The stillborn child of Rizal was actually buried near Rizal's home in Dapitan where

he was exiled. Rizal actually burned that house when he was leaving Dapitan for
Cuba. But who knows, we might have another type of Da Vinci Code book/film
claiming Rizal's direct line of grandchildren are living somewhere in the Philippines.
Though there are still descendants of Rizal still living but these stemmed from
Rizal's sisters and other relatives.
Jose Rizal's one and only big brother, Paciano, was the quiet of the two Rizal boys
but was the most passionate one in liberating the Philippines from Spain. He was
actually the one pitted to go abroad to pursue an education but he saw in his little
brother Jose the intelligence and charismatic personality which will benefit the
country. Paciano opted to stay and look after the family.
Within the plot are episodes and images, which, if they do not improve the unity of
the novel, effectively carry out Rizal's purposes in writing it. The scene in the cockpit
sarcastically portrays the humiliating effects of the passion for gambling. The vivid All
Soul's Day dialogue of the Tertiaries on the gaining of indulgence is an unforgettable
condemnation of fanaticism and superstition. The fiesta sermon of Fray Damaso,
eloquently protests against the vulgar ignorance and hypocritical religious tyranny of
the friars.
In these episodes perhaps, rather than in the novel as a whole, lie the book's power.
The ultimate message is not always clearly spelled out, but the abuses and defects of
the colonial regime are explicitly revealed. The discussions of Elias and Ibarra
disclose possible solutions, and though Rizal is careful not to go for revolution, the
threat is unmistakable if radical reforms are not forthcoming.
Rizal's book persistently unmasks contemporary Spaniards in the Philippines of every
kind. The corruption and brutality of the civil guard drive good men to outlawry
rather than reduce banditry. The administration crawls with self-seekers, out to make
their fortune at the expense of the Filipinos, so that the few officials who are honest
and sincere are unable to overcome the treacherous workings of the system, and
their efforts to help the country often end up in frustration or in self-ruin.
The friars have made the Catholic religion an instrument for enriching and
perpetuating themselves in power by seeking to mire ignorant Filipinos in fanaticism
and superstition instead of teaching them true Catholicism, by controlling the
government, by opposing all progress and by persecuting the Filipino ilustrado,
unless they make themselves their servile flatterers.
Rizal does not, however, spare his fellow countrymen. The superstitious and
hypocritical fanaticism of many who consider themselves religious people, the
ignorance, corruption, and brutality of the Filipino civil guards, the passion for
gambling unchecked by the thought of duty and responsibility, the servility of the
wealthy Filipino towards friars and government officials, the ridiculous efforts of
Filipinos to dissociate themselves from their fellowmen or to lord it over them -- all
these are ridiculed in the novel. Nevertheless, Rizal clearly implies that many of
these failings are traceable to association with the Spaniard, or to the misguided
policy of the government and the questionable practices of the friars.

Yet, Rizal balances the national portrait by highlighting the virtues and good qualities
of the unspoiled Filipino: the modesty and devotion of the Filipino woman, the
unstinting hospitality of the Filipino family, the devotion of parents to their children
and children to their parents, the deep sense of gratitude, the solid common sense of
the untutored Filipino peasant.
The Noli is, therefore, not merely an attack on the Spanish colonial regime; it is a
charter of nationalism. It calls on the Filipino to recover his self-confidence, to
appreciate his own worth, to return to the heritage of his ancestors, to assert himself
as the equal of the Spaniard. It insists on the need of education, of dedication to the
country, of absorbing aspects of foreign cultures that would enhance the native
traditions.