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. NB: The text of the coversheet is excluded from the essay word
count.1 . - D . S a n d e r s a r g u e s t h a t
For Whom the Bell Tolls
i s u n d o u b t e d l y a non olitical novel. Do you agree! Discuss.The
"merican novelist and #ournalist $rnest %emingway &1'(' ) 1'*1+ wroteone
of his most celebrated boo,s and his biggest commercial success
1
o r /hom the Bell Tolls in 1'0'. The author s ent some time
re orting duringthe S anish ivil /ar and thus we can infer that the
boo, has some basis inhis ex erience of being in S ain during that
time. The boo, follows the main rotagonist an "merican 2obert
3ordan for four days and three nights
whileh e i s a t t a c h e d t o a g u e r i l l a g r o u behind fascis
t l i n e s i n t h e S i e r r a d e 4uadarrama. /or,ing under the
c o m m a n d o f t h e c o m m u n i s t c o n t r o l l e d 5nternational
Brigades he is instructed to blow u a bridge to assist with
anattac, on the city of Segovia. 5n David Sanders6 article 6$rnest
%emingway6sS a n i s h i vi l / a r $ x e r i e n c e 6
7
h e d e s c r i b e s % e m m i n g w a y 6 s c l a s s i c a s h a vi n g a 8 n o n o
litical nature.9
0
This is u a l i f i e d b y h i s s t a t e m e n t t h a t 8%emingway
wanted to resent continuing immutable truths about S ain andfelt it
necessary to go beyond ;adrid and the olitical s here of the war.9
%efurther contends that the novel was 8about the S anish ivil /ar
which wasm o r e a b o u t S a i n i t s e l f . 9
<
5 t i s t r u e t h a t t h e n o v e l d o e s n o t r e c o u n t a n d debate
olitical theory. The boo, ma,es no strong and lengthy case
againstfascism and neither is there an in-de th analysis of the multitude
of differentfactions on the re ublican side. This is clear and undoubtedly
true. %owever there is definitely a flavour of the olitical which
runs through the boo, andthis de ends on our conce tion of
olitics. There is definitely a claim to bemade which states that
how eo le relate and treat each other is a form of olitics. This
can be bro,en down into the language individuals use and howt h e y
r e s e c t t h e i r f e l l o w ma n . u r t h e r m o r e a c o n c e t i o n o f
o l i t i c s a t t h e s o c i e t a l l e ve l c a n b e s e e n i n t h i s b o o , b y h i s
t r e a t me n t o f t h e d i c h o t o m ybetween anarchists and
communists.Dean Sanders affirms that the boo, is devoid of olitics artly
because it
wasw r i t t e n a f t e r t h e w a r h a d f i n i s h e d and as such
t h e r e w a s n o n e e d t o ersuade the reader to lobby their
government to intervene on the re ublicanside. "s Sanders ex lains
%emingway had already written many articles that
1Lou Mandler, Ernest emingway!s est, Montana# the Maga$ine of
estern istory %ol. &1 'o.(, page )))*a+id anders, Ernest
emingway!s panish -i+il ar E perience, /merican 0uaterly %ol. 1)
'o. ), pages
1(( 12(( I b i d i i , p a g e 1 2 3 2 I b i d i i , p a g e 1 2 3

argued for the 2e ublican side. Some of these articles

c a l l e d f o r d i r e c t intervention from "merica while other were
ro aganda ieces that
defendedt h e 2 e u b l i c a n s a g a i n s t c r i t i c i s m s o f 8 a t r o c i t i e s
and defeatism.9
=
>ther a r t i c l e s we r e o t i m i s t i c a c c o u n t s t h a t i l l u s t r a t e d a f i r m
c o n vi c t i o n t h a t
t h e 2 e u b l i c a n s wo u l d t r i u m h a n d a r t i c l e s wh i c h n e g a t e d m
