For Whom the Bell Tolls Summary by Chapter | Ernest Hemingway
This For Whom the Bell Tolls Summary by Chapter guides you through all 43 chapters, from Jordan’s arrival at the guerilla cave to his final, fateful stand among the pine needles.
Each chapter unfolds across roughly three tense days in the Guadarrama mountains, where loyalty frays, love blossoms, and the machinery of war grinds relentlessly forward.
For readers seeking a deeper exploration of events, themes, characters, and similar books, the full comprehensive summary awaits at: For Whom the Bell Tolls summary.
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Book Structure Overview
| Component | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total Chapters | 43 Chapters |
| Prologue / Epilogue | None (Starts at Chapter 1; Ends at Chapter 43) |
| Chapter Titles | Chapters are numbered only |
| Setting | The Guadarrama Mountains, Spain, during the Civil War |
| Main Character | Robert Jordan (The “Inglés”) |
| Narrative Flow | Linear, spanning roughly three days with occasional flashbacks |
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ Summary Chapter by Chapter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This section contains detailed, chapter-by-chapter plot summaries.
Chapter 1: Arrival Behind Fascist Lines
Robert Jordan, an American teacher turned dynamiter, arrives behind fascist lines guided by the old man Anselmo. His mission is to blow a strategically vital bridge to support a Republican offensive toward Segovia.
Through his field glasses, Jordan observes the bridge and nearby fascist posts at a mill and a roadmender’s hut. Anselmo informs him that over a hundred men hide in small guerilla bands throughout these hills.
Jordan carries two heavy packs of dynamite, ordered by General Golz to be used at a precise hour. He meets Pablo, a heavy, round-faced guerilla leader with a broken nose who is immediately hostile toward the mission.
Anselmo calls Pablo a brute for prioritizing his own safety over the Republic. Pablo reluctantly helps carry the dynamite up the steep mountain, but Jordan detects a dangerous sadness in the man that signals potential betrayal.
Chapter 2: The Cave and the Palm Reading
The group arrives at a perfectly hidden guerilla camp inside a large cave within a rim-rock formation. Jordan meets Rafael, a lazy but friendly gypsy whittling a trap, and smells the appetizing scent of cooking rabbit stew.
Jordan shares Russian cigarettes and learns about the previous dynamiter, Kashkin, whom Pablo describes as jumpy and morbidly afraid of capture. Maria, a young woman with very short golden-brown hair, emerges from the cave to serve food.
Jordan is immediately captivated by Maria’s beauty despite her hair being regularly shaved in a fascist prison. Pilar, Pablo’s massive and formidable wife, enters and instantly asserts her authority over the camp.
Jordan trusts Pilar immediately and tells her the bridge mission is of great importance. When Pilar reads his palm, she becomes visibly troubled but refuses to reveal what she saw.
Chapter 3: Scouting the Bridge
Jordan and Anselmo sneak down the hillside to scout the bridge from only fifty yards away. Through his field glasses, Jordan sees the face of the sentry—a simple peasant—in remarkable detail.
He makes quick line sketches in his notebook to plan the placement of explosives, realizing the demolition will not be difficult if done scientifically. Three planes appear in the sky, and both men hope they are Republican aircraft.
As they walk back, Anselmo confesses that he hates killing men, though he finds pleasure in hunting animals. He believes killing is a sin that must be forgiven, even in war, and admits he misses the comfort of religion.
Jordan thinks about his duty and how the bridge represents a point on which the human race could turn. They encounter Agustín, a foul-mouthed sentry who warns Jordan to guard his explosives carefully.
Chapter 4: Pilar Takes Command
Jordan brings his dynamite packs inside the cave to prevent tampering and sits at a table with the guerillas. Pablo openly declares that neither he nor his people will participate in blowing the bridge.
Anselmo calls Pablo a coward for his tactical sense that prioritizes safety over duty. Pilar stands by the fire and declares her unwavering loyalty to the Republic and the bridge mission.
She mocks Pablo’s obsession with safety, comparing him to an arrogant bullfighter before a goring. Pilar publicly deposes Pablo, stating that she now commands the band.
