King Philippe D.

Biray 5/14/18
2014-06331 10:50PM
PI-100 M 2-5PM

An Analysis of how Rizal’s Writings Portray that Western and Eastern Ideologies
are United in his Beliefs.

We can clearly see in Rizal’s writings that Rizal united the Eastern ideologies he had
from growing in the Philippines and the Western ideologies he obtained from travelling around
Europe. ​Rizal believed that the we needed both ideologies in order to excel as a country.

There is unity between the Eastern and Western ideologies in Rizal. Even though he
spent most of his years in Europe, he still spent his childhood in the Philippines. I believe that
one’s childhood is very important when forming personal beliefs and dreams. Rizal’s early
dreams were shaped in his time in Ateneo wherein he spent a lot of time proving himself equal
or even better than his Spanish classmates. This dream might’ve led him to see that it was not
only him who was receiving maltreatment because of his race, but all of the natives in the
Philippines were receiving it too. That said he and his brother thought that since they are
privileged enough to study abroad, they used this opportunity to learn about the western
culture and to show the people of Europe, Spain mostly, the numerous abuses that Filipinos
experience daily1. With this Rizal has connected both sides of the world, by being a person that
knows about the happenings on the east and is living in the culture of the west. Rizal also spent
time in Germany and France, wherein he absorbed most of the thoughts and culture of each
country. He also studied about their respective histories and learned about the French
Revolution which mainly focused on the human rights and liberty. This helped foster a sense of
patriotism and nationalism in him which is prevalent in his writings.

Rizal thought about the resources the Philippines have and the technological and social
advancements of the western world. He thought of a way wherein the Philippines will benefit
the most, this made him believe that the best option was to have a colony-colonizer
relationship wherein the colonizer nurtures the colony until it will be able to stand on its own.
This can clearly be seen in his speech in Madrid in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo. Rizal
said “To you is due the beauty of the diamonds that the Philippines wears in her crown. She
produced the precious stones; Europe gave them polish. And all of us contemplate proudly your
work”2. We can see here that he believes that with what the Philippines have and what the
Spaniards can do greatness can be achieved. From the same speech he also said that “genius
knows no country” this shows that he clearly is against the mistreatment of the Spaniards to his
fellow countrymen, simply because of one’s country of birth/origin.

He shows in Noli Me Tangere the current state of the Philippines, wherein most
parochial friars are corrupt, how they mingle with politics and how they abuse the locals by

1
Letter: “Paciano Rizal to Rizal” (26 May 1882) NO PAGE
2
Speech: “Rizal’s speech delivered at the banquet” (1884) pp.17-22
twisting the words of the bible in their favor3. In the Noli chapter “The Spokesman of the
Oppressed”, Rizal talks about the injustices of the Spaniards and how he wishes to change it in
full display. Rizal shows this by using Elias as the spokesman of those that feel the injustices. He
further emphasizes this by showing how ridiculous the privileged people think, by making Ibarra
think that the injustices are necessary in order to achieve something greater4. This also shows
how gullible the Filipino people were by easily believing the preachings of these friars. He also
shows how the Spaniards in the Philippines try to maintain a sense of superiority over the locals
by deeming them unworthy to learn their language, we can see this in the El Fili chapter
“Adventures of a Schoolmaster”5. This shows that Rizal knows and values the power of
education and language in a country’s advancement, he knew that the Spaniards wanted to
keep the Filipinos at a distance in order to maintain superiority over them. He also experienced
this during his early years in Ateneo, wherein professors and students alike tried to demoralize
him from studying by limiting his chances and by bullying him. He further emphasizes the
importance of education and how the church and the Spanish government were against it, in
the chapter “In the Scholar’s House”6. He also shows here his hope for the future generation,
hoping that they would strive harder with their education and become exemplary citizens of
the Philippines. He also says the same thing in his poem “Sa Kabataang Pilipino” were he
encourages the youth to focus on studying, so that they may help their fellow Filipinos be
enlightened about the atrocities that occur and so that they may resolve these peacefully.7 He
also applauds the young women of Malolos who forced their local government to create a
school for them, he also hoped that more women from other provinces would follow their lead8

The union between Eastern and Western and Ideologies in Rizal can also be seen in his
reluctance to support the rebellion being planned by some of his friends. Rizal was hoping that
Spain would give us liberties in the future and that the political government in the Philippines
won’t be easily swayed by the friars. All he wanted was that the world would see the current
state of his country and have pity on it, so that changes on Spain’s handling of its colonies may
change. In his defence Rizal said that he never wanted to encourage the Filipinos to rise against
the Spaniards, all he wanted was that the Filipinos strive to be better/equal to the Spaniards
socially, in education and in financial matters. He wanted to enlighten the Filipinos, to make
them notice the falseness of the preachings of the friars. Rizal states that even though his
actions might seem to be against the Spanish government this was mainly due to the fact that
his studies in Spain merely helped develop his sense of patriotism and love for his motherland9.
Rizal also added that he could not have engaged in any politics in his exile and that he did not
participate in the planning of any rebellion in any way. He also stated that even though he
helped create the La Liga, it wasn’t meant to be the precursor to the Katipunan10. Also, in Rizal’s
final poem he didn’t talk about the Spanish government even once, he only talks about how

