El Filibusterismo Summaries
The vacation is coming to a close, and pretty soon it will be back to school or back to work. But I still haven’t finished reading the different chapter summaries of Jose Rizal’s El Filibusterismo.
There are 37 chapters, and the novel is quite riveting (although I still prefer the more romantic Noli Me Tangere). The El Fili has darker undercurrents which talk about revolution. It is easy to understand how the main character (Ibarra in the Noli) has transformed into Simoun in the El Fili.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, time is running out. I’m scrambling for a summary (or buod) of the entire novel. Perhaps if I had the luxury of time, then I would carefully savor Rizal’s writings and get to know his characters better.
Characters such as Padre Florentino, Fray Damaso, Isagani, Maria Clara, Senor Pasta, and many more will surely be treasured and remembered thanks to this masterpiece of Jose Rizal. Among the colorful characters I shall never forget is Donya Victorina, who was first introduced in Chapter 1 of the El Fili.
The strange thing is, most of us fail to appreciate the novel while we are still in high school or college. It is usually only when we have left the four walls of our school, when we are busy with work and family, that we finally learn to appreciate Rizal’s Noli and El Fili better.
That’s when we have more time, somewhat, to go back and read those old, yellowing pages. There’s no pressure, no high grades to aim for. There’s only the still, quiet air around us as we ease into a comfortable chair.
And as we go deeper into the story, we remember our life back then. Back when we were teenagers wishing we did not have to read Rizal, and back to the days when we had the time of our lives with our friends.
Truly, required reading does not have to be boring. It does not have to be some kind of chore. We may not see the true value today, but I am certain that somewhere down life’s road, we shall come back.
In the meantime, I will return to the pages of the El Filibusterismo, and admire the skill and writing talent of Jose Rizal.
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