For Whom the Bell Tolls

Battles rage in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the destruction is described at length. Men, including main characters, are shot and killed. People also talk about having the courage to shoot each other to avoid capture and torture. One female character is emotionally and physically damaged after having been gang raped.

Two characters' lovemaking is explained up to a point. The feeling of a woman's body is described, and it is evident that they have sex, but the act itself is conveyed in lyrical/poetical terms ("the earth moved") rather than graphically. One character has been raped in the past, and her physical and emotional scars affect her relationship in the novel.

The words "whore" and "bitch" are used, as well as some Spanish curse words. However, the author uses an affected device to address more taboo curse words, replacing them with words like "unprintable" and "obscenity."

One character is often drunk on wine, and a good deal of wine is consumed by all. A few men drink whiskey, and one drinks from a flask of absinthe. Alcohol is unapologetically used to help the guerillas cope with their stress and discomfort.

Parents need to know that For Whom the Bell Tolls takes an unvarnished view of the Spanish Civil War. It's emotionally and politically complex, and creates a profoundly honest picture of war and the individual personalities involved; parents and teachers will want to bolster readers' understanding of fascism and communism in Spain in the late 1930s. Though the lead character, Robert Jordan, finds some pleasure and humanity under extreme duress, he lives in a brutal world full of violence, death, and deprivation. Many consider For Whom the Bell Tolls Hemingway's greatest literary achievement, but it is not for the faint of heart. Also, one note on the text: Hemingway uses an unusual literary conceit in this novel: All of the conversation that takes place between Jordan and his Spanish comrades is written as a literal translation from Spanish, to inform the reader that these people would actually be speaking to each other in Spanish, so the language can sound slightly strange.