Alone, Robert Jordan waits for the Fascists to come. He
is sorry that he must die but grateful for how much he has learned
and how much he has lived in the last three days. His leg begins
to hurt, and he briefly contemplates suicide. He convinces himself
to hold on until he can shoot some of the Fascists to buy the guerrilleros
some getaway time.
As Robert Jordan begins to pass out, he finally sees the
approaching Fascist cavalry patrol, led by Lieutenant Berrendo,
the man who ordered the beheading of El Sordo’s men. Feeling “completely
integrated” into his world—the road, the sky, the pine needles—Robert Jordan
takes aim, waits for Berrendo to ride closer, and feels his heart
beat against the forest floor.
Analysis
The final chapter of For Whom the Bell Tolls resolves
the many tensions with which Robert Jordan struggles throughout
the novel. We have seen Robert Jordan demonstrate a tension between
intuition and skepticism. Although he frequently claims not to believe
in signs and portents, he plays games with himself, identifying
certain events as good or bad omens. In the final chapter of the
novel, he acknowledges that the gypsies “see something. Or they
feel something. Like a bird dog.” It seems that he finally agrees
with Pilar that the world is more mysterious than his cold reasoning
can explain. Similarly, the tension between feeling and duty, which
Hemingway portrays through Robert Jordan’s rejection of Maria whenever
he thinks about his mission, is resolved as Robert Jordan embraces
Maria during battle. As women, Maria and Pilar are associated, both
traditionally and in For Whom the Bell Tolls, with
intuitive feeling—they are represented by the heart. Skepticism
and work, traditionally the domain of men, are associated with thought,
represented by the head. Over the course of the novel, Robert Jordan
gradually integrates these forces of heart and head in order to
become a complete person. The resolution culminates in Hemingway’s
description of Robert Jordan as “completely integrated.” His tensions
are resolved, the clamor of constant self-questioning in his mind
ceases, and he is at finally at peace with his world.
Robert Jordan’s physical position at the very end of the
novel symbolizes his relationship with the land. He lies on the
ground, literally embracing his beloved Spanish landscape. He loves
the physical earth, especially the pine needles he has noticed and
smelled from the opening of the novel. He loves the country, which
he has worked to defend from what he sees as the Fascist menace.
And he loves the land as a representation of the simpler, earthier,
more traditional, intuitive, and natural lifestyle that the land
supports—and that Pilar, as a superstitious female gypsy, embodies.
Several times throughout the novel, Hemingway uses the image of
Robert Jordan lying on the earth to highlight these associations.
Literally and figuratively, Robert Jordan’s heart beats with the
earth.
Furthermore, Robert Jordan’s position at the very end
of the novel is almost identical to his position at the very beginning,
which reveals the novel’s circular structure and highlights how
Robert Jordan has changed during the course of the story. The novel
opens with Robert Jordan “[lying] flat on the brown, pine-needled
floor of the forest” and closes with him feeling “his heart beating
against the pine needle floor of the forest.” The two phrases are
almost identical, which implies that we can view the course of the
novel as one cycle in Robert Jordan’s life, one spin on the “wheel
of human conflict” that Robert Jordan imagines after his second
confrontation with Pablo. The new element at the end of the novel
is Robert Jordan’s beating heart, which he has figuratively discovered
through his relationship with Maria and the guerrilleros. Hemingway describes
the change in his protagonist as Robert Jordan greets Maria after
blowing the bridge, saying, “He had never thought that you could
know that there was a woman if there was battle.” Unlike earlier
instances in which he pushes Maria away when he is busy thinking
about his mission, at the end of the novel, Robert Jordan is able
to embrace Maria during the course of the battle. Hemingway encapsulates
Robert Jordan’s new ability to love while living through the image
of the beating heart that closes the novel.
