Their resignation to fight on to the end in the face of certain death was handled very well. Added a level of complexity to an otherwise flat character.Īs for my favorite parts, I like how Hemingway handled Sordo and Robert Jordan's deaths. Speaking of internal dialogues, Hemingway does a great job with them, showing the conflict within Robert Jordan about who he is and why he is there. I.e., creating an ambiguous love story that makes the reader wonder whether they were true lovers or just two people forced to interact by circumstances. On the other hand, Robert Jordan, in his internal monologue, had to convince himself that he loved her a few times throughout the story so maybe Hemingway did it on purpose. Part of me wants to think that Hemingway was just bad at writing romance scenes and that is why their entire romance seemed a bit flat. I am trying to decide how I feel about the relationship between Robert Jordan and Maria. ( From the publisher.I know this book probably gets discussed fairly often on here but I don't see any recent discussions, so I figured I'd start a new one.įirst off, there will be spoilers. As the group attempts escape, Jordan is seriously injured, and Maria, having been told by Jordan that he will always be with her, leaves with the survivors while Jordan remains behind, waiting for death. Jordan blows the bridge, and Anselmo is killed by flying steel. Knowing that the fascists are aware of the offensive, Jordan sends a message to General Golz, hoping the offensive will be canceled, but the message arrives too late. Pablo, aware that Jordan's mission will invite fascist forces, refuses at first to participate, but relents, returning with additional men and horses shortly before the mission begins. Robert Jordan, a Spanish professor from Montana serving with Loyalist guerrilla forces during the Spanish Civil War, is guided by the old man Anselmo to Pablo's guerrilla band in the mountains above a bridge which Jordan must blow up when the Loyalist offensive begins. And there he finds Maria who has escaped from Franco’s rebels

There he finds the intense comradeship of war. Robert Jordan, a young American, has been sent to handle the dynamiting.

High in the Spanish Sierra, a guerrilla band prepares to blow up a vital bridge.

Robert jordan for whom the bell tolls