Hello readers...
This is the assignment of sem -2 of paper no.3 that is the American literature . I had taken the topic Ernest Hemingway' For whom The Bell Tolls : Cultural connections.
➡ For whom the bell tolls : Cultural connections
For Whom the Bell Tolls, novel by Earnest Hemingway published in 1940. The title is from a sermon by John Donne containing the famous words
"No man is an island, entire of itself every man is a piece of the Continent. Any man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Any therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee."
💡 Cultural connections :
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a distinctive work in part because Hemingway attempts to translate Spanish idioms and grammar directly, without removing their original contexts. The result is a novel that is acutely attuned to cultural differences. Instead of assimilating Spanish culture into a wholly American writing style, Hemingway combines the two, helping to express Spanish to an English-speaking audience. Similarly, Robert Jordan’s own experiences as an American fighting for the anti-fascist Spaniards reveal more resemblances between the two cultures than differences. The United States, Jordan discloses, is no less corrupt than Spain, and Jordan’s own allegiance toward the anti-fascists demonstrates the extent to which cultural differences can be transcended. Though Jordan initially believes that he cannot understand the Spanish people, whom he views as profoundly two-sided caught between extreme “kindness” and extreme “cruelty” he finds himself overcoming this conviction to form intense bonds with his fellow fighters, confirming the important of connection and empathy across cultures.
For Whom the Bell Tolls takes up the project of cross-cultural linguistics, attempting to depict the Spanish language in an American style without fully “Americanizing” its facets. Some dialogue in the novel reads as archaic or outdated, since Hemingway attempts to express the difference between formal and familiar addresses in Spanish.Hemingway’s translations are not always seamless or modern in feel, allowing the English-speaking reader to “hear” the linguistic differences between English and Spanish. Thus, English and Spanish are marked as distinct but uniquely intertwined, allowing for cross-cultural exchange at the level of language.
The novel also explores the impact of cross-cultural dynamics on its American protagonist and Spanish characters, drawing parallels between the political situations of both the United States and Spain, and developing Robert Jordan’s attachment to Spain throughout the novel. Robert Jordan wonders “what sort of guerrilla leader” Pablo“would have been in the American Civil War,” comparing his own knowledge of American warfare imparted on him by his grandfather, a veteran of the American Civil War with his impressions of the Spanish Civil War. American and Spanish violence, he realizes, are not so different. Prompted by Pilar’s story of Pablo’s massacre on the fascists in his hometown, Jordan reveals that he once witnessed a lynching in Ohio, incited by the same kind of drunkenness and mob behavior that took shape in Pablo’s town:
“I have had experiences which demonstrate that drunkenness is the same in my country. It is ugly and brutal.”
Furthermore, Agustin, another guerrilla fighter, asks Jordan about taxes and land ownership in the United States, arguing that
“the big proprietors and the rich will make a revolution against such taxes they will revolt against the government when they see that they are threatened, exactly as the fascists have done here,”
and suggesting that the United States, like Spain, will soon confront fascism, given their shared problems.
At first, Jordan believes that there are few connections to be made between Spanish and American culture, despite his own immersion in Spanish culture and his former position as a Spanish teacher in the United States. Jordan declares that “there are no other countries like Spain,” and that “there is no finer and no worse people in the world” than the Spaniards, explaining that he does not understand them, because if he did, he “would forgive it all,” and he finds it difficult to forgive their brutality. Yet he also never feels “like a foreigner” in Spain, since the Spaniards trust his command of the language and his knowledge of different regions.
Ultimately, Jordan sacrifices himself for the safety of his fellow guerrillas, allowing them to escape to safety and devoting himself to the cause of the Republic:
“he fought now in this war because it had started in a country that he loved and he believed in the Republic and that if it were destroyed life would be unbearable for all those people who believed in it.”
