Noli Me Tangere: Epilogue Summary & Analysis

Rizal explains that, since many of the book’s characters are still alive, “a true epilogue is impossible.” Nonetheless, he reports on the whereabouts of several characters, starting with Father Dámaso, who travels to Manila when María Clara enters the convent. Father Salví also goes to Manila, where he waits in vain to be made a bishop. Months later, Father Dámaso is ordered by Father Salví to travel to and live in a faraway province, a fate he’s so unhappy about that he dies that very night. Meanwhile, Captain Tiago is so distraught by María Clara’s decision to become a nun that he shuts himself off from the world and becomes an opium addict. The ensign, basking in his newfound glory, goes to Spain, leaving behind Doña Consolación, who succumbs to drinking and smoking. Father Salví, Rizal adds to this brief summary, is the head priest of the convent to which María Clara belongs.

One night during a hurricane, two Civil Guard members see a woman atop the roof of María Clara’s convent in Santa Clara. As lightning strikes all around, the woman desperately moans in a tormented, sad voice. The next day, authorities visit the convent to investigate. One of the nuns steps forward in a wet habit, asking for the investigator’s “protection against the violence of hypocrisy” and making “accusations of many horrors.” According to legend, Rizal notes, this nun is very beautiful. Unfortunately, the investigator neglects to help her, and the nunnery’s leader—the abbess—puts an end to the matter. However, Rizal adds that a “General S. J.” hears of the incident and tries to protect the nun, but the abbess doesn’t allow him to enter the convent, and nobody speaks of the issue again, “nor of the unfortunate María Clara.”