LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Noli Me Tangere, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism, Religion, and Power
Revolution and Reform
Education
Isolation
Summary
Analysis
On the night before the fiesta, the town prepares itself. One of the more notable preparations involves the school, which is under construction and shaping up to be a magnificent building. The architect oversees the work, walking over to a yellowish man involved in hoisting up a collection of wood. “I think that’s too much wood for a hoist,” he says. In response, the yellow man convinces him that the bigger they make the structure, the more respect it will command.
Rizal tends to provide readers with a wealth of information and expository details. Sometimes, though, these moments foreshadow or relate to significant events, and the attention he gives this “yellow” man and his insistence on attaching heavy loads to various construction machinery is no exception.