Thinking Activity: For Whom the Bell Tolls

 Thinking Activity: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Hello Readers! This blog is a response to the Thinking Activity which is assigned by Yesha ma'am, Department of English, MKBU. In this blog I am dealing with one or two questions of Novel 'For Whom the Balls Tole'.

Introduction of Writer:-

Ernest Hemingway ( 1899 - 1961 ):-

"There is nothing to writing all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

- Ernest Hemingway 

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American Novelist, short story writer and Journalist. His economical and understated style - which he termed the Iceberg theory - had a strong influence on 20th century fiction, while his adventures lifestyle and public image brought him admiration from later generation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954.

He published seven Novels, six Short Story collections, and two Nonfiction work. Many of his works are considered as classics of American Literature. His writing career begun as a journalist, and he worked for various newspapers and magazines before becoming a full time writer. He was also an avid outdoorsman, and he often wrote about his adventures in nature. He lived a colourful and adventurous life, and his writing reflects this. Many of his works have been adapted into films, and he is considered one of the most influential writer of the 20th century. In Mid - 1961, he committed suicide. His Notable works are as below.

• The Sun also Rises
• A Farewell to Arms
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• The Old Man and the Sea

About For Whom the Bell Tolls:-

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a Novel. It was published in 1940. Hemingway has covered Spanish Civil war ( 1936-1939 ) as a journalist and that was the basis for this Novel for Whom the Bell Tolls. It is a Set in the Sierra de Guadarrama Mountain range between Madrid and Segovia.

It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American Volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil war. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia. His writing style in 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is characterized by its simplicity and directness, as well as its use of dialogue to convey character and advance the plot. The Novel was well received upon its publication and has since became one of Hemingway's most popular and enduring works. It was adapted into a film in 1943, Starting Gray Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. It was published just after the end of the Spanish Civil War whose general lines were well know at the time.

What is The Iceberg Theory:-

The Iceberg Theory is also known as the 'Theory of Omission". It is a style of Writing coined by American writer Ernest Hemingway. The theory is so named because, just as only a small part of an iceberg is visible above water, Hemingway's stories presented only a small part of what was actually happening.

Q.1 In What way is Robert Jordan a typical Hemingway Hero ?

Ans. Robert Jordan is the protagonist of for whom the Bell Tolls. He is a young American college instructor of Spanish who has come to Spain to fight for the loyalist in the civil war. Hemingway said that only the tip of the iceberg showed in fiction- your reader will see only what is above the water but the knowledge that you have about your character that never makes it into the story acts the bulk of the iceberg. And that is what gives your weight and gravitas. He is known as a typical hero of Hemingway's heroes.  Hemingway's heroes have their own brand of uniqueness in their characterization. They are not less than Shakespeare heroes in their unique traits of heroism. His heroes are successful in their presentation of action and adopt themselves as the action follows the critics dub Hemingway as a successful writer of tragic heroes. The elements of pessimism is very much evident in it. He creates his own fiction style in his writing. 

Some Example of Hemingway's Heroes :-

• Santiago in The Old man and the Sea
• Romero in The Sun also Rises and
• Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls

Hemingway's writing because his heroes often fail in the their struggle and get nothing in the end. A tragic hero in the play or novel is that person who achieves greatness at the tragic death of a hero turns a play or novel into a tragedy and it is the appeal of the tragedy. The hero intentionally does everything for the good of the public and it is his death for the fulfillment of his mission which fills the heart of the readers, with sympathy and respect.  The greatness of the tragedy depends on the bigness of the goal of the hero. 

In For Whom the Bell Tolls, we see that Robert Jordan plays a role of such character who fight for an ideal in a foreign land. He has a firm belief in the Republican cause because he love Spain. He is of the views that if there establishes a government of fascists in Spain then the future of this County will be in danger and the county might be spoiled. The novel has been written in order to test the quality of Jordan's idealism and the chain of obstacles in his path forms the basic structure of the novel. As the action of the novel proceeds, Jordan's task gets more and more complicated. Pablo is absolutely against Jordan's plan. 

Hemingway's heroes are always brave in their acts. Jordan is brave in his great risky task of blowing up the bridge. The reason being, Hemingway's heroes always like to face risks like Santiago in The Old man and the Sea. Jake Barnes in The Sun Man and the Sea, Fredric Henry in A Farewell to Arms and Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls. 

Some critics raise objections by saying that sometimes, Jordan appears like a dummy but Hemingway makes him a convincing and imitable personality by his superb art of characterization. So, their objection does not remain for a long time when we see that it is Jordan who fights against many abstraction: Liberty, Equality, Rights of the people, democracy and atrocities of the fascist. 

One of the best traits of his personality is that he is not : an ordinary hero like other heroes of Hemingway but a complicated one. His complicated nature of psychology vacuum is filled by the dream like love of Maria. He is not a coward like his father who committed suicide. That's why he idealized his grandfather more than his own father. 

There is no doubt in saying that he becomes a new man after living only for Maria's sake but it does not mean that his sense of Dutifulness eclipses at any cost. His love for Maria and his risky mission of blowing up the bridge becomes one because fascists have now becomes one because fascists have now become his personal revenge for him as they rape his sweetheart. This very thinking of him leads him further to his fight for Republicans and Republic Spain and Maria becomes one of him. 

Thus, we can say that Jordan is typical hero of Hemingway's heroes. His loyalty becomes personal loyalty and he is just a husband covering the retreat of his wife whom he loves by the cores of his heart. He sacrifices his life for Maria and her people. He is justified in his act of sacrifice because his idealism is worth imitating and practicable for many others.

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