité Hospital, and becoming a member of the
Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Pre-History.

3. Where did Rizal get the idea to write a novel about the issues of the Philippines?
- Rizal’s novel “Noli Me Tangere” is a scathing indictment of the Catholic Church and Spanish
colonial rule in the Philippines. Its publication cemented Rizal’s position on the Spanish colonial
government’s list of troublemakers. Rizal’s ideas were drawn from the novels of the French
Enlightenment, those of Voltaire, Dumas, and Hugo. These ideational currents intersected with
Rizal’s personal life and found their way into his writings.

4. Why did Rizal's original idea for a novel not materialize?

 - Dr. Jose Rizal proposed the idea of writing a novel that would expose the ills of Philippine
society after reading Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He preferred that the
prospective novel express the way Filipino culture was backward, anti-progress, anti-intellectual,
and not conducive to the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment. In a reunion of Filipinos at the
house of his friend Pedro A. Paterno in Madrid on 2 January 1884, Rizal proposed the writing of a
novel about the Philippines written by a group of Filipinos. His proposal was unanimously
approved by the Filipinos present at the party, among whom were Pedro, Maximino and Antonio
Paterno, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Julio Llorente and Valentin
Ventura. However, this project did not materialize. The people who agreed to help Rizal with the
novel did not write anything. Initially, the novel was planned to cover and describe all phases of
Filipino life, but almost everybody wanted to write about women. Rizal even saw his companions
spend more time gambling and flirting with Spanish women. Because of this, he pulled out of
the plan of co-writing with others and decided to draft the novel alone.

5. How did the people react to the publication of the Noli Me Tangere?
- The publication of the novel Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose Rizal in 1887 was met with mixed
reactions from the people of the Philippines. The novel exposed the injustices and corruption of
the Spanish colonial government and the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It was a scathing
critique of the Spanish colonial rule and a call to arms for the Filipinos to fight for their rights and
freedom. The Spanish authorities were outraged by the novel and banned it in the Philippines.
They also arrested Rizal and charged him with sedition, rebellion, and conspiracy. The novel was
smuggled into the Philippines and became an instant hit among the Filipinos. It inspired the
people to fight against the Spanish colonial rule and sparked the Philippine Revolution of 1896.
The novel was also criticized by some Filipinos who were loyal to the Spanish colonial
government and the Catholic Church. They accused Rizal of being anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish
and of promoting rebellion and sedition. However, the novel was widely read and became a
symbol of the Filipino struggle for independence and freedom.