For Whom The Bell Tolls By Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) Essays

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) Type of Work: Romantic war novel Setting Spain; 1937 Principal Characters Robert Jordan, an American fighting with Spanish Loyalists Maria, Jordan's lover Anselmo, Jordan's elderly guerilla guide Pablo, a drunken guerilla leader Pilar, Pablo's strong and commanding wife El Sordo, another guerilla leader Rafael, a gypsy member of Pablo's band Story Overveiw Robert Jordan, the young American, could think of nothing but the bridge as he and his seasoned guide Anselmo hiked through the mountains behind Fascist lines. Golz, one of many Russians also working for the Loyalist forces in their civil war with the Fascists for control of Spain, explained the importance ot Jordan's mission. Golz was organizing a major offensive against the enemy. To protect is troops from reinforcements sent up after the attack commenced, Golz needed the strategic bridge destroyed: "[Do it] as soon as the attack has started and not before. I must know that bridge is gone." Jordan and Anselmo worked their way u p the mountains where the bridge was located. The plan was for Jordan to make contact with a guerilla band led by Pablo and his devoted, fierce, and swarthy wife, Pilar. After taking a few days to examine the bridge and organize the attack, he would wait for the proper moment to blow it up. Though he had destroyed other bridges, and trains as well, Jordan was apprehensive about this mission. He felt even worse when he made contact with Pablo's band. The guerilla leader was surly and insecure; he demanded to know what Jordan intended to do: "If it is in this territory, it is my business." Jordan quickly changed the subject. That night Jordan stayed at the guerrilla's cave hideout with Pitar, Rafael the gypsy, six other guerrillas, and Maria, a young girl who had been rescued from the Fascists. Jordan asked Pilar if more guerrillas could be rounded up for the attack on the heavily guarded bridge. She said that she would enlist the help of a band of six or seven mountain men, led by the reclusive but proficient El Sordo. However, the attack would be very dangerous, and afterwards the entire band would have to abandon their mountain camps. Pablo was drunk earlier than usual that evening. He criticized Jordan's plans and told everyone in the cave that the mission would fail. But Pilar stepped in and ushered Jordan outside for a breath of air. The gypsy, Rafael, quickly followed. "Three or four times we waited for you to kill him. Pablo has no friends," Rafael declared. Although the idea of killing Pablo had in fact flashed across Jordan's mind, he had restrained himself: "For a stranger to kill where he must work with the people afterwards is very bad." For weeks all of Jordan's thoughts had centered on his mission. Now, however, all throughout the evening's tension-filled dinner, it was not Pablo or the bridge that occupied his mind, but Maria. The two flirted, sneaking glances and sly touches back and forth. Later, when Jordan bedded down outside beneath the stars - along with the dynamite, which no one wanted in the cave - Maria came to him, torn between hope and reluctance. Among the Fascists she had been subjected to starvation, torture and rape, and she believed that no one could love a defiled woman. But Jordan persuaded her to slide into his sleeping bag next to him, and they became lovers. And Jordan, who had lived until then mainly for the ceremony of risking his life, now knew that, though he would still fight for the cause, he no longer wished to court death; he wanted to live - for Maria. The next day, Pilar, Jordan and Maria paid a visit to El Sordo's camp. Along the way Pilar spoke of how the war had begun in her native village. Pablo had led the attack on the local , "civilia guardia," trapped in their barracks. After killing the soldiers, Pablo and his rebels gathered Fascist party members into the town hall. There, one by one, they were forced to run through a gauntlet formed by the townspeople, who beat them with shovels and rakes. To Robert Jordan, it was a horrible, disgusting story. At the camp, El Sordo agreed to help with the mission to blow up the bridge, and assured that he could secure horses for the ensuing escape.it was snowing heavily when they returned to their own camp. The snow was a bad omen. Jordan grimly acknowledged that it could ruin the entire mission. Pablo, on the other hand, was elated.

A essays

A essays A Friend With Multiple Personalities The variance in personalities can be as massive as an ocean or as microscopic as an atom. Most people think of personalities as distinctive. I have found distinctive does not necessarily describe personalities. Renee is a friend of mine who has a very wide variance in personality. Renees personality can change within a matter of minutes. She calls me daily with a seemingly innocent conversation. The conversation always starts with simple inquires about the general health of family and friends. Suddenly, as if possessed by some demonic force, she will insult other people that we both know. She says things that I personally know to be untrue. When I try to point out what she is doing, she turns her anger toward me. At any point during a telephone conversation, she can exhibit any one of three different personality aspects. Each of these personality aspects demonstrates individual distinctions. One person can have multiple personalities. In fact, my friend has three aspect s of her personality. The three are the friend forever, the crybaby, and the rattlesnake personalities. The "friend forever" personality is the one with which I am most familiar. When she displays this personality, she concerns herself with others, she is willing to help out, and she always has a dry shoulder to loan for crying. Renee so easily fits into this category. Most days, she is a very loving and caring individual. She concerns herself with the welfare of others. While in this personality, Renee goes out of her way to call and inquire about the health of others. She offers her help in any situation. She may not be physically able to change a flat tire for a person, but she will hold the light so the person can see how to change the tire for themself. Renee always has a dry shoulder on which someone can cry without invitation. She will listen to a friend's problem for ...

Guernica and The Death of General Wolfe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Guernica and The Death of General Wolfe - Essay Example The republican Forces which were loyal to the newly elected government, were under the attack from a fascist coup which was led by Generalissimo Francisco Franco (Guernica). Prosperity and stability to the people of Spain was a word of promise by Franco, yet only death and destruction were the subjects of deliverance from his side. Anticipating a bold visual protest to Franco's corruption from Spain's most prominent artisans, colleagues and representatives of the democratic government came to Picasso's place in Paris in order to ask him to paint the mural. Picasso used to avoid politics generally, and used to disdain over political art, though his sympathies clearly fell parallel to the new Republic. The official theme of Paris Exposition is a celebration of the modern technology. The organizers hoped that this vision of a prosperous future will jolt the nations out of the economic depression and social unrest of the thirties (Guernica). With the unfolding of plans, the Aeronautics Pavilion generated huge excitement, featuring the latest technological advances in aircraft design and engineering. As a result, no one would have ever suspected that this dramatic progress would result in such a dire consequence. On the 27th of April, 1937, unprecedented outrageousness was perpetrated on behalf of Franco against the civilian citizenry of a little Basque village in the northern Spain. The hamlet was pounded with high-explosive and incendiary bombs for over three hours because it was chosen for bombing practice by Hitler's burgeoning war machine. The town people were cut down as they eloped from the crumbling buildings. Guernica burnt for three days consecutively and sixteen hundred civilians were killed and wounded (Guernica). By the 1st of May, the information of the massacre at Guernica reached Paris, where more than a million protestors flooded the streets to voice their atrocities in the largest May Day demonstration the city had ever come across. The reports of all the eye-witnesses filled the front pages of the news papers of Paris, leaving Picasso stunned by the black and white photographs. Picasso was appalled and enraged when he rushed through the crowded streets in his studio, and qu ickly sketched the first images for the mural he called Guernica. This brought an end to his search for an inspiration. From the beginning itself, Picasso chose not to represent the horror in Guernica in realistic or romantic terms. He transferred some key figures such as a woman with outstretched arms, a bull, an agonized horse, which were refined sketch after sketch, and then were brought in to the capacious canvas, which were reworked by him several times. He quoted that, a painting is not thought out and settled in advance, however, whilst it