The novel's main character, Crisostomo Ibarra, returned to his country, the Philippines, after some years of studying in Europe. A party thrown by Capitan Tiago welcomed him.
Your father is a filibuster!
Ibarra Stop! Don't do that!
Lieutenant Guevara told him the truth about his father's death: he had died in incarceration after accidentally killing a Spanish tax collector and was branded a filibuster. His body was also removed from a Catholic cemetery and dumped into a lake.
You are excommunicated!
Your engagement with my daughter is over!
Elias saved Ibarra's life during the inauguration of Ibarra's school—plotted by the latter's enemies.
I am innocent!
Ibarra was the mastermind of the attack!
Ibarra hosted a banquet in which Padre Damaso insulted over the memory of his father. The young man lost control of himself and was about to kill the friar, who was saved by the intervention of Maria Clara.
Ibarra was excommunicated, and his engagement with Maria Clara was broken.
After his enemies staged an attack on the Guardia Civil, Ibarra was imprisoned, making him the alleged mastermind.