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Jordan and Anselmo go to inspect the bridge. But the details of
the bridge are not Hemingway\'s real concern in this chapter. Through
Jordan and Anselmo, the chapter offers a philosophical consideration
of the necessity and the morality of killing.
The conversation between Robert Jordan and Anselmo gives you a
good basis on which to develop your thoughts about the taking of
someone\'s life. Although the two men are on the same side politically,
their consciences are not the same. Jordan confesses a repugnance
for killing animals, yet claims he feels nothing when it is
necessary to kill a human being \"for the cause.\" Anselmo has no
problem with hunting and killing animals, but to him it\'s a sin to
kill a man- \"even Fascists whom we must kill.\"
Hemingway presents you with profound issues here early in the story.
If something is necessary, can it be sinful- in other words, truly
wrong and therefore blameworthy? Or do you proceed from the other
end first: if something is truly sinful, can it possibly be truly
necessary? Your own religious background and ideas of morality will
certainly affect your analysis and opinion of this interchange between
Jordan and Anselmo.
Jordan\'s original position on the importance of the individual
compared to the cause is reinforced again. \"You are instruments to
do your duty,\" he reflects, speaking of himself and others like him.
Certainly you can think of situations where individuals are part
of a team effort and times when doing one\'s duty is necessary to the
group\'s success and is a praiseworthy, honorable thing to do. Team
sports are an obvious example.
But how far does this value of \"duty\" extend? How much sacrifice
of self is ever necessary? For Whom the Bell Tolls raises these
questions eloquently.
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NOTE: RELIGION AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR The historical
relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the government of
Spain has been complex and stormy. Because a vast majority of the
Spanish people has long been Catholic, the Church has had great
power in the country. In the 1930s, as Spaniards began to divide
into various political groups that leaned to the right or to the left,
the Church aligned itself with the right. In the election of 1936
the left offered political amnesty to many anarchists and other
political prisoners known to be anti-Church. This, plus the strong
support of religious values by the right, prompted the Church to favor
the Nationalist cause. As a result, many churches were burned and many
clerics murdered by leftist fringe groups, and the Republican
government did little to stop them, an attitude that further widened
the gap between the Church and the left.
The victims of this schism mainly were the Spanish peasants. Marxist
theories that urged them to forget God and espouse atheism were
accepted by some, but many could not expel their religious beliefs
so easily. The concept of sin and a life hereafter as a reward for a
good life could not be ignored. Anselmo poignantly represents this
conflict.
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As they approach the camp, Jordan and Anselmo meet Agustin, one of
the guerrilla band. Agustin is guarding the entrance to the camp,
but he has forgotten the password- a clear indication that this is not
the best prepared of rebel groups. Watch for Agustin to be one of
the fiercest anti-Monarchist rebels, a man with little trust for
anyone. Here he warns Jordan to guard the dynamite-from Pablo.
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