Meaning of cross in the cover of noli me tangere?

Answer 1

CROSS- sufferings

POMELO BLOSSOMS AND LAUREL LEAVES- honor and fidelity

SILHOUETTE OF A FILIPINA- maria Clara

BURNING TORCH- rage and passion

SUNFLOWERS- enlightenment

BAMBOO STALKS THAT WERE CUT DOWN BUT GREW BACK- resilience

A MAN IN A CASSOCK WITH HAIRY FEET- priests using religion in a dirty way

CHAINS- slavery

WHIPS- cruelties

HELMET OF THE GUARDIA CIVIL- arrogance of those in authority

Answer 2

the title cuts diagonally across the front, covering a handwritten dedication, apparently to his parents, from which the following phrase can be made out: 'In writing...thinking...always...it was you who implanted in me...the first ideas...this manuscript...proof of love.' In the upper corner

of the cover is the silhouette of a girl's head (the unfortunate Maria Clara?); at the bottom, two hairy calves protrude from a habit, the feet encased in sandals (Father Damaso, if one is to judge from the opening scene of the Noli). Scattered about are other symbols: a constabulary helmet, a whip, a length of chain, thorny bamboo branches, flowers, and a graveyard cross. It is all very romantic and, in its own way, appropriate." (Guerrero, 133)

Elaborate and romantic indeed but also faintly sadomasochistic. Intentionally or not, the cover also plays a trick on the eye of its beholder -- stare at the cover long enough and you'll see a fantastic creature, a chimera really, with the head of a Spanish- India mestiza and the legs of a Spanish friar. The text itself is the torso that the title -- "Touch Me Not" -- bars us, literally and figuratively, from seeing in full. Could this be a grotesque portrait of Rizal's patria adorada? One could argue that the cover is evocative of Philippine colonial society in general -- the

feminine "elevated" but also placed in shadow; the religious orders "running" everything "behind" the scenes; and death, cruelty, and bondage amid the lush tropical vegetation. But one could also argue (unoriginally) that the Noli's cover offers a pictorial summary of the main text.

Answer 3

CROSS- sufferings

POMELO BLOSSOMS AND LAUREL LEAVES- honor and fidelity

SILHOUETTE OF A FILIPINA- maria Clara

BURNING TORCH- rage and passion

SUNFLOWERS- enlightenment

BAMBOO STALK- resilience

CHAINS- slavery

WHIPS- cruelties

HELMET OF GUARDIA CIVIL- arrogance of those in authority

SOMEONE IN CASSOCK WITH HAIRY FEET- priests using religion in a dirty way

Answer 4

The cross on the cover of "Noli Me Tangere" represents the influence of religion in the novel and the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. It also symbolizes the suffering and oppression experienced by the Filipino people under Spanish rule. Additionally, the cross may allude to themes of sacrifice and redemption explored in the story.

Answer 5

The meaning of the Cross in the cover of Noli Me Tangere is "it represents the friars who used religion to subdue the Filipino people."