A Summary of El Filibusterismo

El Filibusterismo Summary Crisostomo Ibarra is back and as Simon. During

the period in between the story line of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo,
which is 13 years, Ibarra left the Philippines and became a wealthy jeweler.
He came back to the Philippines as Senor Simoun, disguised with a beard. He
seems to have long abandoned his once vision of ending the despotism of
Spain with words and peace. He becomes hungry for vengeance for all the
misfortune our country has suffered under the tyranny of the Spaniards.
Moreover, near the end of the novel, when he discovers that his lover, Maria
Clara, died in the convent, he becomes all the more furious. Simoun is a
confidant of the Captain-General. He encourages the government to make
bad decisions and to abuse their power so that it would spark a revolution
among the masses. Basilio, now all grown up, is at first reluctant to join in on
Simouns idea but ends up being part of the plan. Simoun started planning
uprisings and stashed guns in the shop of an ally. At the wedding reception of
newlyweds (the bride being the ex-girlfriend of one of the friends of Basillo
Isagani), Simoun tells Basilio that his plan was to conceal an explosive which
contains nitroglycerin inside a pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp that
Simoun will give to the newlyweds as a gift during the wedding reception.
The reception will take place at the former home of the late Captain Tiago,
which now filled with explosives planted by Simoun. According to Simoun,
the lamp will stay lighted for only 20 minutes before it flickers; if someone
attempts to turn the wick, it will explode and kill everyoneimportant
members of civil society and the Church hierarchyinside the house. Simoun
leaves the reception early and leaves a note with the words: Mene Thecel
Phares which mean, The future is predetermined and is generally implied
that a bad event is going to happen. Simoun signed it with his real name
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra. The people at the reception were shocked because
Ibarra is supposedly dead. One of the priests who knew Ibarra before the
ending of Noli Me Tangere confirmed to the people that it was the writing of
Ibarra. The lamp started to dim Outside the house, Basilio was about to
walk away because he knew the lamp was going to explode anytime soon
when he saw Isagani, the still heart-broken ex-boyfriend of the bride whose
reception was still going on in the house of Capitan Tiago. Isagani said that
he just wanted to congratulate the newly-weds. Basilio who then feared for
the safety of his friend told him about the plan of Simoun. Isagani ran to the
house. A priest was about to fix the lamp but once Isagani got in, he found
the lamp and threw it out the window into the river outside the residence.

Since the guards were chasing Isagani, he himself jumped out of the window
into the river as well. There was an uprising planned by Simoun during the
time of the reception. The band got caught and confess that Simoun lead
them. Ibarra now wanted both as himself and as Simoun. Days passed and a
good priest found Simoun walking along the shore, wounded and weak. The
noble priest tended to Simoun while the latter explained that he is Ibarra and
that he was greatly saddened and angry due to the failure of the revolution
and that he was questioning God as to why he was the one who is suffering
and not the ones who have forsaken the people of the Philippines. The priest
explains that all punishments will come in due time. Ibarra died as he weakly
held the hand of the priest. The latter blessed the former and threw away all
the remaining jewels of Ibarra in the hopes that they may always be use for
good.