Review of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel set during the Spanish Civil War. It is written by Ernest Hemingway who was a war correspondent during that war. It won the Nobel prize for literature in 1954.

The plot of the story seems very simple to begin with. Robert Jordan, an American fighting on the side of the revolutionary communists against the fascists, is assigned the task of blowing up a bridge behind enemy lines. Its destruction will stop fascist reinforcements being sent to an upcoming major attack by the revolutionaries. Sounds simple, but the plot is complicated by many events and challenges, especially the various characters involved. Just about all the novel takes place before the attack on the bridge, so we are kept waiting to find out for whom the bell tolls. Will Jordan successfully blow up the bridge or will he die trying?

At the beginning, Jordan needs to make contact with a small group of partisans to help him dispose of the guards at the bridge. The partisans are led by Pablo who has a mountain hideout not far from the bridge and who has previously participated in other acts of sabotage, including blowing up a train. But Pablo has become a disillusioned drunk and is paralysed by fears of his own mortality. It is up to his wife Pilar, the rock of the group, to keep the partisans together.

The group includes Maria, a young woman who was a prisoner on the train they sabotaged. Jordan and Maria fall for each other. This stretched credibility a bit as Jordan knows he was only going to be there for four days, and he would leave once the bridge is destroyed. But maybe their relationship could have developed as quickly as it did in the novel due to the emotional turmoil of the war.

The novel questioned the war, but it is not an anti-war book. The reader sees what various participants think about war and their part in it. Jordan slowly reveals the corrupt and fragmented leadership of the communists. Their leaders have fled to safety and have little to do with the fighting. Russians step in and are heavily involved in organizing the communist fighting effort. Some of the leaders of the revolution are drunks and psychotics. But Jordan still believes they must defeat the fascists to stop other countries in Europe falling under the fascist yoke.

Pablo just wants somewhere safe to hide. He knows once the bridge is blown the fascist forces will swarm over the hills he hides in to find his group. He was a merciless leader capable of war crimes. Pilar tells a particularly chilling tale of how he executed all the fascists in his hometown. Pilar on the other hand is still committed to the cause. We also get a glimpse into the minds of the fascists guarding the bridge. They are fighting under the duress of execution of themselves and families if they refuse. Some of the communist generals also freely execute soldiers who question orders.  

One of the things that catches a reader’s attention is the writing’s treatment of profanity. Words like “obscene”, “obscenity”, “muck” and “unprintable” are substituted for swear words. The most obvious is muck for fuck. I thought this might have been due to Australian censors, but no, it was done by Hemmingway in reaction to how publishers had treated profanity in his previous novels.

Another attention grabber is the detail Hemingway goes into with Jordan’s battle preparations and the battle scenes. In one scene Jordan orders one of his partisans to not put more tree branches around a machine gun placement as a group of calvary fascists have already been past its location and might notice the difference. Hemingway also details the thoughts of Jordan as he fights. His fears and concerns are constantly in competition with what he needs to do next and his will to successfully carry out his mission.

The novel shows the futility of war when everyone is not on the same page. Ideas of utopia have a hard time winning against corruption and brutal ideology, especially when personal survival is a main concern. The novel takes you into the mind of a soldier, one who is committed to the cause, even though he has his doubts about those leading the cause. The novel also exposes a turning point in world history to the reader.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a great read. It is one of the best explorations of conflict I have read and well deserving of its accolades. It left me wanting to find out more about the Spanish Civil War.