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4. Cabesang Tales
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
Basilio’s arrival in San Diego is delayed, first by soldiers, who abuse his coachman for forgetting his documents, and then by a Christmas Eve procession. The coachman complains to Basilio, finding hope for freedom in both the Catholic festivities and indio legends. Basilio finds San Diego sadder than before, the weight of oppression more palpable. Moreover, all his relatives are dead or gone. Basilio visits local dignitary Captain Basilio and his family, who are planning to see Simoun about his jewels. Basilio then goes to Captain Tiago’s house, where he learns the news about Cabesang Tales.
The coachman’s tribulations show how arbitrary violence and humiliation at the hands of the authorities is a facet of daily life in the Philippines. Lacking a clear, positive vision for an alternative future, however, many Filipinos draw on a diverse and at times incoherent mix of legends and philosophies to imagine a free and equal society. Basilio finds these dreams naïve but understandable. He himself is focused on transforming his own life.
Themes
