For Whom The Bell Tolls

 For Whom The Bell Tolls

Thinking Activity

This blog is written as a thinking activity on the novel 'For Whom the Bell Tolls ' by Ernest Hemingway. In this blog I am going to deal with the ending of the novel.

Ernest Hemingway:-

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. He was born on July 21, 1899 and died on July 2, 1961. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his adventurous lifestyle and public image brought him admiration from later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature. 

For Whom the Bell Tolls:-

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway. It was published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia.

About the Title :

The title, For Whom the Bell Tolls, comes from a text called Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions by John Donne, a 17th-century English poet and Anglican priest. 

The 17th of Donne's meditations begins with the words "No man is an island, entire of itself," and ends with the line "Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." Donne refers to funeral bells: since everyone meets the end of life at some point, the bells toll for everyone as a metaphor for death. Ernest Hemingway sided with the fight against fascism, as most Americans did. He chose the excerpt to express his support for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War and to emphasize the theme of sacrifice for a cause that is greater than any one individual.

End of the novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" :

Robert Jordan and his friend Anselmo were setting up bombs on a bridge. They waited for the right moment to blow it up, aiming to stop enemy soldiers from crossing. When the bombing began, they shot the guards on the bridge and fixed the explosives. As Robert Jordan moved to set up the dynamite on the far end, a tragic turn occurred. Pilar returned with her group, reporting Eladio's death and Fernando's mortal injury. Fernando, determined, asked to be left behind with a rifle. As Anselmo and Robert Jordan completed the setup, they detonated the dynamite, stopping a truck from crossing. Tragically, Anselmo was killed by debris. Robert Jordan, amidst the chaos, felt a surge of anger at Anselmo's death but eventually eased his emotions while speaking with Pilar. Meanwhile, Maria tended to the nervous horses, praying for Robert Jordan's safety. Upon hearing Pilar's call confirming his well-being, relief washed over her. As they regrouped, tensions rose when Agustín accused Pablo of betraying their comrades for horses, a claim Pablo didn't deny. The group, including Maria, mounted horses to head towards the Gredos mountains. Robert Jordan, wounded from a previous encounter, rode a horse taken from a fallen enemy. Riding last in the group, he suddenly faced a life-threatening situation when a bullet struck his horse, causing it to trample his leg and break it. Realizing he couldn't continue, Robert Jordan instructed Pablo and comforted Maria, pledging to be with her when she left. Alone, injured, and waiting for the enemy, Robert Jordan contemplated his fate. His pain increased, thoughts of ending his life briefly crossed his mind. Yet, resolved to buy time for his friends, he aimed to shoot the approaching enemies. As he lost consciousness, he felt an intense connection to nature. In his final moments, he aimed at the approaching Lieutenant Berrendo, feeling at peace and integrated into his surroundings as he prepared to fire.

Robert Jordan's Journey: Love, Nature, Change Prevail :

At the end of "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Robert Jordan changes a lot. He used to doubt signs and feelings, but now he starts to believe that there might be things beyond just cold facts. He also struggled between his feelings for Maria and his duty in the war, but finally, during a battle, he embraces Maria, showing that he can balance his emotions and responsibilities.

Robert Jordan lies on the ground at the end of the story, holding onto the land he loves so much. He feels connected to nature and the traditional way of life it represents. This closeness to the earth shows how much he cares about defending his country and the simpler way of living.

The way the story ends is like how it started, showing a circle. At the beginning and end, Robert Jordan is lying on the forest floor, but at the end, he feels his heart beating strongly. This shows that he's changed a lot during the story.

“Now I thank thee for it. Now you are going well and fast and far and we both go in

thee. Now put thy hand here. Now put thy head down. Nay, put it down. That is right.

Now I put my hand there. Good. Thou art so good. Now do not think more. Now art thou

doing what thou should. Now thou art obeying. Not me but us both. The me in thee. Now

you go for us both. Truly. We both go in thee now. This I have promised thee. Thou art

very good to go and very kind.”

In the beginning, he didn't think about love during battles, but now he can love while facing the challenges of war. This change in him is symbolized by the beating heart at the end of the book.

“I am with thee,” Robert Jordan shouted. “I am with thee now. We are both there. Go!”

 

Here I would like to compare both the main character's idea of love with two bollywood songs.

