For Whom the Bell Tolls Character Analysis

Robert Jordan / Roberto / The Young Man

Robert Jordan is a Spanish professor from Montana and a volunteer for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Trained in explosives detonation, Jordan takes pride in his work as a soldier, though he feels… read analysis of Robert Jordan / Roberto / The Young Man

Maria

Maria is a young woman and a member of the guerilla group Robert Jordan joins at the beginning of the novel. She has “golden tawny brown” eyes and skin, and hair that is the “golden… read analysis of Maria

Pilar / Pablo’s Wife

Pilar is the leader of the guerilla group, though her husband, Pablo, claims the same role; unlike Pablo, however, Pilar is strong, capable, and commanding, able to influence the other fighters and make informed… read analysis of Pilar / Pablo’s Wife

Pablo

Pablo, once a great fighter, is now the disillusioned leader of the guerillas, along with his wife, Pilar. Pablo is introduced to Robert Jordan as a “man both serious and valiant,” though Pablo repeatedly… read analysis of Pablo

Anselmo / The Older Man

Anselmo is the first member of the Republican guerillas Robert Jordan meets. He is a thoughtful, highly principled older man who supports Jordan’s offensive on the bridge. Due to his Catholic faith, Anselmo is… read analysis of Anselmo / The Older Man

El Sordo

El Sordo, also known as Santiago, is an older man and a leader of another guerilla group that Robert Jordan, Pilar, and the other guerillas enlist to help with the upcoming offensive on… read analysis of El Sordo

Rafael / The “Gypsy”

Rafael is a Roma man (described as a “gypsy” throughout) and a member of Pablo and Pilar’s guerilla group. Frequently drunk and often criticized for his slipshod behavior as a fighter, Rafael nonetheless possesses… read analysis of Rafael / The “Gypsy”

Andrés

Eladio’s brother. Andrés is the guerilla tasked with delivering the message from Robert Jordan to General Golz warning Golz that the offensive on the bridge should be canceled; in a series of unfortunate events… read analysis of Andrés

Agustin

Like Rafael, Agustin is a guerilla with a penchant for violence. He speaks “so obscenely, coupling an obscenity to every noun as an adjective, using the same obscenity as a verb, that Robert Jordan… read analysis of Agustin

Primitivo

As a character, Primitivo is less fleshed-out than the other guerillas; he is described only as “flat-faced” but commended by Agustin for his “dependable value.” Like Agustin, Primitivo is motivated by a strong sense of… read analysis of Primitivo

Eladio

Andrés’s older brother. Eladio is the most anonymous of the guerillas. He is given no clear personality traits, though it is mentioned that he and Andrés are orphaned, since their family members were killed… read analysis of Eladio

Joaquin

Joaquin is a guard for El Sordo’s guerilla group. He is “very young” with a “rather hawk-nosed face” and “friendly” eyes. He flirts aggressively with Maria, whom he helped carry to safety after… read analysis of Joaquin

General Golz

Golz is a Russian general and the head of the Republican command for which Robert Jordan works. He is the leader who orders Jordan to blow up the bridge. Golz is a stern, authoritative… read analysis of General Golz

Kashkin

Kashkin is a Russian soldier who worked alongside Pablo and Pilar’s guerillas before Robert Jordan. He was an experienced dynamiter, like Jordan, and earned a great deal of respect from the guerillas after… read analysis of Kashkin

Karkov

Karkov is a Russian reporter for Pravda, a Soviet newspaper, and a close friend of Robert Jordan whom he meets at the Hotel Gaylord, a popular Russian spot in Madrid. Karkov is Anselmo’s… read analysis of Karkov

Lieutenant-Colonel Miranda

The Lieutenant-Colonel Miranda is a "short, gray-faced man” who has been in the army all his life. Miranda became a Republican because he could not divorce his wife under fascist regulations, and his sole ambition… read analysis of Lieutenant-Colonel Miranda

Lieutenant Paco Berrendo

The Lieutenant Paco Berrendo is a fascist who leads the fight against El Sordo and his group on the hill. After his best friend, a lieutenant named Julian, is killed, Berrendo kills Joaquin and orders… read analysis of Lieutenant Paco Berrendo

