# El Filibusterismo — Key Concepts & Themes

> Key concepts in El Filibusterismo by José Rizal.

- [Simoun’s revenge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/concepts/simouns-revenge.md): Crisóstomo Ibarra returns as Simoun the jeweler — wealth and cynicism as weapons against a colony that destroyed his reformist youth.
- [Colonial hypocrisy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/concepts/colonial-hypocrisy.md): Friars, officials, and society journalists like Ben Zayb perform virtue while the colony’s violence stays structural.
- [Failed enlightenment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/concepts/failed-enlightenment.md): Students, the academy dream, and Isagani’s eloquence collide with a system that punishes learning when it threatens friar power.
- [Martyrdom and Sacrifice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/concepts/cos-martyrdom-and-sacrifice.md): The dedication to the executed priests Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora frames the novel, highlighting how individuals sacrifice their lives for justice and liberty, inspiring resistance.
- [Class and Racial Inequality](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/el_filibusterismo_se/concepts/cos-class-and-racial-inequality.md): The novel contrasts the wealthy upper deck passengers with the suffering lower deck, and highlights the discrimination against Filipinos (Indios) by Spanish authorities and mestizo elites.

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