Jose Rizal Reaction Paper

certifiable accounts of history, it is debatable whether or not they wouldn 't have cared very much

On august 21, 1983, Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr. was fatally assassinated on Manila International Airport. He was coming home with a mission, a mission to free his fellow countrymen from the oppressive rule of then president, Ferdinand Marcos. Aquino knew that going back after being exiled was a risky move. It takes a real man of passion and courage to put his country before his own life and his name is now immortalized in our history books. He was the start of a reform, the EDSA People Power, and this assured that his death was not in vain. It is men like him and women like his wife, Corazon Aquino, who can show the world the true side of the Filipinos, a resilient race that has overcome great hardships time after time.

The influence of these narratives on Filipinos started when the late Dr. Jose Rizal, the famous Filipino martyr who wrote two novels (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo), was persecuted and killed by a firing squad., that exposed the Spanish cruelty during the colonial period. It was observed that nowadays, it is impossible to be called “pure” because of imperialism. This resulted to mixture of cultures and identities from different parts of the globe; however, “its worst and most paradoxical gift was to allow people to believe that they were only,mainly, exclusively, white, or Black, or Western, or Oriental” [Italics added] (p. 336). The idea of being “exclusively something” was a result of postcolonial binaries undeniably implanted in our minds. Talib (2002) called these postcolonial binaries as the “rigid division of the world into two categories: the West and the East, the North and the South, the developed and the undeveloped, the First and the Third Worlds, the English and the non-English” (p. 18), them and us, them and the other. The exclusivity of being part of the other that is connected t the negativity of being part of the other, makes these labels divisive. West, East, North, South, undeveloped, First and Third World, English and non-English. Filipinos were made to believe that, for nearly four hundred years, they were the ‘other’. The other of the Spaniards and the

Traditionally, the older sibling is responsible for looking at the younger ones. This can be seen on Paciano as he guided Jose mostly on his primary years of formal schooling. On February 17, 1872, Paciano witnessed the execution of three priests, Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora or collectively known as “GomBurZa” among whom Padre Burgos was a friend of Paciano. The Spanish priests falsely and intentionally blamed the GomBurZa for stirring up the Cavite Mutiny as the GomBurZa were known for seeking reform within the Catholic Church, promoting equal rights for Filipino and Spanish priests in the country and advocating the secularization of local churches falsely blamed them for the Cavite Mutiny. Paciano then told Jose about the GomBurZa and the injustices and cruelties of the Spaniards. Those stories opened the eyes of Jose and made him aware of the reality that was happening in the country at an early age. Paciano’s outspokenness of the abuses of the Spaniards caused him to regularly fail in his academics but this outspokenness of Paciano was the reason why Jose started to develop a sense of nationalistic virtue in him. At this stage of Jose’s life, Jose acquired his inspirations: his love for country, God, family, justice, freedom, education and language. These were the foundations in his childhood that strengthened him and guided him. Jose Rizal

Edgar Degas was largely associated with the Impressionism art movement during the late 19th century. Even though Degas himself would probably never call himself an Impressionistic painter, “he was one of the group’s founders, an organizer of its exhibitions, and one of its most important core members” (Schenkel). The Impressionism movement had its origins from earlier movements of naturalism and plein-air, or painting in open air, methods. Impressionism also drew from the woodblock prints in Japonism. Impressionism at its core was about capturing fleeting moments in time and focusing on realistic depictions of light.

Francisco Goya’s, The Third of May, 1808 was painted right about 1814-15. It is an oil on canvas painting and is the size of 8’ 9" x 13' 4". It is displayed at Museo del Prado, Madrid. According to smarthistory.org, “The Third of May is acclaimed as one of the great paintings of all time, and has even been called the world’s first modern painting” (khanacademy.org). The interpretation of Francisco Goya’s The Third of May 1808 is a vivid representation of the atrocities of war during the Napoleonic war in Spain, which is captured and illustrated brilliantly. The depiction of French soldiers in a row lining prisoners up to be executed is a snapshot of an event in time, which is frozen in this timeless piece of art painted by Goya.

Star artists inspired him. Hayao Miyazaki was only one of many during postwar Japan who wanted to become a comic artist (master). Like many others, Miyazaki would look to star artists, such as Osamu Tezuka, Tetsuji Fukushima, and Zohei Shiratsuchi, for inspiration. Of the three, Tezuka, who was named “the manga god” by fans, had the ingrained effect on Miyazaki. Miyazaki has written in a Tezuka memorial collection:

Within the realm of Surrealism, more specifically the surrealist group, they contain works that are overly subjective and involve definite notions to scientific observation of nature, as well as the interpretations of dreams. Encapsulating the former ideas of Albert Einstein, there is a close resemblance to theories that are at the very base of quantum mechanics. Upon further inspection, Salvador Dali’s artistic imagery and methodology, as well as André Breton’s, could be seen as expressions of lucid subconsciousness. For example, André Breton emphasized the necessity understanding physics as a surrealist, in order to interpret or distort ‘reality’. Within Breton’s Break of Day he states, “Does every man of today, eager to conform to the

On Dr. Jose Rizal’s day of execution, many supposition circulated about him revoking his words and his actions. This issue became a long term debate from then on until now. Some people profess that Jose Rizal retracted while others assert that he did not. This controversy cannot be ignored especially that we are talking about a man who has been recognized as the national hero of the country. One of the definitions of a hero and also my definition, is a person who is willing to die for the sake of others while a national hero is a person willing to die for the country, the point is if Rizal’s retraction papers were true, it only proves that he could not die for our country and I would be disappointed that he was declared as our national hero.

