Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Planes, Tanks, and Mortars
The rumble of Fascist war machinery often jars the serenity
of the Spanish mountains in For Whom the Bell Tolls,
usually in the form of Italian and German observation and bomber
planes that fly overhead. The military threat from the Fascists
is both physical and moral: the planes menace not only with their
bombs but also with their intimidating rumble. The planes move like
“mechanized doom,” conveying a sense of automation and industry
that contrasts sharply with the earthy, close-to-nature lifestyle
of Robert Jordan’s relatively helpless band of guerrillas. The fact
that the planes move like “mechanized doom” highlights the Fascists’
superior technology. At the time of the Spanish Civil War,
industrialization threatened the natural lifestyle of the peasants
who lived off the land not only in Spain but also in many other
countries. Hemingway saw Spain as one of the last places where small
community life was still possible, and he saw the Spanish Civil
War as destroying this possibility.
Absinthe
Robert Jordan’s flask of absinthe (a green liqueur flavored
with anise, a substance similar to licorice) embodies his deep appreciation
for sensory pleasures—food, drink, smells, touch, sex, and so on.
For Robert Jordan, absinthe “[takes] the place of the evening papers,
of all the old evenings in cafés, of all the chestnut trees that would
be in bloom now in this month . . . of all the things he had enjoyed
and forgotten.” Although Robert Jordan uses absinthe to buy trust
and build relationships with the guerrilla fighters, he cannot help
begrudging every drop. In the novel’s wartime setting, absinthe
represents the attitude that one should take advantage of carnal
or sensory pleasures while one has the chance.
