Point of View

José Rizal employs a third-person omniscient narrator in Noli Me Tangere, a strategic choice that allows him to expose the corruption and hypocrisy of Spanish colonial society from multiple vantage points simultaneously. This narrative perspective functions as both a storytelling device and a political tool, enabling Rizal to critique the colonial system while maintaining the appearance of objective observation.

The omniscient narrator moves fluidly between characters' interior lives and external social commentary. When introducing Captain Tiago, for instance, the narrator provides biographical details and psychological insights that reveal how colonialism shapes individual character. This access to multiple consciousnesses allows Rizal to show how the same events appear differently to various characters—the dinner party that seems prestigious to some guests reveals itself as a stage for colonial power dynamics when viewed through Crisóstomo's innocent eyes or the narrator's knowing perspective.

Significantly, the narrator adopts...