Day 56: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Through a story of war, love, death, loyalty, betrayal, redemption, fate, and family, Ernest Hemingway brings the hardships and triumphs of life into crisp focus and wide perspective in 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' The great extremes of human nature clash violently in the mountains of Spain, where Robert Jordan, a young American in the international brigades, is sent on a straightforward, but dangerous mission. His orders are to link up with a small guerilla force and destroy a bridge on the eve of a large scale assault. If successful, the fascist enemy on the wrong side of the Spanish Civil War will be dealt a serious blow, the first of many to come. If successful.

The bonds Jordan forms in the mere three days he spends in the mountains, especially the love that blossoms between him and the girl Maria, come to define his life, and the mission. Headstrong Pilar, loyal Anselmo, cunning Pablo, and several others become his brothers and sisters in duty, facilitating his mission just as they come close enough to make him wish there were an alternative. His love for these characters steadily grows stronger as the battle draws closer, the moment he will be forced to put them at risk. Stakes build as bonds become firm, and Jordan has to fight to maintain his resolve. At first the bridge is all that matters, but he learns to live a full life in the time he has, and to hope for more, in his love with Maria.

Hemingway's to-the-point writing style and his experience as a journalist during the Spanish Civil War perfectly complement one another to provide a great sense that the story is grounded in strict reality. From the goings-on among the higher-ups, to the nitty gritty details of battle, politics, and revolution, Hemingway's grasp on the complex situation is absolute. Delivered through the characters' tragic histories, in formal but flowing dialogue, or by the roaming semi-omniscient narrator, bloody moments in the past give context for the Civil War that is a backdrop for the conflict in the mountains, culminating in the final operation to destroy the bridge. In the end, Jordan's life will be as full in those three days as it ever was, or it will be full in all the time that will come after the bridge. In the end it will make no difference, because the bell tolls for everyone equally. The only thing that matters is how the time before was spent, and not so much the length of it as the quality.

I highly recommend this novel for anyone looking to find a greater perspective on life, war, love, and duty. This classic will no doubt recontextualize your life and how you live it, bringing the important things into focus, and pushing the unimportant to the side. If any book deserves to be a classic, it is this one.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley