For Whom the Bell Tolls

Pilar wakes Robert at two o’clock in the morning and tells him that Pablo has taken things from his packs and left; she does not know what is missing. Robert finds that the items for setting off the explosives are missing, as are two horses. Putting his anger with her aside, Robert assures her that there are other ways to make the explosives go off. He sends her back to sleep, although she claims she cannot sleep after betraying the Republic. He takes the bags to his own bed to sleep until they must start their work at four o’clock.

Andrés thinks about the upcoming attack at the bridge as he carries Robert’s message to Golz. He believes he must get back to his comrades before the attack so he can fight with them, but he also recognizes that when Robert told him to take the message, he felt some relief at the possibility of not being part of the attack. He thinks of how he used to have that same relief when it would rain on the day of a festival where he normally fought bulls in ways that made him feel both proud and ashamed. He approaches the place where he will find Golz’s men, knowing he will be challenged.

Lying in the dark with the still-sleeping Maria, Robert goes into a silent rage at Pablo, expanding his rage to include all of Spain and its leaders until he expands it so much as to seem ridiculous. At that point, he calms, reminding himself to remember all the good people in Spain and his reason for fighting in the first place. Creating a new plan to make the bridge blow without the equipment Pablo stole, he whispers to Maria that they will die tomorrow, but that at least he can give her a good night’s sleep until it is time to go.

Andrés lays on the ground and calls out to the guard post, who shoot in his direction before questioning him, at first not believing he is a guerrilla fighter. They finally allow him to approach, where the leader looks at the papers from Robert and use them to identify Andrés. He at first believes Andrés, but then at Andrés’s insistence at getting to Golz quickly, he becomes distrustful again and decides to escort Andrés himself.

Robert lays in the dark with Maria, keeping track of the time. When it is nearly time to get up and prepare for the attack, he wakes her, knowing they must speak before it all starts. She tells him she is no longer sore, and they make love once more, both knowing this is all the time they have. He tells Maria afterward that she must wait with the horses until he returns from blowing up the bridge; they gather his things and return to the cave.

Robert and the guerrilleros prepare for the attack as Pilar repairs Robert’s bags and Maria tends the fire for their food. Robert reviews his revised plan and decides it will not work; he will be lucky to blow one bridge support. Nonetheless, he is determined to do what he can.

Pablo returns. He admits to throwing the stolen equipment into the gorge to try to prevent the plan going forward since they had too few men, but he tells them all that as soon as he did so, he felt lonely. He also realized that it would not stop Robert from trying to go through with the plan, so he gathered men from other guerrilla groups and brought them to the cave. Pilar allows him to be their leader once more, despite the anger lingering among the group. Robert, despite his anger, is glad Pablo has returned and brought more men.

When Pablo approaches Robert separately, Robert notices that the man is not fully “converted” back to their cause; he still believes it will be a disaster. He claims they can still make it to Gredos after the attack, but Robert knows he would not be invited. They greet the men Pablo brought and start the trek to the bridge.

Andrés is led through camps by Gómez, but their progress is slow, and an aide tries to prevent them from speaking to the lieutenant-colonel. Gomez threatens him, and finally he wakes the lieutenant-colonel, who understands the gravity of the message and has his aide write up papers that will help expedite Andrés being able to speak with Golz once they find him.

The guerrilla fighters tie up the horses at the spot where Maria and Rafael will wait and begin organizing. Robert emphasizes to Pilar and Pablo that no one is to act unless they hear fighting begin.

Pablo tries to insist that they do not have enough horses because Robert must go with them to Gredos, but Robert knows this will not happen. He shakes hands with Pablo before parting, realizing that despite their hatred, they have become allies.

Saying goodbye to Maria, he feels a sense of déjà vu, recalling the goodbye from his father at a train station before Robert first went off to school. He remembers the awkwardness and embarrassment over his father’s emotion.

Robert, Anselmo, and Agustín go to the place where Anselmo watched the road for two days and set up the machine gun.

Andrés and Gómez encounter several obstacles to their progress, including a roadblock caused by an accident between two military vehicles, a sentry who refuses to relinquish their papers at first, and the now-corrupt and brutal André Marty, who was once a great French military leader but now detains the men until Karkov arrives and ensures the men are given back the dispatch from Robert and sent on their way.

Andrés and Gómez get the message to Golz’s headquarters, where Duval, one of the commanders, tries to get hold of Golz on the phone. The message reaches Golz too late, as the planes take off. Golz thinks proudly of how the attack could have succeeded if a traitor had not revealed their plans.

Hearing the attack begin, Robert and Anselmo kill the sentries, and everyone springs into action. Anselmo hands materials down to Robert under the bridge. After handling their own side of the attack, Pilar and several men join Robert and Anselmo, having lost one man and carrying a gravely injured Fernando. Because Robert cannot blow the bridge from a longer distance due to Pablo’s theft of the triggers, the explosion kills Anselmo.

Robert meets Agustín at his post, and they wonder where Pablo is before hearing sounds of Pablo’s fighting. Pablo appears, running from his post, shooting at a small tank behind him. After shooting the tank, they retreat. Pablo explains that all the men he was with are dead; they were trapped by the tank, but when it turned another direction, he escaped. Agustín suspects Pablo killed the other guerrilla fighters, but Pablo will not admit to it. Robert privately believes the same.

They reach the rest of the group, and everyone mounts their horse and follows Pablo. As they ride, they come under fire. Robert is the last in line and tries to use the pack horse as a shield of sorts. An explosion knocks his horse over, and he lands underneath it, his leg gravely injured.

Two of the men rescue Robert. He knows a nerve has been damaged in his leg and that he must be left behind, so he orders Pablo to take Maria away after he says goodbye. Robert angles himself toward the road to shoot any fascist troops he sees.

Watching the road, Robert struggles with increasing pain. He desperately hopes for fascists to come so he can die fighting them rather than killing himself as his father did. He rationalizes having to kill himself as the pain increases, explaining to himself that if he falls unconscious and is taken by fascists, they will question and torture him. He fights himself over whether or not he should kill himself now, and he determines to hold off as long as he can, just in case he can kill an officer or several soldiers and somehow help turn the tide of the battle. Cavalry approaches, and the officer leading them is Lieutenant Berrendo, the man who ordered the beheading of El Sordo and his last few men. He approaches a spot in the road below where Robert hides, secretly aiming his gun.