The Social Cancer, by José Rizal - Home

CHAPTER XIX 92
trip to the capital of the province, what could I do against him, the foremost religious and political power in
the town, backed up by his Order, feared by the government, rich, powerful, sought after and listened to,
always believed and heeded by everybody? Although he insulted me, I had to remain silent, for if I replied he
would have had me removed from my position, by which I should lose all hope in my chosen profession. Nor
would the cause of education gain anything, but the opposite, for everybody would take the curate's side, they
would curse me and call me presumptuous, proud, vain, a bad Christian, uncultured, and if not those things,
then anti-Spanish and a filibuster. Of a schoolmaster neither learning nor zeal is expected; resignation,
humility, and inaction only are asked. May God pardon me if I have gone against my conscience and my
judgement, but I was born in this country, I have to live, I have a mother, so I have abandoned myself to my
fate like a corpse tossed about by the waves."
"Did this difficulty discourage you for all time? Have you lived so since?"
"Would that it had been a warning to me! If only my troubles had been limited to that! It is true that from that
time I began to dislike my profession and thought of seeking some other occupation, as my predecessor had
done, because any work that is done in disgust and shame is a kind of martyrdom and because every day the
school recalled the insult to my mind, causing me hours of great bitterness. But what was I to do? I could not
undeceive my mother, I had to say to her that her three years of sacrifice to give me this profession now
constituted my happiness. It is necessary to make her believe that this profession is most honorable, the work
delightful, the way strewn with flowers, that the performance of my duties brings me only friendship, that the
people respect me and show me every consideration. By doing otherwise, without ceasing to be unhappy
myself, I should have caused more sorrow, which besides being useless would also be a sin. I stayed on,
therefore, and tried not to feel discouraged. I tried to struggle on."
Here he paused for a while, then resumed: "From the day on which I was so grossly insulted I began to
examine myself and I found that I was in fact very ignorant. I applied myself day and night to the study of
Spanish and whatever concerned my profession. The old Sage lent me some books, and I read and pondered
over everything that I could get hold of. With the new ideas that I have been acquiring in one place and
another my point of view has changed and I have seen many things under a different aspect from what they
had appeared to me before. I saw error where before I had seen only truth, and truth in many things where I
had formerly seen only error. Corporal punishment, for example, which from time immemorial has been the
distinctive feature in the schools and which has heretofore been considered as the only efficacious means of
making pupils learn--so we have been accustomed to believe--soon appeared to me to be a great hindrance
rather than in any way an aid to the child's progress. I became convinced that it was impossible to use one's
mind properly when blows, or similar punishment, were in prospect. Fear and terror disturb the most serene,
and a child's imagination, besides being very lively, is also very impressionable. As it is on the brain that ideas
are impressed, it is necessary that there be both inner and outer calm, that there be serenity of spirit, physical
and moral repose, and willingness, so I thought that before everything else I should cultivate in the children
confidence, assurance, and some personal pride. Moreover, I comprehended that the daily sight of floggings
destroyed kindness in their hearts and deadened all sense of dignity, which is such a powerful lever in the
world. At the same time it caused them to lose their sense of shame, which is a difficult thing to restore. I have
also observed that when one pupil is flogged, he gets comfort from the fact that the others are treated in the
same way, and that he smiles with satisfaction upon hearing the wails of the others. As for the person who
does the flogging, while at first he may do it with repugnance, he soon becomes hardened to it and even takes
delight in his gloomy task. The past filled me with horror, so I wanted to save the present by modifying the
old system. I endeavored to make study a thing of love and joy, I wished to make the primer not a black book
bathed in the tears of childhood but a friend who was going to reveal wonderful secrets, and of the
schoolroom not a place of sorrows but a scene of intellectual refreshment. So, little by little, I abolished
corporal punishment, taking the instruments of it entirely away from the school and replacing them with
emulation and personal pride. If one was careless about his lesson, I charged it to lack of desire and never to
lack of capacity. I made them think that they were more capable than they really were, which urged them on
to study just as any confidence leads to notable achievements. At first it seemed that the change of method