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37. The Mystery
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 bandit group that Cabesang Tales joined continues to terrorize villages across Luzon, much to the frustration of the colonial army. Failing to catch the bandits, the army resorts to using cruel, punishing tactics on the local villagers, whom they arrest as bandits with or without evidence. A group of soldiers transports a group of prisoners through the forest, beating the prisoners as they go. One soldier, Carolino, complains about the prisoners’ treatment, but his fellow soldiers dismiss his concerns. Suddenly a group of bandits ambush the soldiers, shooting at them from the trees. In the middle of the firefight Carolino thinks he recognizes one of the bandits. He then sees another bandit with a spear, whom the soldiers shoot. Going up to the shot man’s body, Carolino—who is none other than Tanó, back from his deployment to the Carolinas—realizes he has shot his grandfather, Tandang Selo.
Despite the frustrating failure of Simoun’s revolution, the bandits that he recruited remain heavily armed and determined to fight against the government. The colonial army, mostly staffed by Filipinos, carries out reprisals to flush them out. These tactics are not only unsuccessful but destructive and cruel; as in any war, it is the local civilians who suffer the most, Rizal suggests. Like the justice system or the church, the army is a corrupt institution that silences the dissent of its members—Carolino’s conscience is of little help when his fellow soldiers and superiors order him to abuse their prisoners. Tanó’s new nickname, Carolino, comes from the fact that he was sent to fight in the Caroline Islands after being drafted. Due to his absence, he is unaware that his father and grandfather are both bandits now.
Themes
