The Desecrated Grave/Cemetery

Don Raphael's body being cast into the sea and denied burial represents the colonial system's power to inflict spiritual and psychological wounds that extend beyond death. In Catholic Filipino culture, proper burial rites hold immense importance, making this denial a profound form of violence against both the deceased and his family. The cemetery scenes also reveal the hypocrisy of religious authorities who secretly order gravediggers to reuse burial plots for profit while claiming moral superiority. For Crisóstomo, his father's desecrated remains symbolize the destruction of family honor and legacy, creating a wound that drives much of his subsequent action throughout the novel.

The Crocodile