For Whom the Bell Tolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) is a novel by the Modernist American author Ernest Hemingway. The novel tells the story of Robert Jordan, an American volunteer working as a demolition specialist for the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. Robert, sent to blow up a bridge to aid a Republican offensive, enlists the aid of a band of guerrilla fighters in the mountains. Robert falls in love with a woman in their care, Maria, and experiences the difficulties of wartime relationships as love and war grow alongside each other.

This guide uses the 2019 Scribner Hemingway Library Edition in e-book format.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of wartime violence, references to sexual violence, and offensive terms for Gitanos (Romani people in Spain) and women.

Plot Summary

For Whom the Bell Tolls opens on Robert Jordan as he is guided through the mountains by his guide, Anselmo, to meet a possible band of guerrilla fighters to enlist in his operation. The leader of the band, Pablo, expresses a clear disinclination to help Robert, claiming that any explosion in their territory would cause the fascists to actively seek them out and kill them. The rest of the group, believing Pablo a coward, change their loyalties to follow Pablo’s wife, Pilar.

Robert experiences an immediate attraction to Maria, a woman in the guerrilleros’ care who suffered abuses at the hands of the fascists. With Pilar’s support and urging, they begin a relationship; despite Robert’s initial claims that he cannot sustain a real relationship, their connection quickly deepens, and by the end of the novel, he calls Maria his wife. Robert also experiences deeper connections with the rest of the group than he has with past comrades.

Pilar helps Robert enlist the aid of another nearby guerrilla leader, El Sordo, so he will have enough fighters to accomplish his mission. El Sordo, Pilar, and the rest of the guerrilleros seem to understand that the mission may be doomed, but all except Pablo agree to help Robert out of dedication to the cause and their desire to help the military make important gains in the war.

That night, the mountains experience a spring snow, threatening to end the operation if it does not clear, or to reveal El Sordo’s location to fascists if it clears too early and captures his men’s footprints after stealing horses.

As Pablo drinks, he becomes more critical of the plan, raising tensions within the group until one of the men hits him. The group decides to kill him to prevent treachery, but when he returns, he claims to have changed his mind, agreeing to help.

Early the next morning, Robert wakes to an approaching fascist cavalryman and shoots him down. Knowing the man to be a scout, he sends Pablo on the man’s horse to leave tracks leading away from the cave and sets up the machine gun. The rest of the cavalry appears, but they follow Pablo’s tracks, missing the cave. El Sordo and his men are not so lucky. The cavalry tracks them back to their camp, where they surround them and attack, and Robert and Pilar cannot help El Sordo. Once El Sordo and his final four men are dead, the commander of the cavalry, Lieutenant Berrendo, orders his men to behead them, following the practice of his leaders. Pablo’s band is disturbed by this news, brought by Pablo and Anselmo after they checked the site of the battle. Robert no longer has enough men, but he remains determined to follow his orders.

During the night, Pablo steals several mechanisms for detonating Robert’s dynamite and flees. He throws out the tools, but then, lonely and realizing Robert would still find a way to go through with the plan, he returns, along with men he brought from nearby bands to help complete Robert’s plan.

Robert had sent one of the men, Andrés, to get a message to Golz; after having Anselmo watch all vehicles and troops going up the road by the bridge, and hearing about rumors of a Republican offensive, Robert concluded that the Nationalists knew about the attack and were prepared for it. He urges Golz to stop the attack, but Andrés is delayed and does not reach Golz in time.

Robert successfully blows up the bridge, shocked that he survived and sorrowful over Anselmo’s death in the blast. As the group begins their retreat, fascist soldiers fire on them; Robert’s horse is hit and falls on him, breaking his leg badly. Robert begs Maria to go, and the guerrilleros pull her away from him after their goodbye. They leave him with one gun, which Robert hopes to use to attack fascists rather than having to kill himself to prevent capture. The cavalry approaches, led by Lieutenant Berrendo, at whom Robert aims as the man nears his hiding spot.