[Interpretation] The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata (Excerpt) By Gina Apostol

by TeacherDel - April 18, 2017

It was a bolt – a thunder bolt. A rain of bricks, a lightning zap. A pummeling of mountains, a heaving violent storm at sea – a whiplash. A typhoon. An earthquake. The end of the world. And I was in ruins. It struck me dumb. It changed my life and the world was new when I was done. And when I raised myself from bed two days later, I thought: It’s only a novel. If I ever met him, what would my life be? I lay back in bed. But what a novel! And I cursed him, the writer – what was his name – for doing what I hadn’t done, for putting my worlds into words before I even had the sense to know what the world was. That was his triumph – he’d laid out a trail, and all we had to do is follow his wake. Even then, I already felt the bitter envy, the acid retch of a latecomer artist, the one who will always be under the influence, by mere chronology always slightly suspect, a borrower, never lender be. After him, all Filipinos are tardy ingrates. What is the definition of art? Art is reproach to those who receive it. That was his curse upon all of us. I was weak, as if drugged. I realized: I hadn’t eaten in two days. Then I got out of bed and boiled barako for me.

Later it was all the rage in the coffee shops, in the bazaars of Binondo. People did not even hide it – crowds of men, and not just students, not just boys, some women even, with their violent fans – gesticulating in public, throwing up their hands, putting up fists in debate. Put your knuckle where your mouth is. We were loud, obstreperous, heedless. We were literary critics. We were cantankerous: rude raving. And no matter which side you were, with the crown or with the infidels, Spain or Spolarium, all of us, each one, seemed revitalized by spleen, hatched by the woods of long, venomous silence. And yes, suddenly the world opened up to me, after the novel, to which before I had been blind.

***

Still I rushed into other debates, for instance with Benigno and Agapito, who had now moved into my rooms. Remembering Father Gaspar’s cryptic injunction - “throw it away to someone else,” so that in this manner the book traveled rapidly in those dark days of its printing, now so nostalgically glorious, though then I had no clue that these were historic acts, the act of reading, or that the book would be such a collector’s item, or otherwise I would have wrapped it in parchment and sealed it for the highest bidder, what the hell, I only knew holding the book could very likely constitute a glorious crime – in short, I lent it to Benigno.

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These are all personal interpretations. The reader may or may not agree with the following answers.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. Why did Noli Me Tangere have such a big impression on the Narrator? Could you relate to the feelings of the Narrator’s experience of reading? Why or why not?

Noli Me Tangere has a big contribution to the Philippines' acquisition of freedom. Just imagine a book -- A SINGLE BOOK! made such big turmoil in the society, leading for the Filipinos to be what they are today. The feeling is like as if having the exact cross where Jesus Christ was crucified. Just imagine how intensifying that can be.

2. What does the line, “Art is reproach to those who receive it” mean?

Art is composed of different kinds of genre. It includes music, visual arts, literature, and so on. We can say that the "Art" that is being pointed out in this excerpt is the Noli Me Tangere. Art can become a reproach to those who receive it when its content becomes contradictory to what the people do and makes them reflect on what they failed to do. With the Spaniards, upon reading Noli Me Tangere felt the books attempt to contradict the government that they have established in the country. With the Filipinos it became a reproach to them realizing what they failed to do to free their country, thus it leads to revolution.

3. When the narrator says the act of reading is a historic act, what did he mean?

Specifically in the Philippines, reading became a historic act. with the act of reading Noli Me Tangere, it inspired them to fight and free the country.

Even with hundreds of copies of Noli Me Tangere were produced and if it was just left sitting around the corner, nothing will happen. By reading, people created history.

4. Why is the Noli Me Tangere, a book that was banned in the past, now a required reading in Philippine schools? Why did the Catholic Church go against making Noli a requirement.

Noli Me Tangere was banned because of its portrayal of corruption and abuses by the Spanish government and the Catholic Church in the Philippines before.

when Noli became a requirement in the Philippines' educational system, the Catholic feared that students may have the wrong impression of the church, but this taboo has been overthrown because of the Rizal Law.

2. 5. Do you think there should ever be a time when certain books should be banned? Why or why not?

With bans there is always a way out. Even with many restrictions if an individual seeks to get something, they will come and get it. A lot of books has been banned but people still have their hands acquired it. If people wants to read, let them. If you're afraid that it may overthrow beliefs, ask about their opinions. If you feel like you have to speak, then speak. Now it will all just fall on guided interpretations.