For Whom The Bell Tolls Women

In Ernest Hemingway’s book, For Whom The Bell Tolls, He has multiple female characters that represent women and the roles that they played during the time period of the Spanish Civil War. Women actually participated in huge ways during the Spanish Civil War. Though the amount of women in the guerilla group was not very large, the few that were members were important parts of the group. One of the these characters is Maria, the love interest of the main character Robert Jordan. Another character is Pilar, the wife of the leader of the group. Over the course of the novel, Maria and Pilar’s actions show the reader that though both of these women were fighting for the same thing at the end of the day, they came from opposite ends of the spectrum …show more content…
Pilar is constantly described to not be seen by others as the typical women. She is large, bulky, and not very attractive on the outside. Maria on the other hand is striking, despite the shaving of her hair that was forced upon her by the fascists. This brings out an ugliness inside of Pilar, as she cant help but feel jealous of the love Maria and Robert Jordan have found. “Yes, he can have thee,’ Pilar said and ran her finger around the lobe of the girl’s ear. ‘But I am very jealous.” (154). Maria has found an almost perfect relationship in Pilar’s eyes, while she only has Pablo, a man who isn’t hesitant to degrade her and doesn’t truly love her. Pilar envies Maria, yet Maria’s beauty did her absolutely no good when her parents were murdered and she was taken. In the end she still lost her family members and the fascists ended up taking advantage of her and raping her multiple times. It is likely that she is unable to have kids because of this, a scar she will have to carry with her forever. Despite this, Maria continues to be optimistic, lightening the hearts of others such as Robert Jordan. This is another thing that separates the two of them. Though Pilar is still a supportive person, she is much more susceptible to negativity. In the end, they both have a great love for their country, and are willing to die along with it if need be. For Whom The Bell Tolls depicts women the way that they were described to be in the Spanish Civil War. Ernest Hemingway’s characters Maria and Pilar were proud members of these brave volunteers, and it shows the reader the exact experience of the time period. In the end, the reader is left to see that they fought and participated just as much in the wartime life as an man did, if not