In becoming a martyr, Jordan demonstrates his own understanding of and connection to the Spanish people, and he declares that “I have been all my life in these hills since I have been here. Anselmo is my oldest friend.Agustin, with his vile mouth, is my brother, and I never had a brother. Maria is my true love and wife.”
Though many of Hemingway’s novels and writings are set away from the United States such as A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises they usually feature a globalist perspective, drawing comparisons between an American home and a European setting. Cultural differences are likewise emphasized in For Whom the Bell Tolls, but these differences do not preclude the possibility of cultural connection or mutual understanding.
💡 Love &war
Through the characters of Robert Jordan, Maria, Pilar, and Pablo in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway examines the role of love and relationships in a time of crisis. The two main relationships described between Jordan and Maria, and Pilar and Pablo differ dramatically: Jordan and Maria’s love is pure and all-consuming, while Pilar and Pablo argue frequently, with Pilar often threatening to kill Pablo and take over his position in the guerilla squad. Nonetheless, love is omnipresent in the midst of the chaos of civil war, with both positive and negative consequences for those who choose to love. Jordan has never experienced love before he meets Maria, and his relationship with her affirms the value of trust and compassion between individuals, while Pilar’s relationship with Pablo reveals the extent to which love cannot cure hopelessness and fear in the face of war and impending disaster.
Maria serves as a symbol of hope, renewal, and tenderness, tending to Jordan and demonstrating the healing power of devotion. Though she is part of the guerilla fighters, Maria is barely involved in any of the strategizing or political discussions. Whereas Pilar is the clear leader of the group, fiercely devoted to the cause of liberation from Fascist command, Maria’s role is domestic, focused on assisting the fighters behind the scenes. This sense of helpfulness and docility extends into her relationship with Jordan, whom she views as her redeemer, capable of restoring her after her experience of rape at the hands of Falangists :
“if I am to be thy woman I should please thee in all ways,”
Maria tells Jordan, promising herself to him.
Ultimately, Jordan is injured in the final ambush at the bridge, leaving Maria to flee the fascist attackers, though he tells her that even in death, they are united:
“there is no good-by, because we are not apart . I am with thee now. We are both there. Go!”
Jordan’s love for Maria, and his desire to see her led to safety, lends him strength as he faces death, since while he cannot do anything for himself, he “can do something for another.”
Pablo eventually betrays the guerillas by stealing the detonation equipment necessary to destroy the bridge, despite Pilar’s attempts to regain control of the group and prevent her husband from sabotaging their plot. Though Pilar is a stabilizing, maternal force in the novel, encouraging Robert Jordan and the other guerillas to continue agitating for the Republic and constantly working to organize the group, her relationship with Pablo proves to be her weakness: Pilar is unable to manipulate Pablo into acting in the best interests of the group.
Faced with Pablo’s brash, impulsive behavior,
“the woman of Pablo could feel her rage changing to sorrow and to a feeling of the thwarting of all hope and promise.”
It is implied that Pilar and Pablo were once deeply connected by their belief in the Republic, but Pablo no longer feels the confidence that Pilar does. Though Pilar tells Robert Jordan about Pablo’s heroic defeat of the fascists in his hometown, the Pablo she now knows is defeated, disillusioned, and, in her opinion, “cowardly,” lacking all hope for victory. The remaining love she ostensibly shares for him since their marriage endures, despite rising tensions is not enough to restore his courage.
Whereas Maria and Robert Jordan’s relationship provides both characters with a sense of security and emotional support, even when death is imminent, Pablo and Pilar’s partnership is only one in name. Despite Pilar’s strength of character, neither she nor Pablo is able to support each other in the way that Maria and Robert Jordan are. The novel thus provides an ambivalent view of love, suggesting that intimate relationships are not always redeeming or positive; Maria and Robert Jordan’s relationship may merely be an outlier. However, though Pablo survives the war and Jordan does not, Jordan dies with the knowledge that he has experienced the emboldening effects of life-altering love, while Pablo must own up to his own moral failings.
Thank you...
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