For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway is a classic novel of love and war set during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. Written in 1940, the novel was based on Hemingway’s personal experiences serving as a correspondent for the North American Newspaper Alliance in Spain. It is the story of an American man, Robert Jordan, and his involvement in a dangerous mission to blow up a key bridge for the Republican faction.
The novel starts off in Madrid and introduces a number of people. First we meet Robert Jordan, who is an American languishing in Madrid to fight for the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. He meets with Golz, who is the leader of the International Brigades and commissions Jordan to blow up a bridge near Segovia. Jordan is tasked with gathering the materials needed to construct the bomb, as well as the recruitment of a group of locals to help with the mission.
Jordan soon leaves Madrid and heads to the small village of El Sordo and into the Los Almogavres hills, where he joins the isolated guerilla group of Republicans who are holed up there. He meets the dedicated leader of the group, Pablo; the proud and fiery Pilar; and the passionate young volunteers that make up the remaining band of fighters. Jordan quickly realizes it is a formidable task he has been granted and slowly starts to move people in place and to strategize a plan for the destruction of the bridge.
As he does this he also find himself in the center of a complex emotional maelstrom. He falls in love with an idealistic young woman named Maria who is being pursued by an enemy soldier. He also grown ever more attached to his fellow revolutionaries and undergoes countless harrowing situations as he endeavors to do his job, despite an increasingly slim chance of self-preservation.
As the mission draws nearer to completion, Jordan begins to wonder if his ultimate sacrifice will be worth all the lives lost. Events take an unexpected turn when one of Jordan’s men, Andres, takes the initiative and assaults the bridge in order to hasten the destruction. This puts Jordan and his group in the position of having to disentangle themselves from the ensuing chaos with as many lives intact as possible.
Throughout the book, Hemingway’s undeniable talent for description and evoking emotion shines through. As he takes readers along on the mission, we can feel the fear, the courage, and the hope that fill the characters in the novel. The story is a wonderful combination of romance, action, and exploration of the human condition.
In the end, the characters in For Whom the Bell Tolls make several difficult decisions, some of which cost them their lives. The title of the novel comes from John Donne’s meditation poem of the same name and reflects upon the fact that no man is truly an island, as death and suffering are felt by all. In this way, the story of Robert Jordan and his compatriots is a reminder that peoples’ actions can have far transcending impacts. Ultimately, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in classic literature or an exploration of the complexities of courage, love, and war.
