Characters
Robert
Jordan / Roberto / The Young Man
Robert Jordan is a Spanish professor from Montana and a
volunteer for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Trained in explosives
detonation, Jordan takes pride in his work as a soldier, though he feels
conflicted about his own support for the Republican cause and uncertain about
his future after the war. Jordan comes from a troubled home: his father committed suicide with a gun
belonging to his grandfather, a Civil War veteran. As a
younger man, Jordan discarded the gun in a lake near his home, and though he
has never openly discussed his feelings about his father’s death, he does feel
that his father was a coward. Jordan supports the leftist cause—in opposition
to the fascist right—but he is not completely convinced that the Republicans are
morally superior to the fascists, nor that he has made the right choice by
offering them his services as a volunteer. Nonetheless, unlike Pablo, who frequently leaves the camp
and his guerilla group behind, Jordan never abandons the fight, and he remains
devoted to the Republicans’ military offensives. In public, Jordan is calm,
logical, and focused, though his inner monologues reveal a combination of rage,
confusion, and guilt over his own involvement in violent, brutal behavior.
Moreover, Jordan has never been in love before meeting the guerilla Maria, whom he falls for, and as a
result, he is out of touch with his own emotions, though Maria helps him to
understand the value of empathy, love, and connection, and to heal from his
past trauma. Confronting a fatal injury at the end of the novel, Jordan realizes
that he has been fortunate to lead the life that he has, and that he has to
stay focused on what he can do in the present—not what he has done in the
past—in order to keep moving forward.
Maria
Maria is a young woman and a member of the guerilla group Robert Jordan joins at the beginning of
the novel. She has “golden tawny brown” eyes and skin, and hair that is the
“golden brown of a grain field that has been burned dark in the sun,” cropped
short by guards at a prison, where she landed after being run out of her
hometown by the fascists. The same fascists raped Maria, and though this
experience has clearly traumatized her—the guerillas, who rescued her from the
wreckage of an exploded train, note that it took her a while to recover her
ability to speak—she quickly falls for Robert Jordan, confessing her love for
him the first time they sleep together. Hemingway is known for his less-than-nuanced
portrayals of women, who are frequently reduced to stereotypes in his stories
and novels, and Maria is no different: she is utterly subservient, innocent,
and devoted to Jordan, an object of lust and a symbol of pure love and
tenderness. In comparison to Pilar, who has depth as a
character—expressing conflicting views, making mistakes, and demonstrating
multiple personality traits—Maria is one-dimensional, and her main role in the
novel is to help Robert Jordan to develop as a character, teaching him the
significance of love; she herself does not change in any way.
Pilar
/ Pablo’s Wife
Pilar is the leader of the guerilla group, though her
husband, Pablo, claims the same role; unlike
Pablo, however, Pilar is strong, capable, and commanding, able to influence the
other fighters and make informed decisions on behalf of the group. Steadfast
and fiercely devoted to the Republican cause, Pilar represents the passion and
strength of the Spanish left. While Maria symbolizes
sex, love, and desire, Pilar is maternal, described as a coarse, unattractive,
older woman who offers comfort and support to Maria and the other fighters:
Hemingway’s depictions of both female characters often resort to clichés.
Nonetheless, Pilar is a highly complicated character. Though determined to win
by any means necessary—she even entertains the idea of murdering her own
husband, who has become sullen and disobedient, wreaking havoc on the
Republicans’ offensive efforts—she finds the violence and chaos of war
abhorrent, and she struggles to maintain her own motivation to fight in the
face of impending disaster. Though sometimes cruel and obstinate, Pilar is also
powerful and intelligent. She claims to be able to predict the future, and
indeed, she correctly predicts that Robert Jordan will die. However, Pilar is
unable to see past political ideology and her aspirations for victory to
understand that the Republicans’ cause is ill-fated.
Pablo
Pablo, once a great fighter, is now the disillusioned
leader of the guerillas, along with his wife, Pilar. Pablo is introduced to Robert Jordan as a “man both serious and
valiant,” though Pablo repeatedly abandons the guerillas and disagrees with
their tactics, taking issue with Jordan’s plan to blow up the bridge (claiming that it is too
dangerous a mission to undertake). Pablo longs for a life free from chaos,
violence, and disaster, and he is attached to horses, which he seems to view as
a source of beauty in the midst of war and destruction. Though Pablo recognizes
the error of his ways after stealing and destroying Jordan’s explosives, thus
limiting the potential of the offensive on the bridge and endangering the
guerillas, his repentance does not make up for the consequences of his actions.
Because the group doesn’t have enough explosives, they must carry out the plan
in close proximity to the bridge (more explosives would have allowed them to be
a safer distance away), and many of the guerillas are killed in the process.