As the Spaniards ruled the country, Dr. Jose Rizal made his great move in making our country united as one. He called himself “Filipino” because he believes that the Filipinos are the natives of the country and should fight for their own freedom. This is the time when the birth of the Filipino nation started. Rizal has been called the “Great Malayan”. He has been declared as the “First Filipino”. His works, talents, and achievements made him to that kind of praise. He is one of our great heroes. He showed his countrymen that they could be something less than merely brown Spaniards. That they could be Filipinos, a people sharing common roots in a common land. He expressed the growing national consciousness of many Filipinos who opposed Spanish colonial tyranny and aspired to attain democratic rights. He fought for our unity and for the freedom of our country through his pen and writings, not by fighting violently. He brought with him a burning idealism which we very much hope to see being rekindled today. The Bangsamoro people or the Moros simply do not want to be united with the Philippines. They wanted to have their “owns”. They wanted their own laws, own forces, government officials, and budget from the Philippine government and other aspirations of the Bangsamoro people. This is the total opposite of what Rizal had sacrificed for all of us, Filipinos. We should spread equality among us. For us to be united, equality will be the first ingredient. It is equality, which the people should be for us to be united as one. No racism, having equal rights, fairness; these are what should be taught to all of us, not only for the Moros. We can’t judge them if they don’t want unity, when we, people of the north, don’t even apply and understand what we

The Filipino Middle class started to emerge. These class which were also called “The Ilustrados” studied abroad, primarily in Europe which is the cradle of reformation, in order to learn so that they could have the capability to liberate themselves from the Spanish colonizers. This also began the expansion of various European Political thought. The emergence of an educated middle class caused a demand for the recognition of its capability to lead the nation. This was manifested through the writing of Rizal, who studied in Spain and other European countries and integrate these learnings to his writings. These works which contained the abuse and maltreatment of the Spanish served as the eye-opener for his countrymen. Another Filipino who was greatly influence, not only by the works of Rizal but also the different movements which occurred in Europe was Bonifacio. Influenced by the French Revolution and the ideas of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, Bonifacio used this as tools for rebellion. In accordance to the event which led to the revolution, if the state no longer do its duty to the people, the latter have the rights to depose the former (Social Contract Theory) . Since the government led by Spanish authorities do not function for the benefit of the Filipino people, Bonifacio and the revolutionaries deemed it proper to overthrow the government and establish the same which will operate for

The native demand for liberation from Spain had been building since the 1880s. In 1892 a poor warehouseman by the name of Andres Bonifacio organized a group called the Katiunan, hoping to drive the Spaniard’s out of the Philippines. As in other insurgencies, we are seeing groups coming together for the same objective, but not all insurgent groups get along. In 1896 after a reign of terror against the islanders, Emilio Aguinaldo, a rival group leader, took over leadership by having Bonifacio executed. The insurgency was forced into the hills, but the fighting continued. The people wanted Spain out and supported an independent Philippines. In 1897 Spain paid Aguinaldo off to stop the fighting and sent him to Hong Kong. This put the insurgency back into survival mode and brought a temporary peace.

There were four well-known reasons behind Rizal’s retraction. First, He wanted to marry Josephine Bracken and to make her his wife legally. Second, He wanted to protect his family. Third, He wanted to reforms from the Spanish Government. Lastly, He wanted to heal the sickness of the Catholic Church. All theories came from the retraction paper that was written by Rizal.

“Rizal had a burning desire to know exactly the conditions of the Philippines when the Spaniards came ashore to the islands. His theory was the country was economically self-sufficient and prosperous.  Rizal entertained the idea that it had a lively and vigorous community enriched with the collective and sensitive art and culture of the native population. He

Who si Rizal? Every Filipino who at least have been to school, or is celebrating the commemoration of his death and someone received a formal education could answer this for sure with “Our national hero”. But beyond being a hero, do we really know this guy or what is his statue’s worth in Luneta? Was he really that god-like during his entire life, that some ignorant and uneducated people in our generation worship him as a God? Sad to say that, in our modern time today, people have very limited knowledge about our national hero. The facts above are the only two things most of us know about Jose Rizal (Rizal Statue and Holiday) but for historians and experts; they have so much adjectives to connect with our national hero. Many would not care, but there are really some who go beyond what have been taught in school and study every loop holes about Rizal and even question his being a hero, just like the brains behind the film “Bayaning Third World”.