In the beginning of the movie, Rizal in Dapitan, it was shown that Jose Rizal was exiled to Dapitan due to his previous actions against the Catholic church. He was exiled to Dapitan on July 17, 1892 for four years (Museo ni Jose Rizal, Dapitan, n.d.). It was also shown in the movie that Rizal was very sad in Dapitan. However, even if he was in that state, he achieved a lot by helping the people of Dapitan in various ways. In the movie, he diagnosed blind people, especially those who were poor and had no money to pay Rizal for his services. Also, he taught the children in Dapitan for free. As a result, they became knowledgeable on various fields and they were able to handle their lives better. Rizal was also adept in engineering and he was able to make several inventions that improved the overall state of Dapitan.
I was puzzled as to why Rizal was sad during his stay in Dapitan. Being far from one’s family could cause a negative impact on the person, but the environment in Dapitan was refreshing. One could easily forget their problems once they are immersed in Dapitan. Even if Rizal was in that state, I was amazed that he could still use his skills to help others. His teaching style was also effective, because it wasn’t a purely theoretical type of teaching. He allowed his students to learn in a practical way.
When Rizal was diagnosing several patients, he met the father of Josephine Bracken, who is George Taufer. He tried to heal her father’s blindness, but Rizal failed. I was disgusted at Josephine’s father because he tried to rape his daughter and was disrespectful towards Rizal. Since Rizal was an enemy of the Catholic church, he was forbidden from marrying Josephine Bracken. As a result, he married Josephine Bracken using an alternative way. As the film progressed, it was revealed that Josephine Bracken was a spy of the church. She got into a dispute with Rizal while she was pregnant and it resulted to the death of their child, named Francisco.
Rizal was able to endure several unfortunate experiences and was able to go on with his life. He also met Pio Valenzuela who informed him about the upcoming revolution led by the Katipunan or KKK. They discussed several plans that can lead the revolution to success. Rizal pointed out that the Filipinos were not ready to go into war, as there are not enough weapons. Dr. Valenzuela pointed out that they would steal weapons from the enemy, but they don’t have a clear method of doing so. Rizal also expressed his support by suggesting that they will need help from rich people.
When Rizal was permitted to leave Dapitan by the governor-general, the people of Dapitan mourned. This clearly shows that Rizal greatly influenced the lives of the people. Due to the services that he offered to the people of Dapitan, they were very thankful towards Rizal. During Rizal’s stay in the place, it is concluded that he can handle most of the emotional tragedies in his life. Since he supported the upcoming revolution of the Katipunan, it can also be concluded that Rizal was already having radical thoughts against the Spaniards. Rizal suffered a lot of penalties due to his actions to help his country. During his exile in Dapitan, he might have lost hope in holding a peaceful revolution. He was already thinking of holding a violent revolution using weapons. Overall, even if Rizal was exiled to Dapitan, he did not waste his time there and he still used his skills to help his countrymen in every way that he can.
Reference(s):
Museo ni Jose Rizal, Dapitan. (n.d.). Retrieved from National Historical Commission of the Philippines: http://nhcp.gov.ph/museums/rizal-shrine-dapitan/
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