War, love and literature

I have always been a fan of Hemingway, I am intrigued by his courage, adventures and drive for a sense of self fulfilment and his unique contribution to the 20th century literature. “For whom the bell tolls”, is one of his finest works and I finished the book last night. Closing the book, I cried in the dark, not only moved by the dramatic sad ending but also by the stark reality it unveiled about war, love, life and death.

As in most of his other novels, his main character is usually a vivid reflection of himself in a lot of ways, not only the events he has been through but also his inner world – his thoughts, his belief and his struggle to find true meanings in life. They are generally strong and self driven characters but they also have a very sensitive heart. Slightly glorified by the heroism, deep down they might be confused, questioning the purpose of his act from time to time; they are also ultimately romantics, they believe in true love and self sacrifice for love.

The book is centred around one big mission carried out by the American volunteer Robert Jordan and his interaction and observation with the guerrilla group and other parties involved in the civil war. Roberto, he believed in fight for the cause, but still he was troubled by what people have to go through in a war which he thinks justifying for his cause. He believes winning the war is important and there is a price to pay, however he is not convinced that being ruthless and brutal is the way to defeat your enemies. He was not so afraid of death as such as he believed his act was the best way to fulfil his vision. But he challenged the notion when he met the love of his life, because spending time with someone he loves gives his life a new meaning that he didn’t realize before.

I have to admit that I was not so excited about the book when I started, it was a rather slow pace in the first 100 pages. However, as a good writer, Hemingway knew how to raise the interests of the story by slowly adding more twists into it. Little by little, we were brought into the whirlpool of conflicts, confrontations, intensive love affair, loyalty, betrayal and climax of the events. The ending, with its subtleness, is sad, however, from heroin point of view, he had accomplished his mission, and as he was lying there waiting for his death, he was content in a way he has had a full life, even that means only three days and nights.

Hemingway was a passionate supporter of republic in the civil war, yet he witnessed the bureaucracy, ignorance and lack of discipline in the army that he had high hopes for. This was very well portrayed in this novel, it is hard to believe, an army and government under the threat of the fascists could be so complacent and laidback. Sad, but it is the truth. He is an idealist, as he could die for his belief but he doesn’t regret this kind of choice. In this novel, we can see the shift in Hemingway from a pure enthusiastic young man (when he wrote farewell to arms) to a mature warrior. Having experienced first world war and Spanish civil war, he started to question the cause for the war, is it ok to fight for its cause when the process itself might be utterly painful and brutal? This is a rather profound question, which I believe we still could not answer today.

War, hunting and bull fight, are Hemingway’s favourite subjects, partly because that when he presents the characters confronting life and death and in the fight to become a heroine like human being. Just recently, I learned, in contrary to my assumption before, He was not particularly strong physically even he liked to be a strong man. But he certainly had a full life given what he was born with. Not many writers in the world could compare with him in terms of the variety of things he had done in life. And that certainly gave him a ubiquitous edge that others find hard to imitate.

Live to the full and express it to the full in writing, which is what he had done, when he realized it was all over for him, he had only one choice. Death is not something he was particularly afraid of, as he is a man with strong desires to explore, when he can’t do that anymore, death is the only exit.

I do believe your best writing come from things and people that you are most close to, that is an inspiration as well as a strong bond and connection. But do people have the same interest on the ordinary drama in a everyday life as compared with the dramatic setting such as war, I am not sure. I think sometimes we are all looking for something more exciting, challenging and fulfilling than our own small world, and literature could be on way to explore it.