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.