The meaning of loss in Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls

¶ … Bell Tolls

It is a well-established fact that for Whom the Bell Tolls was based on Ernest Hemmingway's experiences as a foreign war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War. Although there are a great many war novels, Hemmingway's effort stands out due to its stark depiction of the realities of war. No doubt, Hemmingway was able to achieve this because he had personally witnessed the political turmoil and intrigues in Spain. Moreover, because Hemmingway was a journalist, he was able to use all his analytical skills to cut through the professed ideologies and propaganda and reveal the pitfalls and horrors of war. Thus, for Whom the Bell Tolls is a work that does not glorify war or its heroes. Instead, its focus is on exploring the dehumanizing effects of war.

Hemmingway's intention may have been to comment on the dehumanizing effects of war but he does not belabor the point through narrative descriptions or commentary. Instead, he allows his readers to reach their independent conclusions through a plot structure that follows the lines of any typical war novel. In addition, Hemmingway achieves the tension and suspense of a war novel through a storyline that is spread over just three days. Within this short span of time, his hero, Robert Jordan, has to accomplish blowing up a bridge after first enlisting the aid of a guerilla band.

While Jordan goes about his task, his interactions and conversations with a range of different characters reveals Hemmingway's real themes of life vs. death; idealism vs. cynicism; war vs. humanitarianism; and selfishness vs. selflessness. By using such a technique, Hemmingway manages to write a war novel that emotionally provokes its readers into pondering over the effects of war on human ideals and values. In fact, on the latter point, Hemmingway clearly implies that true love is the only thing that is worth living for and perhaps dying for. Indeed, this is evident in Jordan's dying reflection that his life had been made meaningful through his bonding with Maria, albeit for a short time of just three days. Thus, although Hemmingway's principal protagonist is a true war hero, it is revealing that Jordan's gratification stems from the love he experiences rather than the fact that he ultimately proves his worth as a soldier fighting for the Loyalist cause.

Jordan's mission is complicated by a General, who is more interested in experimenting with war maneuvers and, therefore, asks Jordan to use unorthodox means to blow up the bridge. Thus, the novel opens with a marked comment on the role that individual motives play in determining the outcome of dangerous missions. Jordan's problems are further compounded when he finds that Pablo, the leader of the guerilla band, is no longer interested in fighting for the cause. Pablo worries Jordan since it is apparent that he has become cynical and war weary: "I don't like that sadness.... That is the sadness that comes before the sell-out." (p. 12) Therefore, it is apparent that Pablo, like the General, is not a selfless freedom fighter but rather is interested in only his own survival.

Neither the General's instructions nor Pablo's reluctance, however deter Jordan from his commitment to the Loyalist cause. Thus, with the aid of Pablo's courageous woman, Pilar, and his trusted guide, Anselmo, Jordan stays focused on the objective of blowing up the bridge. Indeed, Hemingway casts Jordan in the role of the archetypical war hero who is bent on accomplishing his task in spite of severe doubts over the viability of the mission and the sincerity of the Communist (Loyalist) leaders: "This was the greatest gift he had, the talent that fitted him for war; the ability not to ignore but to despise whatever bad ending there could be." (p. 393). Robert Jordan, therefore, is the antithesis of men like General Golz and Pablo, thereby allowing Hemmingway to highlight the difference between idealism and cynicism; selflessness and selfishness.

Besides confronting his own moral dilemmas, Jordan's mission is made more dangerous by virtue of the Loyalists' plans being leaked to the Fascists. Even Nature does not co-operate and a heavy snow storm results in the Fascist soldiers being able to easily track the foot steps of El Sordo and his men, and kill them. Thus, Jordan loses the only real support he thought he had when El Sordo, a more valiant and loyal to the cause guerilla leader, agrees to help the mission. To add to his cup of woes, Pablo and most of his men are not exactly reliable soldiers: "Was there ever a people whose leaders were as truly their enemies as this one?" (p. 163)

Jordan's sense that his mission is really a doomed one makes his relationship with Maria more intense and poignant, as evidenced by the urgency that comes through in almost all the lovemaking scenes. In fact, it is obvious that Jordan is seeking to reaffirm life as well as assuage his loneliness through making love to Maria: "In the night he awoke and held her tight as though she were all of life and it was being taken away from him." (p. 264)