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27. The Friar and the Filipino
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in El Filibusterismo, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism and Identity
Violence vs. Nonviolence
Education and Freedom
Hypocrisy and Colonial Oppression
Summary
Analysis
The alleged student conspiracy sends a chill through Manilan society, and all kinds of people stay home and avoid public places for fear of more subversive activity or state repression. A worried Quiroga hopes to offload Simoun’s rifles, but Simoun refuses to see him, as does Don Custodio. Rumors spread quickly about rebel armies and a German invasion, and the captain-general deliberates on whether to be merciful or harsh. Captain Tiago, hearing of Basilio’s arrest, finally dies, using his last breath to grab Father Irene’s arm, terrifying the priest. Overnight, small outbursts of violence happen throughout the city but, though suspicious figures like Plácido Penitente and the fireworks maker roam the night, the revolution fails to materialize once again.
The real and fake conspiracies become entangled, as Simoun’s revolutionary forces stand by waiting for him to give an order to attack that never comes. Meanwhile, the Manilan elites panic not because of the real threat of Simoun’s uprising, but because of the imagined threat of the student conspiracy. It remains unclear who framed the students with the broadsides—Simoun, the government, or the priests—but the city is on high alert regardless. The fear of a German invasion is based on the ongoing territorial dispute between Spain and Germany over the Caroline Islands, an archipelago between the Philippines and German-controlled Papua New Guinea.
Themes
