For Whom the Bell Tolls

by Ernest Hemingway

“You have killed?” Robert Jordan asked in the intimacy of the dark and of their day together. “Yes. Several times. But not with pleasure. To me it is a sin to kill a man. Even Fascists whom we must kill. To me there is a great difference between the bear and the man and I do not believe the wizardry of the gypsies about the brotherhood with animals. No. I am against all killing of men.” “Yet you have killed.” “Yes. And will again. But if I live later, I will try to live in such a way, doing no harm to any one, that it will be forgiven.” “By whom?” “Who knows? Since we do not have God here any more, neither His Son nor the Holy Ghost, who forgives? I do not know.” “You have not God any more?” “No. Man. Certainly not. If there were God, never would He have permitted what I have seen with my eyes. Let them have God.” “They claim Him.” “Clearly I miss Him, having been brought up in religion. But now a man must be responsible to himself.” “Then it is thyself who will forgive thee for killing.” “I believe so,” Anselmo said. “Since you put it clearly in that way I believe that must be it. But with or without God, I think it is a sin to kill. To take the life of another is to me very grave. I will do it whenever necessary but I am not of the race of Pablo.” “To win a war we must kill our enemies. That has always been true.” “Clearly. In war we must kill. But I have very rare ideas,” Anselmo said.