spanish civil war
For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the interesting story of Robert Jordan, who is a college teacher, and American supporter of the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Within a short span of sixty-eight hours, Jordan gets involvement with a band of guerrillas, and a young woman named Maria, with who he later on in the book falls in love with. She forces him to question his own participation in the war. This war seems unwinnable, and Jordan later on realizes that fighting for the sake of political causes might be too high a price to pay. First Jordan discusses the location of a bridge with a local guide named Anselmo. We find out that the Spain Jordan loves is in a Civil War, and that Jordan has really come to help fight for the side he believes in. At that moment Jordan has to destroy a bridge behind the enemy lines. This first assignment came to Jordan from General Golz, who was a Soviet officer also in Spain to fight the war. According to General Golz, the destruction of this bridge at the right time can be a big factor for the Republican forces. Jordan needs help to do this job, so the peasant Anselmo brought Jordan to a guerrilla band hiding in the mountains. From the moment Jordan meets Pablo, the leader of this
guerrilla band, he suspects that Pablo might lead Jordan to some trouble. But Jordan needs Pablo to be his ally in this operation. We find out that Pablo had "gone bad". He lost his drive, his purpose as a guerrilla leader. He lost the idea to simply stay hidden and survive, rather then to harass the enemy. With the arrival of Jordan, Pablo gives new instructions to the seven men and two women of the band, on how to do things and when to do them. I think this was to show Jordan that there is some leadership in the band. A lot of the band members and some other bands don't like Pablo, and would be happy if Jordan would kill him, but he doesn't. Instead Jordan makes plans to meet with another neighboring guerrilla band, led by El Sordo. Jordan has them help in the demolition of the bridge. Robert Jordan finds more than the bridge to occupy his attention. Among the guerrilla band there is a women named Maria, who the band rescued during their last significant operation. Maria and Robert almost instantly are attracted to each other and spend the first night making love. This is not the first sexual experience for either of them. Jordan has been with other women. And Maria was once raped by a group of enemy soldiers. But this was the first experience that combined sex and love for both of them. The next day Robert, Maria, and Pilar, who is Pablo's mistress, go to the hideout of El Sordo to ask for their help in destroying the bridge. El Sordo promises their support. On the return trip, Pilar leaves Jordan and Maria on purpose by themselves for a while. And again they make love, and this is where I think Jordan begins to realize that this war might not be the most important thing in his life after all. Pablo's band then tries to avoid being seen by the enemy soldiers riding through the area. El Sordo and his men are not so fortunate. Nationalist soldiers "the enemy" trap them on a hill and they are slaughtered. Jordan and the others hear the sounds of fighting but did not come to aid El Sordo. Jordan thinks that it is a horrible feeling. Jordan talks about some personal experiences with now make him doubt the value of this war. He says the concentration of enemy soldiers and planes in the area make him doubt if they have the ability of blowing up the bridge. He says that if General Golz was aware of the numbers of the enemy soldiers, he would want the operation canceled. So Robert Jordan writes a message for Golz. But the messenger is delayed because of the presence of so many soldiers in the area. And finally the note never gets to Golz because the messenger is arrested and the note is taken
Some common words found in the essay are:
Jordan Pablo, Robert Jordan, El Sordo's, Jordan Maria, Civil War, Farewell Arms, According Golz, Sordo Jordan, Maria Jordan's, El Sordo, robert jordan, guerrilla band, bell tolls, el sordo, enemy soldiers, jordan pablo, jordan help, detonation devices, civil war, jordan maria, spanish civil war, el sordo jordan, jordan guerrilla band,
Approximate Word count = 1756
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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