As discussed in class, there is indeed a certain universality to this book and its characters, where such experiences could have been lived by anyone and at any time war, killing, and love are forever. There is constant talk of killing and death among the guerillas of the camp, and later in the book, the actual killing commences. As well, Robert Jordan and Maria make love in the woods. There is much that goes on behind the lines and in between battles people get hungry, and food must be prepared (as in the first chapter). Hemingway deliberately takes the more palpable parts of the war and the human condition to his audiences, depicting the more basic, primordial side of people: hunger, lust, killing, and death.
What I particularly enjoyed about this book is that it portrays very real experiences, human experiences, and with that, clear and substantial emotions.
This is particularly true for inter-character dialogue, but less so for the narration. The sentences are not incorrect, but they feel like direct translations of sentences first written in Spanish. Indeed it really incorporates an almost Spanish type of grammar, yet it is largely executed in English, with light Spanish punctuations here and there. What is notable about this book specifically is its strange diction in which it goes about telling the story. In order to do this, he enlists the help of mountain guerillas of the area he is led to guerillas’ hideout by his guide, the elderly Anselmo. By orders of a General Golz, he is to strategically blow up a bridge at the precise time of a Republican offensive in order to hinder the mobilization of Fascist reinforcements. In Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, we acquaint ourselves with the protagonist Robert Jordan, an expert dynamiter from the US who has given up his life at home to participate in the Spanish Civil War.
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