कायाम तू हो गयी है

रिवायत की तरह तुझे याद कर लिया है मरने तलक रहेगी

मरने तलक रहेगी तू आदत की तरह

( Eternal love of Jordan and Maria)

आसमाँ को ज़मीं ये ज़रूरी नहीं

जान ले, जान ले

इश्क़ सच्चा वही जिसको मिलती नहीं

मंज़िलें, मंज़िलें

रंग थे, नूर था, जब क़रीब तू था

एक जन्नत सा था ये जहाँ

वक्त की रेत पे कुछ मेरे नाम सा

लिख के छोड़ गया तू कहाँ?

( Inability to fulfill their love due to war)

( Disasterious Consequences of war)

At the end when he thinks about Maria and is able to shoot. This shows though their love was developed in just three days, it deepens than the love of long time.

The story concludes with Lieutenant Berrendo and his Fascist forces approaching, and Robert Jordan takes aim at him. Though the book doesn't explicitly reveal Robert's fate, the overwhelming odds against him facing the Fascist army suggest a bleak outcome. It's likely that Robert meets his end in the face of this overwhelming force.

Hemingway deliberately ends the novel openly, leaving Robert Jordan aiming at the enemies, inviting readers to contemplate the uncertain fate that awaits him. As readers, we might infer that Robert doesn't survive, but the novel's conclusion prompts us to reflect on the impending situation without providing a definitive answer.

Robert Jordan as a Typical Hemingway Hero

Hemingway created the famous Hemingway code by which all of his heroes, often called code heroes, lived. One critic asserted that, 'Hemingway invented more than a style he invented the Hemingway hero.' (Papa) Hemingway attempted to live by this code but did not enjoy the success of his fictional characters. In fact, critic Joseph DeFalco states, 'The type of hero that can accomplish such a feat [living up to the Hemingway code] is rare in any area of life.'The code hero was not rare, however, in Hemingway writing. Robert Jordan in For Whom The Bell Tolls and Frederic Henry in A Farewell To Arms are perfect examples of the Hemingway code hero.

The hero of For Whom the Bell Tolls is Robert Jordan.  Robert Jordan is the stereo typical Hemingway hero.  Jordan is a professor of Spanish at the University of Montana who has taken a leave of absence to volunteer to fight in Spain.  He worries that he won't be able to get his job back after the war because he's been identified as "a Red."  Like his creator, Jordan says that he's not a Communist he's just in favor of liberty.  He has put himself under Communist command and submitted to Communist discipline because the Communists are the only ones who can organize the army and win the war.  At the start of the war, the Republican Army was composed of militias of various factions, including Anarchists, various kinds of Socialists, and Communists.   The Communists tended to be the best organized.

Jordan is a demolition expert.  He has been assigned by a Soviet General, Golz, to destroy a bridge in the mountains to keep the Nationalists from moving equipment across while the Republican forces launch a surprise attack.  Jordan makes contact with the Republican Partisans who are fighting a guerilla war behind the Nationalist lines.  The partisans are led by the ruthless Pablo and his mistress Pilar.

The Hemingway hero’s, shown as suffering from some wound or scar. It is not just physical, but psychological as well. It is because; Hemingway was obsessed with the problem of learning to live with these scars. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Robert Jordan the protagonist is  a wounded man. He suffers from emotional scars left by his father’s death, which committed suicide and thereby failed to endure life with courage. Along with this emotional wound that he carries, he later suffers a physical wound as in the attempt to solve this he joins the liberals in the Spanish Civil War and is severely wounded in his legs, and because of it lies down to cover the escape of the other guerrillas knowing that he cannot escape.

The theme of this novel ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ are a continuation of the theme in To Have and Have Not, that a man has no chance alone against the world. Here, the statement is “no man is an island, entire of it”, whereas in the earlier novel,‘One man alone isn’t got any chance the protagonist, Robert Jordan symbolizes both the hero and the Code hero. The novel chronicles these days in his life. He has been sent on a mission, to blow up a bridge, to impede the movement of the Fascist during the Spanish Civil War. He is successful, but he severely wounds in his legs and he chooses to stay back and allow his companions to escape rather than going along with them and restricting their movement.

He is sure to die and Jordan fully understands this, but not flinches. He has, however, come to see the wisdom of such a sacrifice and the book ends without any bitterness. The hero is still the wounded man. But he has learnt about life and how to live and function.

Thank You.

Reference

Savitha, R. 13.format. hum-CHARACTERISTICS OF HEMINGWAY'S HEROES IN HIS NOVELS _1_, https://oaji.net/articles/2017/488-1511868460.pdf. Accessed 11 January 2024.

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