The author was once a student called for recitation in Rizal class. The question was “At the start of El Fili, did steamship Tabo travel upstream or downstream?” After receiving a failing grade for not knowing the answer, there was only solution: to make a guide that would prevent other students from feeling just as clueless.

This site is meant for anyone who is taking up El Filibusterismo in school (or for fun) and would like a more in-depth look at the chapters and characters for what they are instead of what they represent. Rizal’s novels are often squeezed into a single semester, causing readers to rush through the material and miss a lot of details that truly make the book great.

By reading this guide, you can take your sweet time getting to learn about chapters and characters. Or you can use it as a way to refresh your memory when you get confused and mix up characters like Padre Fernandez and Padre Florentino. We would rather you look at El Fili the same way you look at your favorite books: by enjoying it instead of over-analyzing it. We hope you will find a character like Basilio to be one you can relate to rather than wondering what or who he is supposed to symbolize.

As we further expand, we plan to add a section for chapter summaries and character guides for Noli Me Tangere eventually.

This guide draws from the Locsin translation.

We decided to focus first and foremost on major characters, who have significant roles in El Filibusterismo. As the site expands, we plan to include all characters eventually.

We prefer to focus more on the details as they are presented in the book rather than how you’re supposed to interpret them. Taking the “author-is-dead” approach, we figured it’s up to you (and your professor) on how you choose to interpret Rizal’s characters and lines. We try to discuss the book as objectively as possible so you can develop your own conclusions. So if you’re looking to answer the questions “Who”, “When”, “Where” and “What”, this is the place for you.

Even though we try to be as accurate to the book as possible, there are many translations of El Filibusterismo which can cause inconsistencies depending on the version read.