For Whom the Bell Tolls: Chapter 25 Summary & Analysis

Robert Jordan tells Agustin not to fire his gun until he is sure that the fascists are coming in; if they “merely present themselves,” he must leave them alone like they did before. He climbs up some boulders to where Primitivo is positioned and looks across the valley to see a troop of cavalry riding uphill toward the firing. Though Primitivo insists that they go to aid El Sordo, Jordan says that it is impossible. El Sordo and his men are lost: they have surely been massacred. Jordan says that it would be useless if the group went to help, and the firing doubles in intensity.

Pilar approaches them and takes Jordan’s binoculars to see cavalry entering El Sordo’s territory. Jordan tells her that the combat seems “bad,” and that they can do nothing for El Sordo. Pilar reprimands Primitivo for wanting to aid El Sordo, since it is a “useless” endeavor. The group watches a plane overheard, heading toward the top of the valley and circling back toward Segovia. Jordan asks Pilar if she has “caught” his fear, but she says that he has no fear to catch; she adds that she will send food and wine up to them from the cave. Though the firing has slowed, Jordan says that the attack on El Sordo is not over yet: the attackers likely have them surrounded.