3
Chapter from Noli: “The Bosses Divide and Rule” (1887) pp.61-65
4
Chapter from Noli: “Spokesman of the Oppressed” (1887) pp.349-355
5
Chapter from Fili: “Adventures of a Schoolmaster” (1891) pp.110-116
6
Chapter from Noli: “In the Scholar’s House” (1887) pp. 173-181
7
Poem: “Sa Kabataang Pilipino” (1879) NO PAGE
8
Letter to the Young Women of Malolos (1889) p. 253-258
9
Document: “Data for my Defense” (1896) pp.338-345
10
Document: “Additions to my Defense” (1896) pp.350-353
beautiful the Philippines is. This shows that Rizal has no ill-will against the Spaniards.11 In his
petition to the town of Calamba he is merely stating the greediness of the friars, stating that
they have amassed a huge amount of land. The letter shows that he wishes to resolve issues
like these diplomatically instead of engaging the friars in a fistfight or a war.12

In the El Fili chapter “The Final Chapter” Rizal shows the negatives of war and he further
emphasizes it using Simoun’s dialogue wherein he describes the weak and those hesitant to join
his cause as fertilizers for better men to grow from. Rizal’s thoughts is on war and a full scale
revolution can be best scene in the narrator’s line “no man has a right to decide to cut short the
life of anyone else no matter for whose benefit, and that the right to life is inherent in every
man like the right to liberty and enlightenment.”13 His reluctance to war even though the
situation is dire, may have stemmed from the way he was taught in the Philippines, on how
important life is and how it must be treasured. We can see that Rizal’s thoughts in gender were
also the unity of Eastern and Western ideologies. In pre-colonial Philippines women were seen
as equals to men, both genders had equally important roles in society and that both were able
to express. This can clearly be seen in his poem “Mga Bulaklak ng Hiedelberg”, wherein he talks
about how free the women in Germany are. He also states in the poem that he wants the same
thing to happen in the Philippines14.

Although the legitimacy of the poem is questionable, assuming that Rizal wrote the
poem “Sa Aking mga Kabata”. We can see that he values the importance of language in
colonizing and in social and scientific education. Which can also be said for the European’s view
on languages. The English believed that their culture can be spread thru their language which is
why they mandated that their colonies learn it, so as to create a colonial identity. Rizal also
believed that language is essential in establishing an identity, which is why in the poem he talks
about the value of Tagalog and compares it to other established languages such as English,
Spanish and Latin15. In his other writings like in “Philippine Affairs” in La Solidaridad he
demonstrates the ridiculousness of the Spanish rule in the Philippines. He scoffs at the way the
guardia civil treated an indio sentenced to death who was merely being transferred16.

In his letters to Fernando Canon and Mariano Ponce he talks about how to publish his
novels which shows how much he values them, because the novels are an important way to
show the world the injustices done in the Philippines. He also talks about how the people he
met in Germany have congratulated him on his works.1718

11
Poem: “Huling Paalam” (1896) pp.191-193
12
Document: “Petition of the Town of Calamba” (1888) pp.37-41
13
Chapter from Fili: “The Last Chapter” (1891) pp.315-323
14
Poem: “Mga Bulaklak ng Hiedelberg” (1886) NO PAGE
15
Poem: Hoax piece “Sa Aking mga Kabata” (1869) NO PAGE
16
Essay: “ Philippine Affairs” (1890) pp. 209-215
17
Rizal’s letter to Fernando Canon (1887) p.142
18
Rizal’s letter to Mariano Ponce (1888) p.171
 In conclusion we can see that Rizal’s work show, that he believes that through the
cooperation of the East and the West and along it their ideologies, the Philippines would be
able to fulfill potential.
 TABLE OF SOURCES USED IN FOOTNOTES

TITLE OF MATERIAL DID YOU USE IF YES,

IT IN YOUR HOW
FOOTNOTE? MANY
(CHECK YES TIMES DID
OR NO) YOU USE
THIS
YES NO MATERIAL?
(WRITE
THE
NUMBER
OF TIMES)
1. R.A. 1425 (1956) x
2. Letter: “Paciano Rizal to Rizal” (26 May 1882) x once
3. Poem: “Mga Bulaklak ng Heidelberg” (1886) x once
4. Poem: Hoax piece “Sa Aking mga Kabata” (1869) x once
5. Poem: “Sa Kabataang Pilipino” (1879) x once
6. Speech: “Rizal’s speech delivered at the banquet” (1884) x once
7. Letter: “Rizal’s letter to Fernando Canon” (7 July 1887) x once
8. Letter: “Rizal’s letter to Mariano Ponce” (27 June 1888) x once
9. Chapter from Noli: “The Bosses Divide and Rule” (1887) x once
10. Chapter from Noli: “Spokesman of the Oppressed” (1887) x once
11. Essay: “Philippine Affairs” (1890) x once
12. Chapter from Fili: “Adventures of a Schoolmaster” (1891) x once
13. Chapter from Noli: “In the Scholar’s House” (1887) x once
14. Letter: “Letter to the women of Malolos” (1889) x once
15. Document: “Petition of the Town of Calamba” (1888) x once
16. Essay: “Indolence of the Filipinos” (1890) x
17. Essay: “Annotations to Morga’s 1609 Philippine History’ x
(1889)
18. Essay: “The Philippines a Century Hence” (1889-90) x
19. Letter: “Letter of Rizal to Blumentritt” (1887) x
20. Chapter from Fili: “The Final Argument” (1891) x
21. Chapter from Fili: “The Last Chapter” (1891) x once
22. Document: “Constitution of the La Liga Filipina” (1892) x
23. Document: “Data for my Defense” (1896) x once
24. Document: “Additions to my Defense” (1896) x once
25. Poem: “Retiro Ko” (1895) x
26. Poem: “Huling Paalam” (1896) x once
TOTAL YES 18
TOTAL NO 8
TOTAL FOOTNOTES USING THE REQUIRED READINGS 18