Final Blog Post

Prompt:
"Does the author state her/his purposes overtly? If so, state the purpose in
your blog and several passages that support your position. If the purpose is
implicit, tell what you think the purpose of the book is and why, and provide
several passages that support your position."

For Whom the Bell Tolls, as it turns out, was a rather complex book to read. The basic story of the american, Robert Jordan, fighting and dying with the guerillas in the Spanish mountains paints a grim image of the brutality of war. Skillfully inserted into the conversations of the main characters lie depictions of the silly squabbles of politics and idealism and possibly a sort of "live for the moment" view on life.

The most obvious theme of the book is the reality and brutality of war and death. From the very beginning, the mission of blowing up the bridge in conjuction with a loyalist attack seems unlikely to succeed, like when a large formation of planes passed over their camp -
"It is bad, Robert Jordan thought. This is really bad. Here is a concentration of planes which means something very bad." (pg. 76)
This sets the feeling of impending doom for the rest of the book, and because he thinks he probably wont live, he and most people around him "live for the moment". Jordan and the girl Maria fall in the love the very first day they meet. The book, 400 pages, is by no means long, but not short either, yet it vividly describes only three days of his life. Pilar encourages Maria and Jordan to make love, because "there is not much time" (pg. 91). In essence, the couple live their entire lives in those three days, because given the circumstances and times of war, they may not be able to live it later on.

Another major theme in the book is analysis and criticism of ideology and bereaucracy. At the beginning of the book, Jordan fights for the republic because he whole-heartedly believes in the communist cause and sympathises with fellow republicans. Gradually he is frustrated by the inefficincies of th loyalist army, describing leaders as "old bald, spectacled, brave-and-as-dumb-as-a-bull, propaganda-built-up defenders of Madrid" (pg.233). He is asked if he is a communist and he replies "No I am an anti-fascist." Thus, he has changed his reasons for fighting. He no longer fights for an ideology, but rather against a wicked regime. In the process, realizes that he and the enemy are not much different, because they were both manipulated by idealistic propoganda into fighting eachother. By telling this story, Hemingway is critisizing ideology and how leaders us it to propogate (if thats a verb? im not sure...) and exploit people.