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2. Below Deck
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
Father Florentino joins the group above deck, who are complaining about their indios’ resistance to higher tithes. The priests, Simoun, and Ben Zayb then trade legends about the Pasig river. Ben Zayb is very taken by one of the legends and resolves to rewrite it in article form. Simoun asks him ironic questions that make a mockery of both Ben Zayb and the priests. The group then discuss the disgraced Ibarra, who allegedly died nearby. Simoun falls silent while the captain points out the spot where Ibarra died, and the priests crack mean-spirited jokes.
While tithes are typically collected to keep churches functioning, the role of the priests as the de facto colonial authority in the Philippines means they collect tithes like taxes, brutally exploiting the indios in their districts. Ben Zayb’s ethnographic interest in the legends shows how estranged he is from his own culture, as he sees the Philippines as a well of exotic stories to be studied through a European lens. Simoun’s conspicuous silence when Ibarra is discussed is the novel’s first indication that their stories may be closely connected.
Themes
