A Nation Aborted: Analysis

Lagutin, Karlo G.

BSEE IV-3

Chapter 1: Toward a Radical Rizal

Chapter 2: Rizal and Revolution

Chapter 3: Anderson’s Reading of Rizal and Philippine Nationalism

Chapter 4: Biography and History

Chapter 5: The Morga and Reclaiming History

Chapter 1: Toward a Radical Rizal

It has been hundreds of years had passed when Jose Rizal was born, but until now, his compatriots are still incertitude of what personage does Rizal really have. A lot of people are still listless if Rizal really wanted a revolution or if he believed that the pen is still mightier than the sword. With this, a lot of points of view were unfolded by different chroniclers, and one of these was Quibuyen’s A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony, and Philippines Nationalism. On his work, Quibuyen shows that Rizal was a radical, anti-statist and not just a reformist.

How did Quibuyen state that Rizal was a radical? First, let us define what Rizal desired: an undivided, ethical community, a nation without borders. And to be able to achieve this kind of nation, we do not need to employ violence where the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow; this was stated by Rizal when Valenzuela visited him when he was still in Dapitan. Rizal believed that the force was not the answer on our problem, that we were not yet ready to execute a revolution, we need enough ammunition, a great preparation. From this, we can enunciate that Rizal did not completely concur with revolution. He just did not want to execute a revolution without an organized plan. And regarding the case in a hacienda in Calamba added to what Rizal’s standing for. Buencamino (legal counsel of Rizal) proved that Rizal pushed people to revolution when Rizal allured people to deny from paying their leasehold. At this moment Rizal’s being radical-separist intensified.

There were a lot of factors that made Rizal radical. These were just the reflections of what conqueror did iniquity to us. They unconsciously taught us how to fight against...