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THE NOVEL
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THE PLOT (HFORPLOT)
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For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the engrossing tale of Robert
Jordan, an American supporter of the Republican cause in the Spanish
Civil War (1936-39). Within a short span of some 68 hours, Jordan\'s
involvement with a band of guerrillas- notably a young woman named
Maria, with whom he falls in love- forces him to question his own
participation in a war that seems unwinnable and to realize that the
sacrifice of life for the sake of a political cause may be too high
a price to pay.
Jordan is a college teacher on a leave of absence in Spain, and as
For Whom the Bell Tolls opens, he\'s discussing the location of a
bridge with a local guide named Anselmo. But there\'s much more to
the situation than that. The Spain that Jordan loves is involved in
a civil war, and he has really come to help wage that war on behalf of
the side he believes in. At the moment his job is to blow up a
bridge behind enemy lines.
The assignment came to Jordan through General Golz, a Soviet officer
also in Spain to help fight the war. According to Golz, the demolition
of the bridge at precisely the right moment is a key part of a
large-scale offensive by the Republican forces.
Jordan needs help to do the job, so the peasant Anselmo has
brought him to a guerrilla band hiding in the mountains. From the
moment Jordan meets Pablo, their leader, Jordan suspects that the
guerrilla chief, who should be his chief ally in the operation, will
spell trouble.
Pablo has \"gone bad.\" He\'s lost his drive, his purpose as a
guerrilla leader. He\'s content simply to stay hidden and survive,
rather than actively harass the enemy.
With the arrival of Jordan, the band of seven men and two women
are given a renewed sense of purpose. This prompts a showdown for
leadership of the band. Pilar, Pablo\'s mistress, publicly assumes
charge. Pablo\'s status is uncertain at this moment, and several of the
band would now be grateful if Jordan killed Pablo. But he doesn\'t.
Plans are made to enlist the help of a neighboring guerrilla band, led
by El Sordo, in the demolition of the bridge.
Robert Jordan finds more than the bridge to occupy his attention.
Among the guerrilla group is Maria, a young woman who was rescued by
the band during their last significant operation. They are almost
instantly attracted to each other and spend this first night making
love. It\'s not the first sexual experience for either of them.
Jordan has been with other women; Maria was once raped by a group of
enemy soldiers. But for each, it\'s the first experience that
combines sex with love.
On the second day, Jordan, Pilar, and Maria make their way to the
hideout of El Sordo to enlist his help in demolishing the bridge. El
Sordo promises support. On the return trip, Pilar deliberately
leaves Jordan and Maria by themselves for a while. Again they make
love, and Jordan begins to entertain serious doubts about whether this
war is the most important thing in his life after all.
The band now observes a heavy concentration of enemy soldiers riding
through the area but manages to avoid detection. El Sordo and his
men are not so fortunate. Nationalist soldiers- the enemy- trap them
on a hill and they are slaughtered. Jordan and the others hear the
sounds of the fighting but are helpless to come to El Sordo\'s aid.
It\'s an agonizing feeling.
Personal experiences have brought Jordan to doubt the value of
this war in general. Now the concentration of enemy soldiers and
planes in the area makes him doubt the practicality of blowing up
the bridge. Perhaps if Golz were aware of the enemy\'s numbers in the
immediate area, he would want the operation canceled.
He writes a dispatch to Golz. But the messenger is delayed time
and again- not by the presence of the enemy in the area, but by the
frustrating bumbling and petty bureaucracy of his own Republican
forces. Ultimately, he is arrested and the dispatch is confiscated,
again by his own people.
At the camp, Maria and Jordan dream about their future together, but
Jordan knows they are fooling themselves. Finally, Pilar brings Jordan
the news that Pablo has deserted and has taken the detonation devices.
The bridge operation wasn\'t easy to begin with; now Jordan will have
to improvise a makeshift exploder and detonators just to have a chance
at succeeding.
He spends the middle of the night devising a way- and holding Maria.
\"We\'ll be killed but we\'ll blow the bridge,\" he whispers to her as she
sleeps in his arms.
Early on the morning of this fourth day, as the band eat what
could be their last breakfast, Pablo returns. He apologizes for his
moment of weakness. To make up for it, he has brought several more men
from the area to join them. But the exploder and detonators are
gone; he has tossed them in the river.
Meanwhile, a Soviet journalist secures the release of the messenger,
and Jordan\'s dispatch finally reaches Golz, but it\'s too late. The
doomed attack has already been mounted and can\'t be stopped.
Without counterorders from Golz, Jordan\'s mission to blow up the
bridge proceeds. He feverishly rigs the improvised detonation
devices just in time. At the sound of the Loyalist attack (his cue),
the bridge is blown up. Jordan has accomplished what he came to do.
But he is a different man from what he was a short while ago; the
success gives him little satisfaction.
The band must now attempt a retreat. Pablo, the most familiar with
the area, has devised a workable plan. The group draws enemy fire
but no one is hit. They all have a chance to escape to a safe area-
except Robert Jordan.
His horse is hit and falls on him, breaking his thigh. For the
good of all, he is left behind. Everyone but Maria can see that
there is no other way. There is a painful good-bye. Maria protests
to the end and won\'t leave until she is forced to by Pilar and Pablo.
Robert Jordan struggles to remain conscious just long enough to kill
at least some of the enemy. He lies on the ground, awaiting the enemy.
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