EARLY LIFE OF JOSE RIZAL

The childhood of Jose Rizal can be characterized by his desire to learn, even frequenting
the church nearby his home to watch and observe people but not to be religiously inclined. Jose
Rizal was not a physically blessed or strong child however, he had a strong will guided and
taught by his mother, his first teacher. He learned almost without the use of books. His mother
was the one who laid the foundation of his great knowledge achieved in such a short time. His
brilliance was also the character of the young Jose Rizal.

Jose Rizal learned his letters at the age of 3 after insisting that he be taught to read and
share the lessons learned by his elder sister. Rizal even tried to spell out the words of his sisters
story book with the use of a syllabary in such a way that one does when using a dictionary in a
foreign language. He also spent much of this time in a church nearby his house just watching or
observing the people coming in and out.

Three uncles who were brothers of his mother also had much influence on the early
childhood of Jose Rizal. The youngest uncle named Jose, took care of teaching regular lessons to
Rizal. His huge uncle Manuel developed his physique until he had a body of silk and steel and no
longer a skinny and sickly boy. The last uncle, Gregorio instilled in the mind of Rizal that it was
not easy to obtain something until you put effort into it.

There was a also a time when Rizal was able to draw a bird flying nearby without lifting
the pencil he was using from the paper till the picture he drew was finished. He can also draw a
running horse and a chasing dog. Clay and wax were the favorite play materials of Rizal. He used
these materials in forming modeled birds and butterflies. This animal molding activity also
started his study of nature.

Jose Rizal also owned a pony and used it to have long rides into the surrounding country
which was rich in scenery. He also took long walks together with his big black dog named
Usman. He also loved to play with the doves in his neighborhood. He learned about the myths
and legends in Laguna after sleeping through the nut in a little straw hut used by Laguna
farmers during the harvest season. Rizal was also good in hand tricks which he perfected to
amaze the simple folk and performed magic lantern exhibitions.

Even in his childhood, Rizal already knew how to respect the rights of others and
requested his elders to reason with him rather than get mad at him for small offenses. He
became a welcome companion for adults even at his young age since he respected their moods
and was never a hindrance to their activities.

WRITINGS OF DR. JOSE P. RIZAL

Rizal wrote mostly in Spanish, the lingua franca of the Spanish Philippines, though some
of his letters (for example Sa Mga Kababaihang Taga Malolos) were written in Tagalog. His works
have since been translated into a number of languages including Tagalog and English.

Novels and Essays

Noli Me Tngere, novel, 1887 (literally Latin for 'touch me not', from John 20:17)
El Filibusterismo, (novel, 1891), sequel to Noli Me Tngere
Alin Mang Lahi" ("Whate'er the Race"), a Kundiman attributed to Dr. Jos RizaL
The Friars and the Filipinos (Unfinished)
Toast to Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo (Speech, 1884), given at Restaurante Ingles, Madrid
 The Diaries of Jos Rizal
Rizal's Letters is a compendium of Dr. Jose Rizal's letters to his family members,
Blumentritt, Fr. Pablo Pastells and other reformers
"Come se gobiernan las Filipinas" (Governing the Philippine islands)
Filipinas dentro de cien aos essay, 188990 (The Philippines a Century Hence)
La Indolencia de los Filipinos, essay, 1890 (The indolence of Filipinos)
Makamisa unfinished novel
Sa Mga Kababaihang Taga Malolos, essay, 1889, To the Young Women of Malolos
Annotations to Antonio de Moragas, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (essay, 1889, Events in
the Philippine Islands)
The Triumph of Science over Death, by Rizal.

Poetry

A La Juventud Filipina
El Canto Del Viajero
Briayle Crismarl
Canto Del Viajero
Canto de Mara Clara
Dalit sa Paggawa
Felicitacin
Kundiman (Tagalog)
Me Piden Versos
Mi primera inspiracion
Mi Retiro
Mi Ultimo Adis
Por La Educacin (Recibe Lustre La Patria)
Sa Sanggol na si Jesus
To My Muse (A Mi Musa)
Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo
A Man in Dapitan

Plays

El Consejo de los Dioses (The council of Gods)

Junto Al Pasig (Along the Pasig)
San Euistaquio, Mrtyr (Saint Eustache, the martyr)

Other works

Rizal also tried his hand at painting and sculpture. His most famous sculptural work was
"The Triumph of Science over Death", a clay sculpture of a naked young woman with
overflowing hair, standing on a skull while bearing a torch held high. The woman symbolized the
ignorance of humankind during the Dark Ages, while the torch she bore symbolized the
enlightenment science brings over the whole world. He sent the sculpture as a gift to his dear
friend Ferdinand Blumentritt, together with another one named "The Triumph of Death over
Life".

The woman is shown trampling the skull, a symbol of death, to signify the victory the
humankind achieved by conquering the bane of death through their scientific advancements.
The original sculpture is now displayed at the Rizal Shrine Museum at Fort Santiago in
Intramuros, Manila. A large replica, made of concrete, stands in front of Fernando Caldern Hall,
the building which houses the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines Manila
along Pedro Gil Street in Ermita, Manila.

REFORMS OF RIZAL

Andres Bonifacio and other leaders of the Katipunan, together with ranks of the
revolutionaries, belonged to the left-wing tendency of those who adhered to the ideas that
Jose Rizal espoused. Upon closer look at the ideas, one will find that most of his thoughts on
society were essentially heavily tainted with French revolutionary ideas but were also calibrated
in such a way that they fit into a reformist frame. We must remember that the French
Revolution never happened overnight. It also underwent the same process in which people
hoped that the regime could still be changed through peaceable means (Reformism) until the
Jacobins (or in our case, the Revolutionaries of 1896) decided to have enough of it when they
realized that bondage could no longer be tolerated. This was also exemplified during the
struggle of Filipinos against the dictatorship way back in the 1970s. Though it took a shorter
time compared to Rizals time, the contradictions intensified that culminated in the
assassination of Benigno Aquino, in 1983. His death momentarily unified the opposition forces
and became the catalyst that led to the Edsa Uprising.

