Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)

“That’s why there are so many calamities! The governors support the heretics against God’s own ministers!”

In this quote, Father Dámaso reveals his conservative worldview—how he views San Diego’s growing movement toward secular government. He blames secularism for the ills of society.

“I may be a poet, but I am not crazy.”

In this quote, an anonymous man responds to Ibarra’s question about why he no longer writes. The man seems too intimidated to put pen to paper, despite the inherent power of reading and writing.

“They can’t stand to be set to rights by the priest. And yet they still consider themselves decent people. That’s the bad side of sending young people to Europe. The government should not allow it.”

Father Dámaso comments on Ibarra’s trip to Europe with contempt. He equates receiving a European education to being sacrilegious, thus viewing Ibarra as a threat to the church.

“That night, among the things the young blond man would write was the next chapter in his Colonial Studies: “How a neck and wing in a friar’s plate of tinola can spoil the happiness of a celebration.””

This quote is an example of José Rizal using metafiction. The blond man represents an attempt at an objective account of the Philippines’s colonial history.

“But to be a subversive is worse than being a heretic and killing three tax collectors who know how to read, write, and sign their names.”

The narrator describes Don Rafael, Ibarra’s father, and the circumstances surrounding his imprisonment. Being deemed a threat by Father Dámaso was a far greater indictment than the actual crime he committed.

“We have never been guests of his, so we have neither the right nor the duty to show any contempt by omitting him, especially when the situation warrants it.”

This quote is an example of the narrator’s tendency to include the singular reader in a larger group. He uses first-person plural voice often, creating a sense of solidarity with the reader.

“There is no reason to be at odds with God when one is at peace on earth, when one has never communicated with God, nor has ever lent him money.”

This quote illustrates Tiago’s value system. He is not a devout man; instead, his concerns involve money and prestige via illegal activities. Therefore, he has no reason to quarrel with God.

“Putting it into words is useless. The uninitiated cannot understand the mysterious.”

The narrator describes the love affair between Ibarra and María-Clara—which can only be understood by experiencing such a love. Descriptive language cannot do the couple’s emotional intensity justice.

“Our power will last so long as it is believed.”

Father Dámaso provides a glimpse into his political motives. His handling of the parish is driven by the need to make them believe, so the church—and by extension, he himself—remain powerful.

“Quos vult perdere Jupiter dementat prius” (Whom Jupiter would destroy, he first drives mad)."

Father Dámaso quotes Sophocles to support his argument for continued subjugation of Filipinos. This foreshadows the emotional suffering of Sisa and those whom she represents

“Beyond question, the only thing that distinguishes men from animals is the cult status that surrounds those who are no longer with us.”

The narrator editorializes as he examines the religious practices of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The quote is rife with satire.

“Pure, simple faith is as different from fanaticism as flames from smoke, as music from cacophony.”

Tasio’s claim is used to justify his views on faith. He sees the faults of organized religion, specifically fanaticism, as an impure kind of faith that comes externally rather than from internal reflection.

“But the poor and indigent, who barely earn enough to sustain life and who must bribe bureaucrats, clerks, and soldiers to leave them in peace, they do not sleep with the tranquility described by courtly poets who have never felt the loving hand of poverty.”

The narrator presents a sympathetic view of the poor. The ending metaphor demonstrates contempt for the ways in which oppressors continually subjugate the less fortunate.

“The Church doesn’t save beloved souls for free. It doesn’t distribute dispensations gratis. You have to buy them and, instead of sleeping at night, you work.”

Again, this quotes criticizes the ways in which the church exploits the less fortunate. In this case, they use fear as a means of monetary gain.

“They don’t expect knowledge or enthusiasm from a schoolmaster. They just want resignation, humility, inertia.”

In his conversation with Ibarra, the school teacher shares how the church influences education by demanding “acceptable” personality types. Subservience is favored by the church as it prevents both students and teachers from going against the grain.

“The government neither sees, nor hears, nor judges any more than the priest or the mayor wants it to see, or to hear or to judge.”

Tasio shares how theocracy works. In his opinion, the government is not for the people; instead, it is a means for the powerful to maintain their power.

“Saint Francis is a good patron. If you call it the School of Primary Instruction you get nothing out of it. Who is ‘primary instruction’?”

Tiago says this in response to Ibarra when discussing the new school’s name, his comic suggestion an overlap of secularism and religion.

“The uncultivated indios, as our correspondent says, fished out no more from this paragraph than the words Civil Guard, bandit, San Diego, and St. Francis.”

The narrator refers to Father Dámaso’s long-winded sermon. He paraphrases a news correspondent’s report from a distance, allowing him to satirize the sermon.

“In life it’s not criminals who provoke great hatred, it’s honest men.”

Elías says this to Ibarra. The heart of his message is that while criminals are not highly regarded, they arouse no envy in those in power. Ibarra’s honesty makes him a target for those who wish to perpetuate their power.

“They are always right because we always let them be right.”

Deputy mayor Don Filipo says this to the mayor, who concedes to the authority of the friars no matter how unfair it is. The men discuss Ibarra’s punishment for physically confronting Dámaso.

“Better to be a bad preacher in the church than an eloquent voice proclaiming in the desert.”

Tasio speaks to himself, with spite. He sees the injustice in the social structure of the country and half-ironically makes this claim.

“They say that with this money, through which vice pays for its own freedom, they erect magnificent schools, build bridges and sidewalks, and establish awards to encourage agriculture and commerce…Blessed be the vice that produces such good results!"

The narrator comments on the spectacle of cockfighting. In order to justify the vice of gambling, the upper class—most of whom also partake in vice—try to frame their money (made via illegal activities) as being put to good (noble) use.

“It’s a poor doctor, señor, who only seeks to treat the symptoms and choke them off without attempting to root out the cause of that malady, or when he learns what it is, is afraid of attacking it.”

Elías says this to Ibarra. The metaphor he uses relates to Ibarra’s claim that a drastic remedy, specifically revolt to achieve reform, is the wrong approach. Elías’s response both addresses and rejects Ibarra’s claim.