Noli Me Tangere Blonde Man

People who access the buod ng Noli Me Tangere are asking about the young blonde man.

If you read Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, you will first get to know about the blonde man in Chapter 1. He is also mentioned in Chapter 3.

But the question is: "Who is the blonde man in the Noli? What is his full name?"

I'm quite surprised that people are asking about this. Usually, people are looking for chapter summaries, scripts, character analysis, or other short pieces of info that allow them to understand Rizal's novel faster. Yet here we are, hearing questions about finer details regarding the various chapters (or kabanata).

Have you read Chapter 1 (The Gathering / Isang Pagtitipon)? No, this isn't a quick summary of that Noli Me Tangere kabanata (please read the highly detailed description of the things in the house of Kapitan Tiago, including the picturesque description of some of the characters).

Anyway, you'll read about a young blonde man (in some Tagalog or Filipino texts, he is described as having "mapulang buhok" -- does this make him a redhead?) who had recently arrived in the Philippines from abroad (perhaps from Madrid, Spain).

The Franciscan fraile (Padre Damaso) engages him in conversation, and tells him that in a few months' time he will see the difference between governing in Spain and living in the Philippines. Padre Damaso lectures about the poor send-off he got when he left the town of San Diego (which he had served for 20 years).

The blond (or red-haird young man) cuts in and says he doesnt' get the connection between what Padre Damaso was saying, and stopping the tobacco monopoly. The rest of the conversation drifts towards the "indolence of the Filipinos", and we soon learn that the young blonde man visited the Philippines (using his own funds), so that he can get to know the country better.

He even expressed his desire to be introduced to the host of the gathering, Kapitan Tiago, who unfortunately was nowhere to be found.

But there was no other clue regarding the identity of the young blonde man. If you know this particular piece of info about the Noli Me Tangere, please let me know. Thanks!

[ First posted on 10/06/2009 by Manuel Viloria ]