For Whom the Bell Tolls Characters

Robert Jordan: Stud or Dud?Ah, our hero. When you look at him one way, Robert Jordan's the ideal Hemingway man. Once a country boy slash Spanish professor in Montana, he's come to Spain (where he's...

Maria, the Love of Everyone's LifeMa-ri-a! He just met a girl named Maria! And we really do mean just met. Maria and Robert Jordan know each other for three and a half days, and sleep with each oth...

Pablo the Bad GuyBy all accounts, Pablo's not good news. Not good-looking, either. He's "dirty," "stubble-faced," with small-closely spaced eyes on a large round head. Robert Jordan's fond of compa...

Pilar: Larger Than Life and Lovin' ItIt's hard to imagine a more colorful first line than Pilar's as she emerges from the cave scolding Rafael: "What are you doing now, you lazy drunken obscene uns...

Anselmo's a good guy, a really good guy – he's basically the moral conscience of the book. Formerly a devout Catholic, he's abandoned his religion because of the Church's alliance with the fa...

Our first meeting with Agustín is pretty memorable and pretty revealing. He's on sentry duty and asks Anselmo and Robert Jordan to tell him the password, only to admit with a laugh a few lines...

Karkov's most intelligent guy Robert Jordan knows, with a fine taste in literature, a fine taste in women, and a fierce political savvy to boot. He's also the most important character-who-barely-ap...

El Sordo (real name: Santiago) is a well-weathered warrior, getting on in years (partially deaf – El Sordo actually means "the deaf one"), but still tough as nails. Like Anselmo, he likes to...

In Pablo's band, Rafael is "the worthless one." He's not dedicated, he's not disciplined, and he's not dependable, though it can be said for him that at least he's not a complete coward. He likes t...

Andrés is the younger in a pair of brothers in Pablo's band, the other being Eladio. He's a fierce little sucker, having earned a reputation as a kid for sinking his teeth into the ear of the...

Poor Primitivo. There's just not a whole lot to say about him, besides the fact that he's got a flat face and is getting on in years. He gets stuck being called "flat-faced Primitivo," or "the flat...

Dignity, dignity, dignity. If you want a relic from a bygone age in Spain, you've found it in Fernando. Not that he's the oldest character; he's definitely younger than Anselmo and probably Primiti...

Eladio is actually memorable for being the least memorable character of the book. Although he's a member of Pablo's band and Andrés's older brother, we see much less of him than any of the oth...

Golz is the Russian general responsible for leading the Republican offensive, of which Robert Jordan's mission is a part, though he insists it's not "his attack." Robert Jordan lets us know that he...

Kashkin's already dead when the book starts, and we don't even see him alive in a flashback. Instead, we just hear about him every so often from other characters. He was the Russian dynamiter who w...

Joaquin is a teenage boy in El Sordo's group, and the only person in the group besides El Sordo that we know by name (as well as the only Communist we know of in either band). In happier, younger d...

Lt. Paco Berrendo is the only fascist soldier we remotely get to know. He's one of the soldiers who fights El Sordo on the hill, and loses his best friend in the process. After Captain Mora gets ki...

Captain Rogelio Gomez is the Republican officer who gives Andrés a helping hand when he crosses the Republican lines with his dispatch. Unlike everyone else, he's genuinely helpful. He takes A...

Also known as "The Crazy," Comrade Marty is a very well-known French Communist and the Commissar of the International Brigades (to which Robert Jordan belongs). He's turned bitter and paranoid afte...

A mediocre Republican officer who's been in the army all his life, and in the process lost his wife and his digestion. His one ambition is to finish the war with the same rank. He's friendly enough...

Mora's just a fool. He's the overconfident leader of the fascist troops who attack El Sordo. First he mounts a stupid offensive which costs many of his troops their lives, and then he's foolish eno...

Finito is an old flame of Pilar and, like Kashkin, a dead character whom we only hear about through stories. He was a bullfighter, but hampered by his short stature and his fear of bulls. That didn...

Robert Jordan's idol was his grandfather. A Civil War veteran, engaged Republican (American Republican), and accomplished soldier with lots of military experience and insight, Robert Jordan occasio...

Robert Jordan's father committed suicide and, thereby, earned Robert Jordan's lasting contempt.

Ignacio is one of El Sordo's men, who makes it to the top of the hilltop where El Sordo stages his last stand. All we know about him is that his name is Ignacio.

La Pasionaria, the famous orator and inspirational figure for the Republicans, is another real historical figure who makes an appearance in the novel. We never see her, but we hear Joaquin recite s...