Hemingway no doubtedly fell in love with Spain in his lifetime, known as his adopted country. This bleeds through his stories as he shows the affects of warfare on the people and landscape that he loved so dearly. The reader sees direct references to this in his story For Whom the Bell Tolls within his Pilar, Maria, and Robert characters and their ties to Spain.
Warefare opens the story in For Whom the Bell Tolls seeing as the setting is in the Spanish Civil war and exposes the vicious details of the war itself. Maria represents the choice of hope after being damaged by war; she represents the land of Spain after the war, though damaged, still hopeful with warmth and beauty. Where as Pilar represents Spanish peasantry as a whole; being strong and wise and steady.
Pilar also heavily encourages the relationship between Maria and Robert, who is also believed to represent America, as the people of Spain encouraging America to fall in love with the Spanish horizon. While Robert and Maria’s love develops, one can begin to see more minute references to Hemingway’s loving woe for Spain; specifically in when Robert carries on in his plan to take Maria to Montana, all the while she is learning English and growing her hair and would be leaving her home and expecting her to change while he remains the same.
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One might believe that Hemingway uses that to highlight America’s tendency to piss on something and claim it rules it, attempting to force the beautiful solidarity of Spain to change itself to adhere to the flowery promises and pressures of the states.
The reader also gets a peek at Hemingway’s opinions on political issues in Spain through the character of Pablo. Pablo would technically represent the republican, communist, anti fascist population of Spain. He leads an anti fascist group that, in the story, blows up a local garrison and kills all of the soldiers that are inside. Hemingway depicts him as quick and eager to kill, assumingly the same way Hemingway sees this group of people. Hemingway uses Jordan and Maria to personify his belief of Spain healing itself; learning to recreate and grow strong after external forces seemingly destroy it. By his having the love between Maria and Jordan seemingly become so deep within the time span of three days, one might guess that he was referencing to the idea that Spain is romantic, almost whimsical; anything can happen.
In conclusion, Hemingway through his stories of faulted manhood, shines a light on all of the battles that we fight not only on a battlefield but also within ourselves and our closest relationships. He uses his hyper humanistic characters to paint a picture of neutrality, making the relating to his points on the inner and outer wars very easy because they’re all based on the natural faults of human kind.
