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29. Last Word on Captain Tiago
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 villagers in San Diego soon learn about Captain Tiago’s death and Basilio’s arrest. Julí is distraught and wonders how she can help Basilio. She is advised to appeal to Father Camorra, and idea which distresses her even more. Earlier, attempting to free her grandfather, Julí had petitioned Camorra, who had demanded inappropriate physical affection from her. Julí has become increasingly quiet and depressed since then. Other attempts to help Basilio fail, as local notables lack the power to influence his case in Manila.
Julí continues to feel powerless to help those she loves, having failed to save her father’s home and now being unable to help the imprisoned Basilio (who himself rescued her from involuntary servitude earlier). She hesitates to go to Camorra, however, because the priest has made his sexual desire for her abundantly clear, and no one else in San Diego will prevent him from taking advantage of her.
Themes
Accompanied by a companion, Julí finally agrees to visit Father Camorra after a mortally wounded Basilio appears in her nightmares—and after she learns that he is the only student still in jail and may possibly be exiled to the Carolinas. What exactly happens during her visit to Camorra is unclear, but it ends with Julí jumping out of Camorra’s window to her death. Camorra is transferred away from San Diego, while the still-mute Tandang Selo’s attempts to get justice for her are denied, and he too leaves San Diego for the forest like his son.
In total despair and with no other options, Julí goes to see Father Camorra, but whether she is hoping against all evidence that he won’t demand sexual favors from her or if she has accepted the price of his help is left unclear. The nature of his abuses, however, is more than she can bear. Either Julí is unwilling to submit to him or is too ashamed to go back to a freed Basilio after being sexually assaulted by Camorra, motivating her to jump out of the window either to escape or to die by suicide.
Themes
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