eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Ernest Hemingway's 1940 novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, is a classic war romance (that's a war drama and a romance, in one). The Monarchist offensive proceeded, but slowly. We’re considering expanding this synopsis into a full-length study guide to deepen your comprehension of the book and why it's important. In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway captivates the realism of war through his own eyes. An expert in using dynamite, Jordan, the protagonist, climbs a mountain with an elderly Spanish peasant named Anselmo who speaks a form of archaic Castilian Spanish. His initial idealism is quickly tempered by the realities of war. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia. Ernest Hemingway's 1940 novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, is a classic war romance (that's a war drama and a romance, in one). For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 American war film produced and directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Katina Paxinou and Joseph Calleia. The story is set in the Spanish Civil War and is about a young man, Robert Jordan. N. Porta/DeA Picture Library SUMMARY: The novel is set near Segovia , Spain , in 1937 and tells the story of American teacher Robert Jordan, who has joined the antifascist Loyalist army. There is a civil war going on and Jordan who has joined up on the side that appeals most to idealists of that era -- like Ernest Hemingway and his friends -- has been given a high-risk assignment up in the mountains. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. Drawing from his own observation and experiences as an ambulance driver, Hemingway shows the psychological damage of war through the destruction of human lives, uncommitted relationships, and lack of … By the spring of 1937 (the time during which the incidents of For Whom the Bell Tolls occur), the leftists had, however, gathered enough men and equipment to prevent Franco from overrunning the country. Yet his courage enables him to remain devoted to the cause, even as he faces death. Bergman, Ingrid; Cooper, Gary; For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) Gary Cooper (left) and Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), directed by Sam Wood. For Whom the Bell Tolls chronicles the experiences of American college professor Robert Jordan, who has volunteered to fight for the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War. For Whom the Bell Tolls Summary & Study Guide includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis, quotes, character descriptions, themes, and more. It's Ernest Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' Summary and Analysis Chapters 1-7 Hemingway develops several themes in the course of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Civil war in Spain, love in the woods, and death everywhere. For Whom the Bell Tolls Summary. Civil war in Spain, love in the woods, and death everywhere.