For Whom the Bell Tolls: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Robert Jordan thinks that the planes look like sharks, moving like “mechanized doom.” He asks Maria what she thinks, and she replies that she thinks they look like “death.” Three Heinkel fighters in a V formation swoop down over them, low enough so that they can see the pilots. The sky then empties out; Maria remarks that it seems as if the planes were a dream that they have now woken from. Pilar decides that they will walk to El Sordo, and she tells Jordan that “there is no sickness” in Maria, though “there could have been.” She then asks Jordan if she and Maria made love. Jordan expresses concern that Maria might have a baby.

Pilar says that though she is no coward, she thinks that there are many among them who, though alive now, will “never see another Sunday.” Jordan says that they are not alone, but “all together,” though Pilar feels defeated by the sight of the machines; she insists that she still has resolution, and Jordan assures her that her sadness will dissipate. Pilar confesses that she did not want to “wound” Pablo by telling the story of Finito in Valencia, though she did hope to “kill him” or “curse him.” Jordan says that he doesn’t like Pablo, and Pilar says that he doesn’t like Jordan either.

The night before, Pilar tells Robert Jordan, she asked Pablo why he didn’t kill Jordan, and he replied that he thought Robert Jordan was a “good boy.” Later in the night, she heard him crying as though “there [was] an animal inside […] shaking him.” When she asked him what was wrong, he replied, “the people. The way they left me,” and tells her to “remember the train.” Pablo confesses that he is afraid to die, and Pilar orders him to get out of bed, since “there is not room in one bed for me and thee and thy fear all together.” Pilar says that though she is sad, her sadness does not compare to Pablo’s: she still believes “firmly” in the Republic.

Jordan says that he is not afraid of dying, though he is afraid of not doing his duty well. Pilar says that he is a “very cold boy,” but Jordan disagrees: he believes that he is merely “preoccupied” with his work. He has not given women much importance in the past, since he has not found one that “moved” him before. However, he realizes that he cares “very much” for Maria. Pilar says she will leave him alone with Maria after they have seen El Sordo, since “there is not much time” for them to be together. He asks her if she saw that when she read his hand. She tells him not to remember “that nonsense.”

Pilar encourages Robert Jordan to make use of the night with Maria, and Jordan laughs, admitting that he cares for Pilar “very much” as well. Jordan goes into the cave and kisses Maria, which Fernando, watching nearby, finds offensive; Pilar tells him that they are engaged, and he takes back his remark. Fernando goes to relieve Primitivo of his post, and Agustin mocks him. Pilar tells Agustin that she is tired of his “obscenities,” and she speculates that the Fascists are preparing to meet the Republicans’ offensive, though she is not sure why the Fascists have shown their planes—thus alerting the Republicans to their plans.Agustin says that “in this war are many foolish things,” though Pablo is “wily,” not foolish; Pilar says that it is too late “to be saved by wiliness.”

Agustin says that Pilar is not smart like Pablo, but “brave” and “loyal”; Pilar says that Robert Jordan is smart, though “very cold in the head.” Pablo, she thinks, is “rendered useless by his fear.” Pilar says that the group needs to “act with intelligence,” and that she no longer has any confidence in Pablo. Agustin insists that they need Pablo to help organize the attack on the bridge, but Pilar disagrees. She believes that the bridge must be attacked if they are to win, and that Pablo is unable to see past his own weakness to recognize this. To win a war, Agustin says, you need talent and “material,” which he believes Pablo has.