For Whom the Bell Tolls Analysis

So what the heck is up with all those pine-needles? The pine-needles are probably the most noticeable recurrent image in the book. You get them in the very first sentence:He lay flat on the brown,...

For Whom the Bell Tolls takes place sometime in May 1937, in the hills and mountains of north-central Spain near the city of Segovia (not too far north of Madrid). 1937 was the second year of the S...

Our narrator in For Whom the Bell Tolls is like a little beastie which can dwell in anybody's head, but only one person at a time. The vast majority (and we mean vast majority) of the time, our per...

War and romance are the two central elements of the book. It's meant to be "about" war, and it's the situation of war which generates all of the central tensions and conflicts in the book. Then the...

For the most part, the narrative tone reflects Robert Jordan's own temperament, which makes sense, given how much of the narration is bound up with his own thoughts. He's a pretty chill guy, really...

Hemingway's writing leaves quite a bit up to the mind of the reader. And what Hemingway actually says isn't always what you'd think he'd say if he just wanted to be straightforward. Exhibit A, a ty...

The title comes from a poem written by John Donne . This novel's epigraph also comes from this Donne poem, so you should check out our discussion on "What's Up With the Epigraph?" But before you do...

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as w...

In the end, Robert Jordan and his band succeed in blowing up the bridge that they were on a mission to destroy. But it's still far from a happy ending, or a satisfying resolution. During the operat...

Bridges to Blow and People to MeetThe first two chapters of the book basically set up everything that will unfold, as an initial situation should. We learn of Robert Jordan's military mission, and...

Robert Jordan, charged with a mission to blow up a bridge, finds himself working with a colorful group of guerillas. He befriends Anselmo and Pilar, and meets Maria. Pilar replaces Pablo as leade...

We meet Robert Jordan and learn of his mission to blow up the bridge. He meets Pablo's guerilla band, wins over Pilar and commits them all to his mission. He and Maria fall in love. The next day,...

The bridge attack certainly didn't happen, although there was a (failed) Republican offensive on Segovia on May 30, 1937 which likely served as the inspiration for Golz's attack. Golz himself is a...

Sex in this book is mostly reserved for Robert Jordan and Maria. Maria crawls into Robert Jordan's sleeping bag the night she's met him, having exchanged few words and lots of awkward glances. Afte...

Quevedo (1.143, 11.74, 13.68)Lope de Vega (11.68), Fuente Ovejuna (18.40)Galdos (11.68)Mayakovsky (13.63)Gertrude Stein (24.19)"Declaration of Independence" (26.31)"Declaration of the Rights of Man...