Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in For Whom the Bell Tolls, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love in War
Cultural Connections
Violence, Cowardice, and Death
The Eternality of the Present
Summary
Analysis
Returning to the cave, Robert Jordan rearranges the explosive materials in his pack and covers them with canvas, then changes his mind and carries them into the cave, where Pablo, three men he does not know, Rafael, Anselmo, and the two women are gathered. Pablo asks if it would be better to have the packs outside, but Jordan says that someone might trip over them in the dark. Pablo says he doesn’t like to have dynamite in the cave, but Jordan reassures him that it is far from the fire.
Pablo and Robert Jordan’s relationship is on edge, since both believe they have the group’s best interests at heart: Pablo doesn’t want the dynamite in the cave for fear that it might explode accidentally, but Jordan believes that it is safer there than outside. This argument is just one of many that will typify the relationship between the two men throughout the novel, as they negotiate authority and power within the group (complicated by Jordan’s position as an outsider, albeit more educated and with formal military training).
Themes
Watching Pablo carefully, Jordan offers him some of his cigarettes. He tells the others that Agustin has told them he is dying of boredom, and he asks Maria to bring him a cup of water. When she brings him the water, he sucks in his stomach and moves to the left on his stool so that the pistol on his belt moves closer to where he wants it to be. He reaches down, takes out his flask, drinks half of the water in the cup and pours the flask into the cup. Pablo tells him that he doesn’t like anis, which he can smell from Jordan’s flask.
Jordan’s careful adjustment of his pistol suggests his wariness about Pablo, who poses a threat to Jordan’s authority and his plan for the bridge offensive, as well as his insistent need to assert dominance and strength.
Themes
Rafael asks to taste the drink, which Jordan describes as a “medicine” that “cures everything.” He has only a little of it left, and it reminds him of his travels in Paris before the war. Jordan explains the “medicine” to Rafael, saying that the wormwood in absinthe is supposed to “change the ideas” in one’s brain.
Throughout the novel, the guerillas, including Robert Jordan, are rarely without alcohol: drinking seems to bolster their courage and dull their melancholy about the never-ending violence (“changing the ideas” about the war in their brains).
Themes
Jordan looks at the other men at the table. One has a large flat face and an unblinking gaze. The other two are brothers, short and dark-haired. One of the brothers says that Jordan’s cigarettes are like the ones Kashkin had, and Jordan asks him if they were at the train. The other brother replies that they were all at the train, except the old man, and Pablo suggests that they blow up another train. Jordan says they can, after the bridge, and Pablo responds that he and his people do not support the bridge. Anselmo says that they will blow up the bridge without “this coward,” meaning Pablo.
Pablo’s opposition to blowing up the bridge stems in part from his own inability to relinquish authority to Jordan. Pablo has experience blowing up trains, while Jordan has experience with bridges, and thus, Pablo suggests a train offensive instead, in order to put himself back in charge of the group. Again, both Jordan and Pablo seem intent on demonstrating their own power and courage.
Themes
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Jordan looks over at Pablo’s wife. She says something to Maria, who leaves the cave. Jordan says to Pablo that they will blow the bridge without his help, and he asks Pablo’s wife if she supports blowing up the bridge. She responds that she does, her face lit by the fire, shining “warm and dark and handsome.” Pablo asks her what she said, looking betrayed, and she responds that she is “against” him. The other men agree that they are for the bridge, and Pablo’s wife declares, “I am for the Republic […] and the Republic is the bridge.”
In a striking moment, Pilar defies her husband and boldly allies herself with Robert Jordan, who she seems to trust instinctively. Pilar views Robert Jordan as a supporter of the Republic and an extension of the Republican cause, and her fierce loyalty to the Republic prompts her to act bravely.
Themes
Pablo insults his wife, saying that she has a “head of a seed bull” and a “heart of a whore,” but she replies, “that which must pass, will pass,” calling him a “coward.” Pablo says that he has “tactical sense,” and he asks Robert Jordan if he wants to die. Jordan replies that he doesn’t, and Pablo asks the room if he is the only one who sees the seriousness of the situation. Jordan thinks that he, too, can see the seriousness: Pablo’s wife saw a bad omen for the future on his palm, though she doesn’t see the danger of the plan yet.
At this point in the novel, it is unclear who of the guerillas has the right idea—about whether the bridge offensive will be effective or merely dangerous. Even Robert Jordan sees the danger in the plan that he supports (more out of duty and obligation than genuine belief in the plan’s success). War, it seems, is always characterized by risk and potential destruction.
Themes
Pablo insists that he is for the good and the safety of all, and that Jordan’s plan is only for the good of the foreigners. He compares himself to a bullfighter who knows what he is doing and decides to stay safe. Pablo’s wife says that she has known matadors who were gored despite “knowing what they were doing”: she relates the story of her former lover, Finito, who was injured after a display of arrogance in the ring. Pablo’s wife asks if she lived “nine years with three of the worst paid matadors in the world not to learn about fear and about safety,” and she criticizes Pablo for becoming “lazy, a drunkard, and a coward.”
Pablo compares himself to a matador, an iconic figure of masculinity, prowess, and tactical intelligence, but Pilar has a different view: even matadors, she says, are fallible. Thus, the novel challenges the idea that there is any true, singular, and untestable notion of courage.
Themes
Pablo believes that he is the leader of the group, but his wife disagrees, saying that she commands. Pablo says that he should shoot her and the foreigner, Jordan. Jordan watches him carefully, asking for another cup of water. Maria fetches one for him as he loosens his pistol and puts it on his thigh. Pablo’s wife orders Maria to go outside again and continues to tell Pablo that she alone commands the group. Pablo tells her and Jordan to go to hell, and that though he drinks and is lazy, he is not stupid. Pablo’s wife calls Maria in again to serve dinner.
The power struggle between Pilar, Pablo, and Robert Jordan continues, with tensions between Pilar and Pablo increasing: Pablo’s apparent cowardice prompts his demotion from leader of the group.
Themes
Rafael asks Robert Jordan if he saw the bridge, and Jordan shows him his sketches. Pablo goads Jordan, and Pablo’s wife, angered, tells him to shut up, calling him a “coward” and a “murderer.” Suddenly, her rage turns to sorrow, a feeling she recalls from when she was younger. However, she is able to put the feeling aside, and she asks Maria to serve the bowls from the pot for dinner.
Pilar’s conflicted reaction to Pablo demonstrates that anger, sorrow, despair, and disillusionment are all common reactions to war and its associated conflicts. Throughout the novel, Pilar will struggle to maintain her faith in the Republic, given the apparent hopelessness of the war and significant group strife.
Themes