a n y wi d e s r e a d r e d i c t i o n s t h a t ranco would win a
u i c , a n d e a s y v i c t o r y . S a n d e r s continues that in such
articles %emingway 8seemed convinced of two facts inworld olitics of
the thirties.9
*
irstly that in the fascist axis it was 5taly
thatw e r e t h e w e a , e s t a n d t h a t / e s t e r n d e m o c r a c i e s
s h o u l d h a v e t a , e n a d va n t a g e o f t h i s s c e n a r i o b y i n t e r ve n i
n g i n S a i n . S e c o n d l y t h a t ma n y di lomats of these
democratic nations such as $ngland rance and the ?So ve r -
e s t i m a t e d t h e o we r o f r a n c o a n d u n d e r -
estimated the 2e ublicanforce. urthermore Sanders
s t a t e s t h a t 8 n o o t h e r wr i t e r so i n vo l ve d wa s more rovable
noncommunist... yet none was to call more urgently for militantstruggle
against the fascists.9
@
5 t i s f a i r t o s t a t e t h a t a l l t h e s e o i n t s a b o u t % e m i n g wa y
o l i t i c a l s t a n c e a r e a c c u r a t e . Th e s e o i n t s a r e l a r g e l y
a b s e n t from the narrative of or /hom the Bells Toll. "t no oint in
the boo, does% e m i n g w a y u s e 3 o r d a n t o m a , e g r e a t
criticisms of the communists
andneither does he ma,e a case that would #ustify "mer
i c a n i n t e r v e n t i o n . Therefore it becomes ossible to argue that it is a
non olitical novel.S a n d e r s i s , e e n t o o i n t o u t t h a t t h e n o ve l
l a ys g r e a t e r e m h a s i s o n
theS a n i s h c h a r a c t e r r a t h e r t h a n t h e c i v i l w a r i t s e l f . T h
i s a c c o r d s w i t h h i s ro osition that the boo, is of a non olitical
nature. %e asserts that 3ordan6scomrades in the guerilla band
were all symbols of attributes contained withS anish character. or
exam le he assets that Ailar 8unites the great
S anisht r u t h s o f c o u r a g e ride cruelty charity.9
(
S a n d e r s 6 a r g u m e n t i s m a d e stronger by his citation of $rnest
%emmingway s ea,ing about the novel: 8Butit wasn6t #ust the ivil /ar
5 ut into it it was everything 5 had learned about S ain for
eighteen years.9 This clearly shows that %emmingway had
decidedt o h a v e s o m e f o c u s u o n S a n i s h c u l t u r e
which su o r t s S a n d e r 6 s argument.?nfortunately for
Sanders there is lenty of evidence within the novel andfrom
discourses made in academic articles which strongly suggest that
theb o o , i s i n f a c t l o a d e d wi t h o l i t i c s . u r t h e r m o r e i n
S a n d e r s o wn a r t i c l e
h e l a t e r c o n c e d e s t h a t t h e n o ve l i s 8 l a r g e l y n o n o l i t i c a l . 9
'
% e m o v e s o n h i s osition from that of the novel being
8undoubtedly9 to 8largely9 non oliticalsuggests that he did indeed
harbour some doubts as to how non olitical
then o v e l i s . aren $ngle in her article
Judging Sex in War
1C
states that
4 Ibid ii, page 1(5& I b i d i i , p a g e 1 ( 5 6 I b i d i i , p a g e 1 ( ( 7
I b i d i i , p a g e 1 2 1 5 I b i d i i , p a g e 1 2 ( 138aren Engle,
9udging e in ar, Michigan Law :e+iew, %ol. 13&, 'o. &, pages 521 5&1

% e m i n g wa y6 s o r t r a ya l o f t h e t wo wo me n i n t h e g u e r i l l a
band 8both relies u o n a n d c h a l l e n g e s s t e r e o t y e s a b o u t
sex and gender in war.9 rom
af e mi n is t ers ective it is clear that challenging g
