Electronic Journal #1 For Whom the Bell Tolls

In the beginning of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, the main character, Robert Jordan, is on a mission by the Russian General Golz to pertain in a guerrilla attack on a bridge nearby Segovia. He is escorted by a man named Anselmo meets up with the leader of the guerilla camp, Pablo, who is illiterate, can’t trust anyone but himself, and is on the verge of betraying the Republican side for the Fascists. Then, he meets Rafael, a gypsy who is in the guerrilla camp. Rafael and Jordan exchange stories in their headquarters, a cave, about Kashkin, the person Jordan is replacing and about the last operation where they blew up a train. Then, Jordan meets Maria, a pretty lady who he becomes fascinated with within the upcoming days and makes love to. The next day, Anselmo and Jordan go scope out the bridge to which they are going to blow up. Jordan presents the plan to the other guerilla members and the only one to object is Pablo who is persuaded by his lover, Pilar. One of the guards also remarks to Robert Jordan to pay close attention to his packs which may foreshadow something later. Later that night, Pablo talks to one of his horses and Jordan contemplates if he should have killed Pablo when he had the chance earlier. After that night, Jordan is awakened by enemy planes and wonders if the Fascists found out about the plan. Pilar, Maria, and Jordan then go for a walk to see El Sordo where they talk about Pablo and his massacre of many Fascists. This reminds the young American of when he witnessed the lynching of a black man in Ohio. When they meet up at the camp of El Sordo, they encounter Joaquin who rescued Maria from the ambushed train. When they reach El Sordo, he and Jordan talk about tactics and then the three of them return back to camp.
In this novel, it relates to Slaughterhouse-five in the sense that the course of the book first engages in wartime. You can relate Pablo to Billy Pilgrim because both are detached, feel the comfort of horses instead of people, and both become the blame. Also, with the heated involvement between Jordan and Maria, he somewhat symbolizes the love making of Billy and Montana Wildhack. Both are somewhat spontaneous in which they meet each other quickly and begin making love early in their relationship. Also, these lovers in Hemingway’s novel want to stop time to enjoy their company however in Vonnegut’s novel, you cannot stop time; it just is. In connection to A Separate Peace, there are fewer qualities. First, both novels deal with wartime and are situated in the decisions each of the characters has to make in regard to their operations. Lastly, the young boys at Devon have similar qualities with Pablo in which both want to be rebels. Pablo has the manner of possibly deserting his camp for the Fascists and the boys always want to rebel to become better athletes or just be kids.