Rizal’s Work: A Product of a Tortured, Existentialist Mind?

Rizal’s Work: A Product of a Tortured, Existentialist Mind?

José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are more than just political novels; they are profound reflections on human suffering and the search for meaning in a world shaped by oppressive systems. Through the combined lenses of naturalism and existentialism, these works emerge as expressions of a tortured mind, grappling with both personal anguish and the larger existential dilemmas of freedom, identity, and agency. 

The Naturalist Context: A World of Determinism 

Rizal’s novels are grounded in the naturalist tradition, portraying a society where characters are shaped and constrained by heredity, environment, and historical forces. Colonial Philippines serves as a deterministic landscape, where individuals are subject to the oppressive systems of Spanish rule.

1. Heredity and Social Determinism 

Characters like María Clara are victims of circumstances beyond their control. Her illegitimate birth dooms her to a life dictated by societal hypocrisy, making her a tragic embodiment of how rigid colonial hierarchies destroy innocence and agency. Crisostomo Ibarra, despite his education and wealth, cannot escape his identity as a perceived threat to the Spanish regime. His eventual transformation into the vengeful Simoun illustrates how environment and systemic oppression can warp even the most idealistic minds.

2. The Crushing Weight of Oppression 

The colonial system in Rizal’s works operates as a vast, impersonal force, reducing individuals to cogs in its machinery. Elias, the noble outcast, and Simoun, the embittered revolutionary, struggle against this system, yet their efforts seem futile. In the naturalist tradition, Rizal shows how human lives are shaped—and often destroyed—by the inexorable weight of social and historical forces.

Existential Struggles in a Determined World 

Despite the deterministic backdrop, Rizal’s works are also deeply existential. His characters confront the absurdity of their existence, searching for meaning and authenticity in a world that offers little hope.

1. Ibarra and Simoun: An Existential Evolution 

 

Ibarra’s transformation into Simoun reflects an existential journey through hope, despair, and nihilism. In Noli Me Tangere, Ibarra embodies the idealist, believing in reform through reason and education. By the time of El Filibusterismo, this idealism has given way to existential despair as Simoun, whose nihilistic embrace of violence and revenge highlights the corrosive effects of disillusionment. His eventual suicide represents not just the collapse of his revolutionary ideals but also an acknowledgment of life’s inherent absurdity. 

 

2. Elias as the Absurd Hero 

Elias, a character marked by stoic sacrifice, represents the existential hero who confronts absurdity head-on. A man of principle, he fights for justice even when he knows that his efforts may amount to nothing. His self-sacrificial death is an acknowledgment of life’s lack of inherent meaning, yet, like Camus’ absurd hero, Elias finds purpose in the struggle itself.

Faith and the Absurd 

Rizal’s critique of religion reflects his naturalist skepticism and existential concerns. While he exposes the Church’s complicity in colonial oppression, he also examines the spiritual void left in its absence.

1. María Clara and the Failure of Redemption 

María Clara’s unwavering faith does not shield her from betrayal and suffering. Her retreat into the convent is less a spiritual resolution than a surrender to despair. Rizal critiques how organized religion, rather than offering meaning or solace, often perpetuates the systems of oppression it claims to transcend.

2. Simoun’s Nihilism and Rejection of Faith 

Simoun, by contrast, rejects faith entirely, embracing a worldview devoid of moral or spiritual absolutes. His disillusionment mirrors Rizal’s rejection of dogma, yet his nihilism leaves him adrift, consumed by bitterness. His ultimate failure underscores the existential reality that neither blind faith nor total nihilism can provide a satisfying answer to life’s absurdity.

Rizal’s Tortured Mind: The Personal and Political Nexus 

The existential themes in Rizal’s work are deeply personal, reflecting the struggles of a man caught between opposing forces—idealism and despair, action and inertia, faith and reason.

1. The Personal Burden of Genius

Rizal’s brilliance came with a heightened sensitivity to the injustices around him. His exile in Dapitan, far from the intellectual circles of Europe and the revolutionary fervor in Manila, must have felt like a prison for his mind. Like Ibarra and Simoun, Rizal was a man torn between his ideals and the crushing weight of his reality.

2. Martyrdom as Existential Freedom 

Rizal’s decision to face execution rather than flee reflects a profound existential courage. By accepting his death, he affirmed his freedom to choose authenticity over survival. In this act, Rizal transcended the deterministic forces of his environment, transforming his personal suffering into a collective symbol of hope and resistance.

Naturalism, Existentialism, and the Filipino Experience 

Rizal’s works resonate with the broader struggles of the Filipino people under colonial rule. They capture both the deterministic realities of oppression and the existential yearning for freedom and dignity. His characters’ fates—whether marked by despair, defiance, or sacrifice—mirror the collective plight of a nation searching for meaning and agency in a world shaped by external forces. 

Conclusion: A Cry from a Tortured Brain 

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are not merely political manifestos; they are the confessions of a tortured mind. Rizal’s genius lay in his ability to turn personal anguish into universal truths, capturing the naturalist realities of oppression while probing the existential questions of freedom and meaning. 

Rizal’s life and work remind us that the greatest art often arises from the deepest suffering. His novels stand as testaments to the human spirit’s capacity to confront absurdity, defy determinism, and find meaning—even in the face of despair. In a world shaped by forces beyond our control, Rizal’s legacy endures as a beacon of hope and authenticity, urging us to embrace the struggle and, in doing so, affirm our humanity.