e n d e r s t e r e o t y e s i s overwhelmingly olitical and a crucial art
of social #ustice for women. $ngle6sarticle is forms a art of a olitical
movement largely made u of feminists which has tried to get
wartime ra e recognised as an international crime. Shecontinues
by asserting that 8the two female characters... ex ress sexual
and olitical ower in a way that challenges dominant narratives often
told aboutwomen in war.9
11
Th i s i s i n d e e d t r u e f o r i n t h e s t o r y a f t e r t h e b e t r a ya l
o f Aablo Ailar becomes the leader of the guerilla band. $s ecially
consideringt h e t i m e i n w h i c h t h e s t o r y w a s w r i t t e n this is
a d i r e c t c h a l l e n g e t o t h e hegemonic social-cultural norms which
normally consider women in war to bemerely victims. 5n fact Ailar is
described as showing great bravery and is wellr e s e c t e d b y t h e o t h e r
g u e r i l l a me mb e r s t h e y c e r t a i n l y d o n o t s e e h e r a s inferior. >n
the other hand from a feminist ers ective we see that these
twofemale characters continue to lay stereoty ical roles in the sense of
coo,ingand loo,ing after the cam . /ith regards to the other female
character ;aria $ n g e l s ma , e s i t c l e a r t h a t a l t h o u g h t h e r a e
a n d a b u s e s h e h a s r e c e i ve d from the fascists has largely defines
her she is most definitely more than thata s we l l . Th i s i s i s
i l l u s t r a t e d b y h o w s h e t r e a t s 2 o b e r t 3 o r d a n a s a n e u a l from
the offset and what is more she defies dominant social-cultural
normsby embodying sexual ower. This ower is illustrated by
how she flirts with3 o r d a n a n d s e e ms t o h a ve a c e r t a i n a mo u n t
o f c o n t r o l o ve r h i s s yc h e . 5 n l i g h t o f t h e a b o v e
analysis it is com elling to see that the novel is
n o t n o n o l i t i c a l i n t h e s e n s e t h a t i t c o n t a i n s ma n y
c h a l l e n g e s t o h e g e m o n i c gender
relations. "nother way in which social norms have been challenged in the b
oo, andthus olitical ideas are ro osed is through the use of
language. The guerillab a n d t a l , t o e a c h o t h e r i n s u c h a wa y
wh i c h r e s u o s e s e u a l i t y. T h i s i s because through all their
dialogue when referring to each other they use thes u b # e c t
r o n o u n 8 t h y. 9 T h i s i s o f c o u r s e a n a r c h a i c o l d $ n g l i s h f o r m
o f t h e second erson singular which in resent day $nglish not only
sounds
archaicb u t i m l i e s a n u er class haughtiness. %ow
ever h e r e t h e a u t h o r i s confusing the reader in order to
em hasise the fact that the characters areusing the S anish 8t 9
form instead of the 8usted9 form. The difference beingthat the
former is used informally and suggests e uality whereas the latter
isformal and evo,es the idea that you are s ea,ing to a su erior.
urthermore the characters refuse to use titles which im ly
su eriority such as 8don 9 and8seEor.9 This removal of language that
re resents and ro#ects hierarchy is achallenge to cultural norms for it
resumes e uality among fellow man. Thisis definitely something
that can be considered as a olitical theme within thenovel.
11Ibid , page 524

3ohn ;uste6s review

17
of 3ohn illenger6s boo, entitled %emingway and theDead 4ods
rovide us with another means to be critical of Sanders view
that o r / h o m t h e B e l l T o l l s i s a n o n o l i t i c a l n o v e l .
