diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

IV. ON IDENTIFYING THE NOVEL'S CHARACTERSIs it possible to identify the characters described in the novels by Rizalwith real historical persons belonging to the Philippine society of his time, orthe facts which he narrates in them? The idea is challenging, of no littlehistorical interest, but fraught with difficulties. Rizal, just like or perhapsmore than other novelists, moves at the same time on distinct levels whichcrisscross one another, at times in clear patterns, but totally inexplicable atothers. He transfers personal data of some religious groups to the others,forges history with fiction, and assembles all of these rather heterogenouselements with great ability, in the process creating a type of novel whichcorresponds perfectly with the political ends he pursues. This ambiguity,consciously pursued by Rizal, clothes his characters with a certain kind ofomnipresence. It is like the eyes of certain paintings which, thanks to theartist's peculiar technique, give the sensation of being always observing theviewer from whatever corner of the hall he sits.Rizal's contemporaries already manifested great curiosity, as is natural,to know whom he was portraying in his novels, but he gave them merelyevasive answers 'for obvious reasons. He explicitly identified only threepersons: Don Vicente Barrantes, described in chapter 52 of Noli me tangere,"Charges"; Fr. Fiorentino, an evocation of Fr. Leoncio Lopez, parish priest ofCalamba; Crisostomo Ibarra, and partly Elias, self-portrait of Rizal. But itwill not be difficult to identify the other characters, among them, Tasio, Sisa,and Maria Clara." The theme is extremely wide, and goes beyond the limitsof this essay. I shall therefore concentrate only on the Franciscan characters,which have not been seriously studied. Our sources, however, are ratherscanty.1. Fray Damaso VerdolagasWith what has been already indicated in the preceding pages, it seemslogical to think that the fictitious personage best described by Rizal, FrayDamaso, would have to be identified with the Franciscan Fray Joaquin deCoria, despite the dearth of biographical and topographical data concerninghim, to substantiate this claim."Still, the data I mention in a companion essay are solid enough tomaintain this hypothesis. Besides, the psychological traits which identifyCoria for us coincide suprisingly with those used of Fray Damaso by Rizal.But the strongest argument for identifying these two personalities are thebeliefs which Rizal attributed to the latter, again, identical in general lines142