Pablo survives, forced to live with his own guilt, while Robert Jordan dies a
martyr. At first, Robert Jordan is presented as Pablo’s foil, a model of heroic
masculinity. It is suggested, though, that Pablo was once as heroic as
Jordan—he helped to kill a number of fascist sympathizers in his hometown
during a bloody coup—though he has become cynical about the war. Jordan, too,
becomes disillusioned with the Republican cause, and thus, the two characters
are not as different as they initially seem.
Anselmo
/ The Older Man
Anselmo is the first member of the Republican
guerillas Robert Jordan meets. He is a thoughtful,
highly principled older man who supports Jordan’s offensive on the bridge. Due to his Catholic faith,
Anselmo is firmly opposed to killing fascists, though he has also chosen to
leave behind Catholicism, since the fascists have laid claim to the religion.
Nonetheless, Anselmo has nothing left to lose in his fight for the Republicans:
his wife is dead, and fighting gives him something to live and strive for.
Like Pilar, he is unfailingly
optimistic about the new Republic that he believes the Republicans are helping
to forge by fighting back against the fascists. Like Robert Jordan, he dies a
hero and a martyr, having helped Jordan to blow up the bridge and launch one
final attack on the invading fascists.
El
Sordo
El Sordo, also known as Santiago, is an older man and a
leader of another guerilla group that Robert Jordan, Pilar, and the other guerillas enlist
to help with the upcoming offensive on the bridge. El Sordo means “the deaf one” in
Spanish, referring to El Sordo’s partial deafness; though handicapped, he is a
determined fighter, similar to Pilar and Robert Jordan, and he is not afraid of
death or committing acts of violence. His guerilla group is stronger and more
organized than Pilar’s, though they are still defeated easily by the fascists,
suggesting that no Republican, no matter how dedicated, can successfully resist
the fascist forces.
Rafael
/ The “Gypsy”
Rafael is a Roma man (described as a “gypsy” throughout)
and a member of Pablo and Pilar’s guerilla group. Frequently
drunk and often criticized for his slipshod behavior as a fighter, Rafael
nonetheless possesses a violent streak. He asks Robert Jordan to kill Pablo, demonstrating
the extent to which brutality is pervasive among the Republicans: even those
without the skills to commit brutal acts are drawn to violence.
Andrés
Eladio’s brother. Andrés is the guerilla
tasked with delivering the message from Robert Jordan to General Golz warning Golz that the
offensive on the bridge should be canceled; in a
series of unfortunate events, Andrés’s message arrives too late, dooming the
guerillas. He loves bullfighting and was an active participant in capeas in his hometown (an event in which
audience members spar with bulls in an arena). Andrés and Eladio become
Republicans because their father was one, and Andrés believes that he has been
born “into a time of great difficulty”—and that “any other time was probably easier.”
Andrés has lost his family, save for Eladio, and though he considers himself
“an unfortunate man,” he is also determined to “fight to live,” and like Pilar, he truly believes in the
Republican cause.
Agustin
Like Rafael, Agustin is a guerilla with a
penchant for violence. He speaks “so obscenely, coupling an obscenity to every
noun as an adjective, using the same obscenity as a verb, that Robert Jordan wondered if he could speak a
straight sentence.” However, Anselmo tells Jordan that Agustin is
a “very good man”; indeed, like Fernando, he regards his duties as a
soldier with dignity and seriousness, and he values his fellow guerillas for
their trustworthiness (save for Pablo and Rafael). By the end of the novel,
Jordan thinks of him as his true “brother.”
Primitivo
As a character, Primitivo is less fleshed-out than the
other guerillas; he is described only as “flat-faced” but commended by Agustin for his “dependable value.”
Like Agustin, Primitivo is motivated by a strong sense of duty: Primitivo and
Agustin are motivated to save El Sordo and his group when they hear
the other guerillas controlling a fascist attack up on the hills, but Robert Jordan refuses to let them leave
the camp.
Eladio
Andrés’s older brother. Eladio is the
most anonymous of the guerillas. He is given no clear personality traits,
though it is mentioned that he and Andrés are orphaned, since their family
members were killed during the war. Eladio is one of the guerillas killed
during the offensive on the bridge.
Eladio
Andrés’s older brother. Eladio is the
most anonymous of the guerillas. He is given no clear personality traits,
though it is mentioned that he and Andrés are orphaned, since their family
members were killed during the war. Eladio is one of the guerillas killed
during the offensive on the bridge.
