Thinking activity:For Whom the Bell Tolls

War Novels: Compare and Contrast  between George Orwell’s ‘Homage to Catalonia’& Ernest Hemingway’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’

Hello Reader 

In this blog  I am going to write about two literary works that are based on the war.As we all know that War has created a great effect on the literature of Post-war.We can find the effect of war in many literary works.So I have selected the novel by George Orwell’s ‘Homage to Catalonia’ and Ernest Hemingway’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’.So let’s discuss it.

FIrst of all i would like to give brief information about both novels.

For Whom the Bell Tolls:

For Whom the Bell Tolls,novel by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1940. The title is from a sermon by  containing the famous words "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main…. 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."

Short Summary:

The novel is set near Segovia,Spain, in 1937 and tells the story of American teacher Robert Jordan, who has joined the antifascist Loyalist army. Jordan has been sent to make contact with a guerrilla band and blow up a bridge to advance a Loyalist offensive. The action takes place during Jordan’s 72 hours at the guerrilla camp. During this period he falls in love with María, who has been raped by fascist soldiers, and befriends the shrewd but cowardly guerrilla leader Pablo and his courageous wife, Pilar. Jordan manages to destroy the bridge; Pablo, Pilar, María, and two other guerrillas escape, but Jordan is injured. Proclaiming his love to María once more, he awaits the fascist  troops and certain death.

Homage to Catalonia

Homage to Catalonia, autobiographical account by George Orwell of his experience as a volunteer for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War,in 1938.

Narrative Technique of For Whom the Bell Tolls:

For Hemingway, point of view is important. ‘For Whom Bell Tolls’ presents the narrative through an omniscient point of view that continually shifts back and forth between the characters. In this way, Hemingway can effectively chronicle the effect of the war on the men and women involved. The narrator shifts from Anselmo’s struggles in the snow during his watch to Pilar’s story about Pablo’s execution of Fascists and El Sordo’s lonely death to help readers more clearly visualize their experiences. 

Narrative Technique of Homage to Catalonia:

Orwell himself is the narrator. The book presents his point of view of the different sides involved in the Spanish Civil War, particularly his point of view regarding the Communists .

Characterisation:For Whom the Bell Tolls

Robert Jordan An American college instructor of Spanish, fighting as a demolition expert with the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War.

Pablo Leader of the guerilla band whose aid Jordan enlists in the destruction of a bridge.

Pilar Pablo's mujer, who has kept the band together in spite of the fact that Pablo has "gone bad."

Maria A young girl whom the guerillas have rescued from enemy captivity and who falls in love with Jordan.

Anselmo An old man, one of the few members of Pablo's band whom Jordan trusts.

General Golz A Russian officer, one of the many military "observers" sent to aid the Spanish communists in the war, who is directing the forthcoming attack.

Kashkin Another Russian, Jordan's predecessor as demolition man with Pablo's band. He is dead when the book opens.

El Sordo The leader of another guerilla band which is hiding out in the vicinity of Pablo's cave.

Joaquin A young boy, member of El Sordo's band.

Eladio, Agustin, Andres, Primitivo, Fernando, and Rafael Members of Pablo's band.

Characterisation of Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell

For the author, Homage To Catalonia serves as Orwell's memoir of his time as a reporter in the Spanish Civil War. The book is Orwell's reflections on warfare, ideology, and Spain as a Leftist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. The book is largely Orwell's anecdotes about his time working in Barcelona as a volunteer for the war effort. While he joins the war optimistic about its goals, by the end of war, Orwell grows disillusioned with the entire affair. He escapes Spain when the P.O.U.M. (his ideological faction) is suppressed. After the war, Orwell returns to England.

 

Orwell’s Wife

Orwell's wife who came with him to Spain. While unnamed in the story (her real name was Eileen Blair), Orwell's wife supported him through the war. By the end of the book, she helps Orwell escape from Spain by helping him hide in her hotel room. Orwell's wife helps him avoid the authorities through Barcelona when the P.O.U.M. is suppressed and Orwell has to escape from Spain. Once the two acquire passport, Orwell and his wife return to England.

 

The Italian Militiaman

While he only has an incredibly brief appearance (Orwell does not even know his name), the Italian Militiaman is the most important character in the entire book. Orwell's memory of the Italian militiaman is what serves as his first important memory of the Spanish Civil War. All of Orwell's memories flow from his passing encounter with the militiaman on his arrival to Spain. An image which, to Orwell, defines the entire war in retrospect.

 

Georges Kopp

A Belgian volunteer and fellow member of the P.O.U.M. who Orwell meets during the Spanish Civil War. Kopp appears several times through the book on the front-lines and an important officer with his relationship to Orwell. Kopp servers as Orwell's ideal model of the ideological solider, but that does not save Kopp by the end of the book. The book's climax commences when the P.O.U.M. is outlawed and Kopp arrested. At the end of the book, Orwell attempts to rescue Kopp from prison but is unable to.

 

P.O.U.M

The P.O.U.M. or Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista (Worker's Party of Marxist Unification) is the Spanish political party which Orwell joins upon entering the Spanish Civil War. The P.O.U.M. was one of the major political organizations among the many factions within the Spanish Civil War. The P.O.U.M itself was a radical Leftist group which suppressed by Catalonia's Stalinist elements by the end of the war. The suppression results in the arrest, disappearance, and execution of many of P.O.U.M.'s members. Due to this, Orwell flees Spain by the end of the book due to the violent suppression. The last event which totally sours him on his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.

 

Effect of War in For Whom the Bell Tolls

Each of the characters in For Whom the Bell Tolls loses his or her psychological or physical innocence to the war. Some endure tangible traumas: Joaquín loses both his parents and is forced to grow up quickly, while Maria loses her physical innocence when she is raped by a group of Fascist soldiers. On top of these tangible, physical costs of the war come many psychological costs. Robert Jordan initially came to Spain with idealism about the Republican cause and believed confidently that he was joining the good side. But after fighting in the war, Robert Jordan becomes cynical about the Republican cause and loses much of his initial idealism.

The victims of violence in the war are not the only ones to lose their innocence—the perpetrators lose their innocence too. The ruffians in Pablo’s hometown who participate in the massacre of the town Fascists have to face their inner brutality afterward. Anselmo has to suppress his aversion to killing human beings, and Lieutenant Berrendo has to quell his aversion to cutting heads off of corpses.

Effect of War in Homage to Catalonia:

Homage to Catalonia belongs in any list of important books on the Spanish civil war. It has informed opinion in the English-speaking world about the war – providing the inspiration, for instance, for Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom. However, limited to the time and place of Orwell’s presence in Spain, it would certainly not be there as a reliable analysis of the broader politics of the war, particularly of its international determinants. He clearly knew nothing of its origins or of the social crisis behind the Barcelona clashes. In none of his writings does he mention having any prior acquaintance with Spain or ever reading a book in Spanish about the war or anything else. Orwell himself acknowledged “my partisanship, my mistakes of fact, and the distortion inevitably caused by my having seen only one corner of events”.