For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway - 1940 | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway - 1940

Introduction

As a catalyst for classic literature, the Spanish Civil War is overshadowed by the great conflict that followed it, World War II. This is to be expected; World War II was global in scope, while the Spanish Civil War was essentially an internal struggle. However, many notable foreigners—such as George Orwell, author of Animal Farm and 1984—participated in the Spanish battle in some capacity, and later wrote of the experience. Among these foreigners was novelist and journalist Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway understood what was at stake in the Spanish Civil War, and attempted to capture all aspects of the conflict in his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. He arrived in Spain shortly after fighting broke out, covering the war for the North American Newspaper Alliance. It was a dangerous assignment, since both sides displayed a disturbing willingness to shed blood for their cause. Nevertheless, Hemingway had a special interest in the country. He was already known as an important novelist and a lover of Spain and Spanish culture; he had written eloquently of the country in his first novel, The Sun Also Rises (1926), and in a book on bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon (1932).

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