Joaquin
Joaquin is a guard for El Sordo’s guerilla group. He is “very
young” with a “rather hawk-nosed face” and “friendly” eyes. He flirts
aggressively with Maria, whom he helped carry to safety
after discovering her in the wreckage of the train. Like Eladio and Andrés, Joaquin no longer has a family,
since his father, mother, brother-in-law, and sister were shot by fascists in
their hometown, Valladodid. As a younger man, Joaquin wanted to be a
bullfighter, but he was fearful of bulls; now, however, he has “no fear of
them,” since “no bull is as dangerous as a machine gun.”
General Golz
Golz is a Russian general and the head of the Republican
command for which Robert Jordan works. He is the leader who
orders Jordan to blow up the bridge. Golz is a stern, authoritative
commander with a surprisingly wry sense of humor; he asks Jordan about his
history with “girls,” and Jordan calls him “gay,” remarking that Golz’s
seemingly cheerful attitude is actually a reflection of his own pessimism and
flippancy about the war. Golz, like several of the other Republicans, realizes
early on that the Republicans’ cause is doomed and resigns himself to their
loss.
Kashkin
Kashkin is a Russian soldier who worked alongside Pablo and Pilar’s guerillas before Robert Jordan. He was an experienced dynamiter,
like Jordan, and earned a great deal of respect from the guerillas after
successfully blowing up a train. Jordan knew him as a fighter and reflects that
“there was something wrong with [him] evidently and he was working it out in
Spain”: the two had a friendly relationship, though Jordan was forced to shoot
him after he was wounded in action. Jordan realizes that he did not feel much
emotion about this killing (perhaps because it was a mercy killing and not
outright murder).
Karkov
Karkov is a Russian reporter for Pravda,
a Soviet newspaper, and a close friend of Robert Jordan whom he meets at the Hotel
Gaylord, a popular Russian spot in Madrid. Karkov is Anselmo’s counterpart, fiercely committed
to morality, justice, and the Republican cause. Karkov is also “the most
intelligent man” Robert Jordan has ever met, with “more brains and more inner
dignity […] than any man that he had ever known.” Karkov ends up saving Andrés and Gomez when André Marty accuses them of being
fascist spies, and he believes that Jordan is a talented writer, having read
the one book Jordan published about his experiences in and observations of
Spain. Karkov gives Jordan information about the war because he believes that
he is a strong reporter, capable of delivering the truth: Karkov himself is
devoted to the pursuit of truth and the defeat of the fascists, whose actions
conflict with his own Communist leanings.
Lieutenant-Colonel
Miranda
The Lieutenant-Colonel Miranda is a "short, gray-faced
man” who has been in the army all his life. Miranda became a Republican because
he could not divorce his wife under fascist regulations, and his sole ambition
is “to finish the war with the same rank.” Unlike the guerrillas, who have
suffered greatly in the war, Miranda has prospered because of it: he feels more
physically fit, and his twenty-three-year-old mistress is pregnant.
Lieutenant
Paco Berrendo
The Lieutenant Paco Berrendo is a fascist who leads the
fight against El Sordo and his group on the hill.
After his best friend, a lieutenant named Julian, is killed, Berrendo
kills Joaquin and orders the beheading
of El Sordo and his guerrillas after
they are dead; nonetheless, he is more cautious about the attack than Captain Mora.
Captain
Mora
Mora, with a “red face,” “a blond, British-looking
moustache,” and “something wrong about his eyes,” is the brash leader of the
fascists who square up against El Sordo and his group. Berrendo thinks of him as a foolhardy
“gunslinger”; indeed, Mora is convinced that the Republicans have been killed
during the first offensive and mocks the other fascist troops for refusing to
believe him. After shouting “filth” at the hill, he sets off alone in an
attempt to prove that the Republicans are dead, though he quickly realizes that
they are alive and hiding.
André
Marty
André Marty is a deeply cynical French commander and
Communist allied with the Republican forces whom Andrés encounters when he comes to
deliver Robert Jordan’s missive. Marty believes that
Andrés and Gomez are fascist spies and
refuses to pass the message on to General Golz until it is too late; when
he realizes the errors of his ways, he shows little remorse.
Finito De Palencia
Pilar tells Robert Jordan and the other guerillas the
story of her romance with Finito, a bullfighter who represents the passion and
strength of Spain prior to the Spanish Civil War. Though Finito was “one of the
worst paid matadors in the world” and was often injured in the ring, Pilar
admired his fortitude and determination, and she often compares him to Pablo, who lacks the same strength.
The
British Economist / Mitchell
Karkov tells Robert Jordan about a British economist
who spent time in Spain. Jordan has read the economist’s writing and respects
him, but he feels that the economist doesn’t understand Spain, and he is
offended when the economist interrupts him in the middle of an attack at Carabanchel.
