Electronic Journal #3 For Whom the Bell Tolls

Beginning in Chapter 30, Jordan struggles with the conflict of following orders versus believing the orders of useless. Billy Pilgrim has this struggle too by not conforming to everyday lifestyles and imagining his life on Tramalfadore. Phineas and Gene have this struggle at the Devon school as teenagers. In the end, the bridge operation still remains in operation on the account that it has future success. As Jordan and Maria lie together, Maria tells the story of her capture and the brutal beatings of her parents. Jordan concludes that atrocities have been made on both sides. This is said in Slaughterhouse-Five too that there is no “good guy” in the sense of war. Also, Pablo steals some of the dynamite from the bridge operation and is nowhere to be seen. Furious, Jordan has to put it off to focus on the bridge offensive. This relates to Gene because he is extremely jealous of Phineas. So, in doing so, makes Phineas feel bad for himself and break his leg. As the days grow closer to the operation, Jordan reminisces on the people he has met and feels as though they are family. This coincides with all three main characters: Phineas, Gene, and Billy because they all make new friends in which they build relationships with. Pablo returns and feels guilty for his near desertion. This is somewhat comparable to Billy because mentally, he is not fully engaged in war and is actually bringing other soldiers around him down. War is all psychological, one must believe. Pilar is ordered to watch over the horses while the guerilla offensive is being held which relates to Billy when he uses the horses after the bombing of Dresden. Later, Jordan thinks that all allies, like he and Pablo, hate each other deep down. This is a perfect representation of Phineas and Gene because Gene is jealous of Phineas’ athletic talent and Phineas is jealous of Gene’s smarts. Then, Jordan has a “time travel” while saying good bye to Maria which is the struggle Billy has in his war experience. The bombing of the bridge is executed and the only main people left after it includes Pablo, Jordan, Maria, and Pilar. On their way out of the war, a bullet kills Jordan’s horse which falls on Jordan’s leg, breaking it. Jordan must stay behind and tells Pablo to take good care of Maria. As Jordan lies, nearly dead, he awaits Berrendo, the Fascist Lieutenant and takes aim. After this last part of the novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a nice conclusion to my reading lens of war.

Electronic Journal #2 For Whom the Bell Tolls

In the middle section of Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, the plot is furthered through the war. From where I left off, it has begun to snow and Anselmo was asked to keep an eye on the Fascists who have taken refuge in a nearby sawmill. Pilar tells the story of Finito, a bullfighter who was killed from a succession of bull hits. Back in the cave, El Sordo left some whiskey for Jordan which he takes into delight. That night, while Pablo is drunk, Jordan tries to pick a fight with Pablo but is unsuccessful because Pablo doesn’t take the “bait” Jordan left. When Pablo steps out of the cave, the men plot to kill Pablo later; however, Pablo insists to join in the bridge expedition suggesting he heard the men talking about killing him. Later, Jordan finalizes his plans to blow the bridge and reminisces about his early involvement in the Spanish Civil War at Gaylord’s, a Madrid restaurant. He remembers Karkov, a Russian journalist who insights Jordan and acknowledges Jordan’s only book published. Karkov and Jordan become friends and in the book, Jordan reveals that things in the war are “not so simple.” Upon the assumption revealed by Pilar in the killing of Kashkin, she describes the smell of death, which has four main components: the brass on a ship in danger of sinking, the taste of the kiss of an old woman who has drunk the blood of a slaughtered animal, dead flowers in the trash, and dirty water from a brothel. Then, Jordan waits for Maria in which they make love, and in the morning a Fascist soldier is riding on horseback in which Jordan kills him. Rafael is missing, the team sets up the machine gun and in the midst of all of this, and Jordan refuses to tell Maria that he loves her. Rafael returns to camp with two hares in which they were caught mating foreshadowing maybe the separation of Maria and Jordan. Anselmo volunteers to find any info in La Granja and Jordan and Agustin talk about Maria whom each of which is in love with. In the distance they hear fighting at El Sordo’s but refuse to interfere. Then, Jordan contemplates the justification of killing and concludes that he believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. El Sordo’s camp gets bombed and Lieutenant Berrendo (a Fascist) orders the beheadings of the campers. Jordan then writes a letter to a general to cancel the bridge expedition.
In comparison to the latter novels I have read, the Finito story somewhat depicts at Phineas. He is unafraid of the situation distraught of him and learns to fear danger/death. Also, with war as “not so simple” it teases with both novels. In Slaughterhouse, this quote somewhat coincides with “so it goes.” “Not so simple” refers to that war is complicated and anything can change in an instant. “So it goes” refers to the injustice of death which is a part of the complexity of war. In A Separate Peace, “not so simple” can be referred to the indecisions of Gene and the boys at Devon school. Also, in coincidence with Slaughterhouse, the smells that Pilar explains somewhat reveals the actions of Billy and the war. These representations brought up the essence of Slaughterhouse and even the slaughterhouse in which Billy had to stay in. It’s the grotesqueness and smells that shape a war and the environment. Also, with Jordan not saying he loved Maria, it is the same manner in which Billy had with his wife. Lastly, the justification of killing that Jordan contemplates is hinted in the last novels, too. In Slaughterhouse, Billy never killed a man or never had any remorse but shows emotion when the animals are mistreated (this animal representation is in both Vonnegut’s and Hemingway’s novels, too). Lastly, in Peace, the boys have to contemplate if they are ready to engage in war and Leper Lepilliar shows that they are not ready to kill when he is condemned crazy.