El Filibusterismo · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide translator's annotations and clarifications on various references, historical contexts, and linguistic nuances within the novel.
What happens
The endnotes provide translator's annotations and clarifications on various references, historical contexts, and linguistic nuances within the novel. They explain cultural terms, historical events such as the 1872 execution of native priests and the Katipunan rebellion, and critique the educational system under the friars. The notes also address the author's personal experiences, including the destruction of his family's property by the Dominican corporation, and offer commentary on figures like Retana and the hypocrisy of religious institutions.
Themes in this chapter
Colonial Oppression
The endnotes detail the oppressive practices of the Spanish colonial regime, including forced transfers and destruction of property.
Hypocrisy of Religious Institutions
Retana's note and the translator's comments highlight the friars' pride and refusal to engage in frank dialogue, as well as their control over education.
Education and Enlightenment
The endnotes criticize the friar-controlled education system for stifling scientific and literary knowledge, converting pupils into automatic machines.
Characters to notice
- Isagani
Mentioned in Retana's note regarding a dialogue where Isagani tells truths to the friars.
- Padre Fernandez
Invented as a Dominican professor who talks frankly with an Indian, according to Retana.
- Quiroga
Referenced for his picturesque butchery of Spanish and Tagalog, the dialect of Manila Chinese.
- Don Tiburcio de Espadaña
Mentioned in a play on words with 'cojera' and 'cogerá' in a message.
- Padre Florentino
His house is mentioned as a hiding place in a message.
- Simoun
Implied through references to the author's first work and the plot; the endnotes discuss the author's experiences that mirror Simoun's story.
Key passages
“We do not believe in the verisimilitude of this dialogue, fabricated by the author in order to refute the arguments of the friars, whose pride was so great that it would not permit any Isagani to tell them these truths face to face.”
Retana doubts the dialogue's realism, claiming the friars' pride would never allow an Indian like Isagani to speak such truths to them.
Translator's note on Retana's commentary about the dialogue between Isagani and Padre Fernandez.
“The studies of secondary instruction given in Santo Tomás, in the college of San Juan de Letran, and of San José, and in the private schools, had the defects inherent in the plan of instruction which the friars developed in the Philippines.”
The friars' educational plan in schools like Santo Tomás and Letran had inherent defects, prioritizing religious obedience over scientific and literary knowledge.
Quote from the Census of the Philippine Islands (1905) criticizing the friar-controlled education system.