What does the
novel’s title mean? For whom does the bell toll? What bell?
The phrase “for whom the bell tolls”
comes from a short essay by the seventeenth-century British poet
and religious writer John Donne. Hemingway excerpts a portion of
the essay in the epigraph to his novel. In Donne’s essay, “For whom
does the bell toll?” is the imaginary question of a man who hears
a funeral bell and asks about the person who has died. Donne’s answer
to this question is that, because none of us stands alone in the
world, each human death affects all of us. Every funeral bell, therefore,
“tolls for thee.”
Thematically, the title For Whom the Bell Tolls emphasizes
the importance of community and fellow-feeling—the values that initially
incited Robert Jordan to leave his home country to fight a foreign
war. Over time, however, Robert Jordan has seen these values become
complicated by war-won cynicism and a lack of moral clarity in the
corrupt and inept Republican leaders. Yet by the end of the novel,
Robert Jordan learns to embrace these same values again, through
the deep connections he establishes with the guerrilla fighters
during his short time with them. Robert Jordan undertakes his very
last living effort—to hold off the approaching Fascist cavalrymen—not
because he subscribes to a particular ideology but because he wishes
to aid the escape of a group of people whom he has grown to love.
More literally, the novel’s title helps focus our interpretations
of the scenes of brutality and killing that Hemingway portrays.
The cruelty of the executions in Pablo’s village left a moral scar
on all those who witnessed or participated—Pilar, Pablo, and his
mob. Likewise, Lieutenant Berrendo feels the effects not only of
his friend’s death but of the slaughter of El Sordo’s men as well.
Even Robert Jordan, who kills out of duty because he must, is unable
to emerge unscathed. Hemingway neither judges the murderer not justifies
the murder. Rather, the moral scars these murders leave are simply
the necessary toll of a difficult war.
Politically, the title reflects Hemingway’s stance, which,
like Robert Jordan’s, is anti-Fascist as opposed to pro-Communist.
Like many western intellectuals at the time, Hemingway saw the Spanish Civil
War as a symbolic struggle between authoritarianism and a more humanist
and liberal alternative. In this light, the title underscores Hemingway’s
and his characters’ sympathies in the war.
The earth moves
four times during the course of the novel—twice at moments of destruction
and twice during Robert Jordan and Maria’s lovemaking. What connects
these different moments? What does the connection say about human
nature according to Hemingway?
Characters mention that the earth moves four
times in For Whom the Bell Tolls—twice in moments
connected with sex and twice in moments connected with violence
and death. In addition to the two times the earth moves when Robert
Jordan and Maria make love, Rafael recalls the moment during the
train operation with Kashkin when the train exploded and “all of
the earth seemed to rise in a great cloud of blackness.” Likewise,
when El Sordo’s hill is bombed, Joaquín feels “the earth roll under
his knees and then wave up to hit him in the face,” then “roll under
him with a roar,” and finally “lurch under his belly.” The similar
imagery used in these four instances establishes a strong connection
between sex and death.
This connection between sex and death runs both ways.
On the one hand, orgasm is a moment of sensory obliteration akin
to dying. Maria gives voice to this experience when she tells Robert
Jordan that she “die[s] each time” they make love. The word “nowhere,” which
Hemingway uses repeatedly in describing Robert Jordan and Maria’s
sexual encounter after visiting El Sordo, recalls the nothingness
against which the Hemingway code hero struggles. Hemingway further
supports the connection between death and sex through several other
metaphors. After seething over Pablo’s betrayal, Robert Jordan feels
his “red, black, blinding, killing anger” die, leaving him “as quiet
. . . sharp, [and] cold-seeing as a man is after he has had sexual
intercourse with a woman that he does not love.”
In the opposite direction, several characters express
the idea that the excitement of killing is akin to sexual pleasure.
Rafael, Agustín, and Robert Jordan all admit to feeling excitement
or thirst for the kill. After the mass executions of the Fascists
that Pablo stages in his hometown, he tells Pilar that he does not
want to have sex—the excitement of the kill has used up his sexual
charge. The most vivid description of the connection between bloodlust
and sexual lust comes in Andrés’s memories of his bull-baiting days
in Chapter Thirty-four. Andrés explicitly makes a connection between
the euphoria of bull-baiting and the sensation aroused by killing
people, and the language he uses to describe his struggle with the
bull has undeniable sexual connotations.
Together, these parallels Hemingway draws between death
and sex form a strong statement about human nature. But in recounting Andrés’s
and Robert Jordan’s experiences, Hemingway offers a partial solution.
Unlike Pablo, those who have had the opportunity to experience the
thirst for blood in a controlled setting (like Andrés) can admit
to these impulses and control them. Likewise, those who engage in
enough introspection about their past violent deeds (like Robert
Jordan) can notice the pattern and control their urges as well.
The courage of the Hemingway code hero lies not in never experiencing
fear, but in acting bravely despite the fear. Likewise, Hemingway
implies that the full human being does not deny his bloodthirstiness
but recognizes it and learns to live with honor and self-awareness.
Robert Jordan,
a foreigner in Spain, fights for a cause that he claims not to believe
in. What does he believe in? What is he fighting for?
Robert Jordan went to Spain voluntarily to
fight because of his love of the Spanish land and its culture. He
believed in pragmatism, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,”
which he thought would be impossible under a Fascist regime. Accordingly,
he decided to fight against the Fascists, which meant he joins the
Republican side. Initially, he experienced something like a religious
faith in the Republican cause and felt an “absolute brotherhood”
with his comrades-in-arms. As the war drags on, however, Robert
Jordan realizes that he does not necessarily believe in or espouse
the values of the Republicans—he realizes that he joined their side
simply because they were the ones fighting against the Fascists.
Because he fights for a side whose causes he does not necessarily
support, Robert Jordan experiences a great deal of internal conflict.
Disillusioned with the Republican cause and its leaders, he wonders
what difference there is between the Fascist and Republican sides—if
there is any difference at all.
The other major factor motivating Robert Jordan
to fight is that his grandfather, whom he admires very much, fought
in the American Civil War. Robert Jordan is embarrassed by his weak
father, who committed suicide. In this light, fighting in a war
provides a way for Robert Jordan to link himself to his grandfather.
Like a number of other characters in the novel—such as Maria, who
must work to overcome the traumatic memories of her rape—Robert
Jordan must work actively to overcome the burden of his past. Only
by enlisting in a war does he believe he can exorcise his embarrassment
about his father’s cowardice and match the bravery of his grandfather.
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