Captain Mora

Mora, with a “red face,” “a blond, British-looking moustache,” and “something wrong about his eyes,” is the brash leader of the fascists who square up against El Sordo and his group. Berrendo thinks of him… read analysis of Captain Mora

André Marty

André Marty is a deeply cynical French commander and Communist allied with the Republican forces whom Andrés encounters when he comes to deliver Robert Jordan’s missive. Marty believes that Andrés and Gomez are fascist… read analysis of André Marty

Finito De Palencia

Pilar tells Robert Jordan and the other guerillas the story of her romance with Finito, a bullfighter who represents the passion and strength of Spain prior to the Spanish Civil War. Though Finito was “one… read analysis of Finito De Palencia

The British Economist / Mitchell

Karkov tells Robert Jordan about a British economist who spent time in Spain. Jordan has read the economist’s writing and respects him, but he feels that the economist doesn’t understand Spain, and he is offended… read analysis of The British Economist / Mitchell

Chub

Chub is a friend of Robert Jordan’s from Montana who accompanies him to throw his grandfather’s gun into a lake in the high country above Red Lodge. Chub tells Robert Jordan that he… read analysis of Chub

Robert Jordan’s Father

Robert Jordan’s father committed suicide with a gun belonging to his father, Jordan’s grandfather, a Civil War veteran. It is clear that Jordan is traumatized by his father’s death—since it is mentioned that… read analysis of Robert Jordan’s Father

Robert Jordan’s Grandfather

Robert Jordan’s grandfather fought in the American Civil War and imparts the history of this war on a young Jordan. According to Jordan, he was a “hell of a good soldier,” and he reveals… read analysis of Robert Jordan’s Grandfather

Dolores Ibarruri / La Pasionaria

La Pasionaria was a famous Republican fighter and a real historical figure. She is briefly mentioned in the novel as a distant figurehead of the Republican movement, one untethered from the reality of war: Karkov… read analysis of Dolores Ibarruri / La Pasionaria

Don Faustino Rivera

Don Faustina is the oldest son of a wealthy land owner, a womanizer and an amateur (and unskilled) bullfighter. It is rumoured that he once made himself vomit after seeing the bull he was meant… read analysis of Don Faustino Rivera

Don Anastasio Rivas

Don Anastasio is an “undoubted fascist” and “the fattest man in the town,” “a grain buyer” and an insurance agent who loans money at high interest rates. Don Anastasio is the last fascist to be… read analysis of Don Anastasio Rivas

Minor Characters

Fernando

Fernando is a straitlaced guerilla and Rafael’s opposite—he is serious, moralistic, and dignified. Robert Jordan thinks of him as a “cigar store Indian,” rigid and upstanding. He does not drink, and he disapproves of Jordan’s relationship with Maria until he learns that they are engaged.

Rogelio Gomez

Gomez is a Republican officer who escorts Andrés when he attempts to deliver Robert Jordan’s message to General Golz. Though the other Republican officers are either corrupt or misguided, Gomez is able to see Andrés for what he is: a genuine supporter of the Republican cause.

Don Benito Garcia

Don Benito is the mayor of the town where Pablo and Pilar lived at the start of the revolution, and he is the first to be beaten to death by the Republican mob that Pablo organizes.

Don Federico Gonzalez

Don Federico owns the mill in Pablo and Pilar’s town and is a "fascist of the first order.” He is too terrified to walk out into the plaza, where the mob has gathered, and prays silently before being clubbed to death and thrown off of a cliff.

Don Ricardo Montalvo

Don Ricardo is a land owner who insists that he is not afraid to die and goes out willingly into the plaza to face Pablo’s mob of Republicans, insulting them before he is killed: “Down with the miscalled Republic and I obscenity in the milk of your fathers.”

Don Guillermo

Don Guillermo has little money and “was only a fascist to be a snob”: he has accepted fascism because of the “religiousness” of his wife, whom he loves. Like the other men in the plaza, Don Guillermo is brutally murdered.

Don José Castro and Don Pepe

The two remaining fascists in Pablo and Pilar’s town, left in the church with the priest.

Cuatro Dedos

Cuatro Dedos (“Four Fingers”) is a cobbler and an ally of Pablo’s who helps carry out the attack on the town.

Harlow and Garbo

Two women Robert Jordan dated, whom he believes he loved (though not as much as Maria). He occasionally dreams of them coming back to his bed.