% i s r e v i e w c o n s i d e r s % e m i n g wa y6 s n o ve l f r o m a n e xi s t e n
t i a l i s t vi e w o i n t wh i c h i s n o t o f d i r e c t r e l e v a n c e t o S a n d e r s
6 a r g u m e n t . % o w e v e r t h e r e v i e w d o e s r a i s e s o m e interest
ing oints that can be inter reted in a way which criticises
Sanders6stance. ;uste ro oses that 3ordan6s acce tance that murder
is necessary
isi n c o m a t i b l e w i t h t h e t h o u g h t o f t h e g r e a t " l g e r i a n e x i
stentialist "lbert amus. This theme is dealt with in
s o m e d e t a i l a s 3 o r d a n a n d " n s e l m o discuss it at some length.
5n these discussions "nselmo asserts that he feelsthat murder is never
#ustifiable. This is consistent with amus who as ;ustes t a t e s 8 h a s
g o n e s o f a r a s t o r e # e c t t h e 6 n e c e s s a r y m u r d e r 6 wh i c h
2 o b e r t 3ordan acce ts.9
10
amus6 osition stems from his feeling that the ends of ana c t i o n c a n
n e ve r # u s t i f y t h e me a n s F f o r t h e me a n s a r e e n d s i n
t h e ms e l ve s . /hile all of this discussion could be seen as a uestion of
morality instead of olitics it is undoubtedly clear that such a moral
osition has strong oliticalim lications. 5f "nselmo6s osition is
ta,en to its logical conclusion he wouldbecome a conscious ob#ector
or a acifist which is clearly a olitical osition.Thus we can contend
that %emmingway was using his novel6s narrative to illuminate a
olitical osition that #ustifies warfare. "nother illustrious
writer that wrote u on the sub#ect of the S anish ivil /ar is 4eorge
>rwell in his boo, %omage to atalonia. %e rovides
a somewhatdifferent account to %emingway on the realities of the
war. "lthough it mustbe said that this was a war wrought with
inconsistencies where for exam le aman could be #udged to be a fascist
due to his olitical allegiances des ite thefact that he has #ust returned
from a war front where he was fighting fascists.Thus some
difference in accounts is definitely conceivable. 5n
%emingway6sn o ve l 2 o b e r t 3 o r d a n t o l d h i ms e l f t h a t h e mu s t
c a r r y o u t h i s mi s s i o n o f t h e sa,e of duty and disci line and that
these were #ustifiable because they
aren e c e s s a r y i n t i m e s o f w a r . T h i s resu oses a milit
a r y u n d e r s t a n d i n g r a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t t o t h e o n e wh i c h >r we l l
e n c o u n t e r e d . % e e x l a i n s t h a t orders were followed by soldiers
only if they agreed with it ersonally.
Thiss u g g e s t s a g r e a t d e a l o f ersonal autonomy and it
is a o s i t i o n w h i c h % e m i n g wa y n e g a t e s . o r e xa m l e
3 o r d a n s a ys t h a t h e 8 u n d e r s t o o d 9 a n d 8a roved9 of 8the
enforcement of disci line.9 urthermore in %emingway6sn o ve l
t h e r e i s a s i g n i f i c a n t a mo u n t o f o l i t i c a l r e # u d i c e d i r e c t e d
t o wa r d s r a d i c a l i d e a s t h a t c h a l l e n g e s o c i a l n o r m s s u c h a
s the one which >rwelld e s c r i b e s . % e m i n g w a y 6 s d e s c r
i t i o n o f a n a r c h i s t s i n t h e n o v e l s e e m s inaccurate
considering that anarchists rovided great resistance to ranco att h e
i n c e t i o n o f t h e c i vi l wa r . / h e n 3 o r d a n d e s c r i b e s h o w
d e s e r t e r s we r e s h o t h e s t a t e s t h a t t h e 8 t a , i n g t h e
valuables Gof the desertersH was only
1)9ohn M. Muste, :e+iew of# emingway and the *ead ;ods by
9ohn 8illinger, inconsin tudies in -ontemporaryLiterature %ol. 1 'o.(, pages
13& 1131 ( I b i d ii, page 113