Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls centers around an American dynamiter with the International Brigades who is sent on a mission to destroy a bridge and prevent the fascist advance. This book certainly seems to be the most conventional war novel that we have read in this course. There is a clear protagonist, a stated objective, and a love story; all rather conventional literary tropes that are not as prominent in the other novels we’ve read. The story only takes place within a few days, which provides a clear timeline for the reader to follow what’s taking place.
I agree with Mauricio’s assessment in class about how Hemingway may have just been trying to write a book that would sell well. One that reads easily, is relatively uncontroversial, and has a bit of something for everyone. The romance between Robert Jordan and Maria is probably the most blatant example of this. I share some of the skepticism towards their relationship; mostly in how they fell absolutely in love with each other after only a couple nights of smiling at each other. I understand the nature of the war and that they may have only a few days to live, but the romance does seem a little far-fetched. Similarly, there is little discussion of the politics surrounding the conflict, except for some discussion of how Robert Jordan ultimately takes his orders from the Communist party. Perhaps Hemingway didn’t think it necessary, as he was ultimately writing a romantic war novel and probably wished not to scare people away with the complexities of the political situation of the time.
The symbolic purpose of the relationship is more clear though, especially considering the epigraph at the beginning of the book. Maria could represent the Spain that needs to be rescued from the brutality and depravity of fascism, and Robert Jordan feels a responsibility to play his part, for if fascism takes over Spain it could easily spread elsewhere. “He fought now in this war because it had started in a country that he loved and he believed in the Republic and that if it were destroyed life would be unbearable for all those people who believed in it” (p. 163). Thus we see a part of Robert Jordan’s rationalization for taking part in the war as going along with John Donne’s quotation: ” . . . any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; . . .” He feels morally obligated to fight the fascists for if he didn’t he would bear responsibility for not doing enough to prevent their rise.
Kyle A. Van Kampen 
I’m glad to hear I’ve finally convinced someone to one of my cynic arguments about a novel. What did you mean when you said “scare people away”? Was Hemingway being condescending and thinking the average reader wouldn’t understand anyway? Did he think the reader wouldn’t care which would go against the purpose of the novel?
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I think he was trying to write a book that would appeal to a large audience, and including all of the complexities of the political situation surrounding the war might have been too complicated or boring for the average reader. Though I don’t think it would have been totally necessary to include them in the book, as the story follows a pretty straightforward path and mundane facts about militias and trade unions would have been largely irrelevant.
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