The Flaw in the Bell

The bell in "The Bell Tower" is flawed when Bannadonna kills one of the workmen forging it. Bannadonna kills the poor guy with a ladle; the bit of the ladle breaks off, gets into the forge, and creates a flaw, which Bannadonna secretly covers up. As Melville says, "the bells' main weakness was where man's blood had flawed it. And so pride went before the fall." So the bell is "man's weakness"—which is also pride.

So, don't be too proud, or your bell won't work. Also, don't murder your workers. Which you'd think would really be the more important point.