Karkov regards him as a “winter fool,” an “impressive man” who nonetheless acts
in a misguided way. He is potentially a Soviet spy, and he is profiting from
the war by organizing financial transactions outside of Spain for the
government.
Chub
Chub is a friend of Robert Jordan’s from Montana who accompanies
him to throw his grandfather’s gun into a lake in the high
country above Red Lodge. Chub tells Robert Jordan that he knows why he
discarded the gun (it was what Jordan’s father used to commit suicide), but
the two never discuss the reason directly. Jordan later reflects that Anselmo is his “oldest friend,” and
that he knows him better than any of his friends from Montana, including Chub.
Robert
Jordan’s Father
Robert Jordan’s father committed suicide with a
gun belonging to his father, Jordan’s grandfather, a Civil War veteran. It is clear
that Jordan is traumatized by his father’s death—since it is mentioned that he
threw the gun into a lake shortly thereafter, perhaps attempting to rid himself
of the memory of the suicide—though he does not discuss his grief at length.
Jordan’s history with his father casts new light on his fear of death and his
ambivalence toward violent acts. Death, it seems, has always been a part of his
life, albeit one he is not able to address productively until the end of the
novel. Jordan believes his father was a cobarde,
a coward, in part because of his suicide, and in part because he let “that
woman,” perhaps Jordan’s mother, “bully him.” Clearly, Jordan’s family history
has shaped him as a man, because he is reluctant to let any woman control
him: Maria, whom he falls for, is
subservient to him.
Dolores
Ibarruri / La Pasionaria
La Pasionaria was a famous Republican fighter and a real
historical figure. She is briefly mentioned in the novel as a distant
figurehead of the Republican movement, one untethered from the reality of
war: Karkov speaks with a member of her
group, who tells him that she has erroneously informed the Republicans that the
fascists have begun fighting among themselves (in fact, they have launched an
attack on El Sordo’s group in the hills).
Don
Faustino Rivera
Don Faustina is the oldest son of a wealthy land owner, a
womanizer and an amateur (and unskilled) bullfighter. It is rumoured that he
once made himself vomit after seeing the bull he was meant to fight in the
ring, and the Republican mob taunts him before throwing him off of the cliff.
Don
Anastasio Rivas
Don Anastasio is an “undoubted fascist” and “the fattest
man in the town,” “a grain buyer” and an insurance agent who loans money at
high interest rates. Don Anastasio is the last fascist to be killed in the
plaza before the mob overruns the church, and because he is too overweight to
be thrown over the cliff like the others, he is beaten to death and left in the
middle of the square.
Minor
Characters
Fernando
Fernando
is a straitlaced guerilla and Rafael’s opposite—he is serious, moralistic,
and dignified. Robert Jordan thinks of him as a “cigar store Indian,”
rigid and upstanding. He does not drink, and he disapproves of Jordan’s
relationship with Maria until he learns that they are engaged.
Rogelio Gomez
Gomez
is a Republican officer who escorts Andrés when he attempts to
deliver Robert Jordan’s message to General Golz. Though the other
Republican officers are either corrupt or misguided, Gomez is able to see
Andrés for what he is: a genuine supporter of the Republican cause.
Don Benito Garcia
Don
Benito is the mayor of the town where Pablo and Pilar lived
at the start of the revolution, and he is the first to be beaten to death by
the Republican mob that Pablo organizes.
Don Federico Gonzalez
Don
Federico owns the mill in Pablo and Pilar’s town and is a
"fascist of the first order.” He is too terrified to walk out into the
plaza, where the mob has gathered, and prays silently before being clubbed to
death and thrown off of a cliff.
Don Ricardo Montalvo
Don
Ricardo is a land owner who insists that he is not afraid to die and goes out
willingly into the plaza to face Pablo’s mob of Republicans, insulting
them before he is killed: “Down with the miscalled Republic and I obscenity in
the milk of your fathers.”
Don Guillermo
Don
Guillermo has little money and “was only a fascist to be a snob”: he has
accepted fascism because of the “religiousness” of his wife, whom he loves.
Like the other men in the plaza, Don Guillermo is brutally murdered.
Don José Castro and Don Pepe
The two remaining fascists
in Pablo and Pilar’s town, left in the church with the priest.
Cuatro Dedos
Cuatro Dedos (“Four Fingers”) is
a cobbler and an ally of Pablo’s who helps carry out the attack on the
town.
Harlow and Garbo
Two women Robert
Jordan dated, whom he believes he loved (though not as much
as Maria). He occasionally dreams of them coming back to his bed.
Courtesy:
www.litchart.com
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