Rizals statement that he had no desire to take part in conspiracies, which to him seemed
premature and risky, was an expression of a disagreement over strategy and tactics of how to
steer the revolution. Back in my university days, I always heard this premature and risky advice
from reformist activists in the campus. Although they usually said that they agreed with the
revolutionary calls; when it comes to practice, however, they said it was not yet time. Perhaps,
Rizal never liked the tactic used (as he portrayed it) by his character Simoun in his novel El
Filibusterismo, of inciting violence and the insurrectionary/putschists persecution of the people
to force them to revolt.

Elmer Ordonez, in his article Rizal and the Literature of the Left, commented that the
essays of Epifanio San Juan, one of the leading scholars in Rizal studies, attempt to recuperate
Rizal (appropriated by U.S. colonialism and Ilustrado collaborators in search of a national hero
for their Filipino wards) from his perceived apostasy, the December 15 Manifesto, where he
abjured the armed revolution. San Juan recalled Rectos landmark synthesizing of both
revolutionaries (Rizal and Bonifacios) parallel lives in 1958. For San Juan, Recto pointed to a
fatal and unbridgeable dualism which today, our wide-ranging endeavors to integrate history
and practice, are trying mightily to resolve.

The question again arises as to who benefited from that dualism. What forces in
Philippine society might have consciously fanned this dualism to their advantage? My view is
that this dualism would last until a social movement that linked reform and revolution
triumphed and became the dominant narrative.

The root of the problem was the persistent maneuver of the interest groups, such as U.S.
colonialism to create a disconnect between reform and revolution and make it appear that Rizal
was a pacifist through and through, thus turning him into a propaganda tool for social inertia in
the face of colonial oppression. The right-wing tendency was a clear result of this disconnect. It
was the tendency to absolutize reformism that, in turn, assured the continuation of the survival
of the status quo.

Grasping the reality of the revolutionary situation could make one arrive at the proper
analysis of Philippine history and of what is happening now. All the ills of the Philippine society
can be traced back to the outcome of the dialectics of the time of Rizal. The way many of our
community leaders think on how to achieve social change for our country of origin is also
characterized by this tendency. Up to now, many people still pit Rizal against Bonifacio. They
have missed the great lesson of the Revolution of 1896 that the two pillars of Philippine history
were representative of a single historical process of the Filipino peoples aspiration for freedom.
Hence, given all these lessons of history, only a social movement that is able to grasp the
dialectics between Rizal and Bonifacio, reform and revolution, will be able to lead the Filipino
out of its pre-industrial and agricultural state.

HIS EXILE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Upon his return to the Philippines in 1892, he was arrested by the Spanish government
for being a subversive and for his reported involvement in the rebellion. He was then exiled to
the island of the Dapitan in the southernmost island group of the Philippines, Mindanao. There
he established a school that taught English to young boys, he worked on agricultural projects on
abaca, a plant used for rope, and he continued to practice medicine, eventually meeting one of
the most famous women in his life, Josephine Bracken. Although Jose Rizal has repeatedly said
that he advocated peaceful reforms in the Philippines, the Spanish government were correcting
in assuming that his novels would indeed stir up a hornets nest of unrest in the islands. One of
the leaders of the revolutionary group called Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio, had read the Rizals
novels and had used these as a basis for the revolution. So, influential was Rizal that even
without his permission they named him as a member and Katipuneros shouted his name as part
of their battle cry. With no wish to be further implicated in the revolution, Rizal asked and was
granted permission by then governor General Ramon Blanco to travel to Cuba, another Spanish
Colony at the time, to support in the medical efforts needed to suppress an outbreak of yellow
fever. On the way to Cuba, Rizal was arrested and incarcerated in Barcelona due to the political
maneuverings of the friars which saw Blanco removed from office and replaced by Camilo de
Polavieja. Rizal was then brought back to the Philippines to face charges of rebellion due to his
reported association with the revolutionary movement. The court found him guilty and
sentenced him to death. Jose Rizal was executed by a firing squad on December 30 1896, at
7:00am, in Bagumbayan (now called Rizal Park) and his remains were buried in an unmarked
grave in the nearby Paco Cemetery. Through the years, Rizals works and ideals have been cited
by many reformists, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sun Yat Sen and even Gandhi as the means for
peace reforms. As the national hero of the Philippines, his works, are required reading for all
students and streets, buildings, and parks have been named after him and the 30th of
December, his death anniversary, was declared a national holiday.

HIS EXECUTION AND LEGACY

In 1895, Rizal asked for permission to travel to Cuba as an army doctor. His request was
approved, but in August 1896, Katipunan, a nationalist Filipino society founded by Andres
Bonifacio, revolted. Though he had no ties to the group, and disapproved of its violent methods,
Rizal was arrested shortly thereafter.

After a show trial, Rizal was convicted of sedition and sentenced to death by firing
squad. Rizal's public execution was carried out in Manila on December 30, 1896, when he was
35 years old. His execution created more opposition to Spanish rule.

Spain's control of the Philippines ended in 1898, though the country did not gain lasting
independence until after World War II. Rizal remains a nationalist icon in the Philippines for
helping the country take its first steps toward independence.

Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
Sumacab Main Campus, Cabanatuan City
DR. JOSE P. RIZAL

Submitted by:
MARINELLE ALIGA
BSBA III- D

Submitted to:

MRS. JENNIFER G. FRONDA

Subject Teacher