Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)

The first six chapters of Noli Me Tángere introduce many of the primary and secondary characters. The wealthy and powerful of San Diego are assembled at Captain Tiago’s house, the ensuing dinner party revealing the narrator’s view of such people. The narrator’s tone borders on satirical, and the objects of his subtle derision are portrayed as artificial and stiff—particularly Tiago himself.

The narrator makes a point to mention the art that hangs on the walls of Tiago’s house. For example, he speaks of a portrait of a “handsome man” who is “stiff, straight, and as symmetrical as the tasseled mace he holds in his stiff, ring- covered finger” (7). This uptight pose frames the wealthy of the town as hollow and complicit in the immense suffering of the less fortunate residents.

The dinner guests’ political views are also revealed to be rigid. Tiago’s portrait and “the doors of his house, like those of his country, were closed to no one but tradesmen or perhaps a new or daring idea” (5). Like these doors, the wealthy’s status quo is guarded. The Philippines itself is closed off and protected from progressive ideals such as equality; the doors being closed to tradesmen imply that only certain members of high society have access to economic advantages. Inequality is built into the structure of the country, and those in power—specifically the church—will do whatever it takes to keep it intact. Father Dámaso views newcomer Don Crisóstomo Ibarra as a threat to the established order because he is the son of progressive rival Don Rafael. The dinner guests are all antagonistic toward Ibarra and his European education, as they see both as threatening. Dámaso in particular is irate and trembling at Ibarra’s presence. This tension between the conservative values of the church (as represented by Father Dámaso and Salví) and progressive ideals (Ibarra) form the central conflict.