Themes

[Kyle]

Throughout the book the theme of death is discussed by the men. Why do you think Hemingway made this topic so highly discussed during the book?

[Carole]

DEATH and DESTRUCTION surrounds the time, place and characters as we enter the world of the story. That the young protagonist, Robert Jordan, is an idealist, facing probable death as he deals in the destruction of bridges and trains, is an element that pits idealism against realism. What does it take to believe in a cause so passionately that one is willing to leave family and loved ones, journey to a foreign place, and seek to justify that idealism by causing death, is one of the true schism of the internal struggle he faces, though not knowingly, I don't think. Hemingway yearned to face battle as a soldier himself, and I believe his involvement with the Red Cross during WWI was so immensely jolting when he viewed the 'death' of so many soldiers, that he internalized those events within a mind that repelled those visions. Personally I feel that while he was trying to 'prove' his 'macho man' image, he felt compelled to reveal, through his writings, the terrible effect of war...and that is death and destruction.