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
Robert Jordan steps out of the cave and observes the night; he smells what is left of the meal, the wine they have drunk, and horse sweat and man sweat. He hears Rafael starting to sing a song, and a voice orders him to change to Catalan; he does so, and changes the song, too: “Thank God I am a Negro / And not a Catalan!” Pablo and his wife tell Rafael to stop singing.
Rafael’s racist song (targeting the Catalan, a subset of the Spanish population) suggests that significant divisions exist in Spanish society, just as they do in American society, though the marginalized groups differ. Whereas the “Negro” is positioned as superior to the Catalan in Rafael’s song, black Americans faced extreme discrimination in the 1930s, when the novel is set.
Themes
Rafael asks Robert Jordan why he didn’t kill Pablo and tells him that he must kill him sooner or later. Jordan says that he thought it would “molest” his wife or the others. Rafael continues to encourage him to kill Pablo, saying that “there is no remedy.”
To Rafael, violence is the only answer to the continued conflict between Pablo, Pilar, and Robert Jordan: nothing will change, he claims, without a killing, mirroring the fascists’ own views on violence and the value of murder.
Themes
Pablo emerges from the cave, smoking a cigarette, and tells Jordan not to pay attention to his wife, who is “difficult,” though “very loyal to the Republic.” Cheerfully, he tells Jordan that they should have no difficulties and that he is welcome, and he strides off to find his horses. Rafael says that he will follow him to prevent him from leaving the camp: Agustin is there, and he will kill Pablo gladly. Jordan tells Rafael to go to Agustin and tell him about Pablo’s behavior, and Rafael does so.
Here, Pablo’s mercurial personality is made clear. Though he has already fought publicly with Jordan, he suddenly changes his perspective, viewing him as an ally instead of an adversary. Pablo’s shifting opinions signal his ambivalence about the war: he is not as loyal to the Republic as Pilar, but his newfound cheerfulness with Jordan suggests that he is sometimes willing to cooperate with others in order to fight for the Republican cause.
Themes
Jordan walks through the pines and counts the horses below in the meadow, finding five. He tells himself that he is obligated to fulfill the bridge plan, and he must take no risks until he completes this duty; he wonders, though, if he should have killed Pablo, since the group expected him to. Jordan decides that it would have been bad to kill Pablo, though he was tempted, and he reflects that nothing is simple in this country.
Here and throughout the novel, Robert Jordan worries about the immorality of killing, wondering whether it is better to eliminate people who may be threats to the Republican cause—including Pablo—or to preserve the value of human life.
Themes
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Robert Jordan decides that he trusts Pablo’s wife, and he feels that without her, there would be no organization or discipline in the group. It would be ideal if she, Rafael, or Agustin would kill Pablo. Anselmo would kill him if Jordan asked, but he is morally opposed to killing. Jordan realizes that both Anselmo and Pablo’s wife “really believe in the Republic.”
Again, Jordan’s desire to have others kill Pablo—instead of him—demonstrates his deep discomfort with the act of killing, but also his understanding that killing is sometimes necessary in warfare.
Themes
Below Jordan in the meadow, Pablo is standing by one of the horses. Jordan cannot see him or hear him clearly. Pablo speaks tenderly to the horse: “Thou art no woman nor a fool […] Thou, oh, thou, thee, thee, my big little pony.” Jordan walks back to the cave, realizing it is not a practical time to kill Pablo. Pablo’s horse has understood nothing of what he said, but he recognizes his words as endearments; he is hungry, and Pablo annoys him.
Pablo’s beloved horses represent a world free of the entanglements and moral challenges of war. Hemingway briefly takes up the perspective of Pablo’s horse, who is indifferent to Pablo, thinking only of his hunger, to show a side of life unconnected to war, violence, and even humanity.
Themes