Pablo backs down and admits Pilar commands, though he warns he is not stupid. Jordan shows the men his sketches of the bridge, and the simplicity of the plan impresses everyone. Maria watches Jordan with intense affection throughout.
Chapter 5: The Refusal to Kill
Jordan steps outside to breathe the cold mountain air and hear the night sounds. Rafael the gypsy urges him to kill Pablo immediately, arguing that Pablo has no friends and everyone expected Jordan to execute him during the dispute.
Jordan refuses to commit what he considers an assassination, finding it repugnant to the cause. Pablo comes outside and speaks in a heavy, dull voice, acting friendly and telling Jordan not to pay attention to Pilar’s arguments.
Jordan remains deeply suspicious of Pablo’s sudden change in demeanor. He watches Pablo in the meadow talking tenderly to his big bay stallion, expressing more love for his horses than for any human being.
Jordan reflects on his obligation to the bridge and decides not to take any useless risk. He concludes that killing Pablo is not practical at this time despite the temptation.
Chapter 6: The Story of a Father’s Suicide
Jordan sits in the cave watching Pilar and Maria wash dishes by the fire. He reveals he is an anti-fascist from the United States and that his father and grandfather were Republicans.
Jordan admits his father shot himself to avoid being tortured, a fact that deeply moves Maria. She feels a sudden connection to Jordan, believing they are like brother and sister in their shared suffering.
Jordan runs his hand over Maria’s cropped hair, something he has wanted to do all day. Pilar teases Jordan about his religious devotion to politics and calls him Don Roberto.
Jordan asks Pilar if he should have killed Pablo, and she tells him it was not necessary. She believes Pablo has lost all capacity for danger and is terminated as a leader. Maria strokes Jordan’s hand like a kitten as she says goodnight.
Chapter 7: The Earth Moves
Jordan wakes in his sleeping robe as Maria comes to him in the cold night, shivering and frightened. She admits her love for him and confesses that things were done to her by fascists after her parents were shot.
Jordan pulls her into the robe and comforts her, insisting that no one has truly touched her soul. They share their first kiss, and Maria is overjoyed to learn where the noses go.
Maria explains that Pilar told her love would take it all away and make her feel whole again. They make love in the robe, and Jordan feels a warm, scalding coolness spread through him.
He realizes that Maria is now his woman and they are bound together completely. The experience is so profound that Jordan feels the earth move beneath them.
Chapter 8: Fascist Planes Overhead
Jordan wakes at dawn to find Maria gone and frost on his sleeping robe. He sees a massive formation of fascist planes, including Heinkel bombers and Fiat pursuit aircraft, crossing the sky.
The band members watch the planes with sober faces, realizing the enemy is preparing something significant. Jordan is alarmed by the concentration of aircraft, fearing they are headed for Republican airfields.
He gives Anselmo a notebook page to record all vehicle and troop movements on the road. Fernando returns from La Granja with rumors of a Republican offensive and bridges being blown.
Pilar mocks Fernando for only reporting as usual rumors and reminisces about the beautiful life in Valencia. The chapter ends with the sound of planes returning from their bombing mission.
Chapter 9: Pilar’s Faith and Loneliness
The returning bombers fly in arrow-head formations like mechanized doom. Maria thinks the planes look like death, while Jordan notes they are shaped like sharks.
Pilar decides they will walk to El Sordo’s camp instead of riding, for the sake of her liver. She discusses Maria’s future and the possibility of her having a baby with Jordan.
Pilar admits she is lonely and believes many of them will never see another Sunday. She describes how Pablo woke up crying in the night because the people had left him.
Jordan admits he has fallen suddenly and deeply in love with Maria. Pilar promises to leave them alone together after the meeting with El Sordo. Agustín arrives to guard the dynamite and warns that something foul is preparing.
Chapter 10: The Massacre in the Village
Pilar, Maria, and Jordan stop to rest by a stream in a high mountain meadow. Pilar bathes her feet and begins a long, brutal account of the revolution’s start in her own town.
Pablo led the assault on the Civil Guard barracks, blowing a wall with dynamite and shooting each guard in the back of the head after they surrendered. He then organized the townspeople into two lines armed with flails and clubs.
The town’s fascists were forced to walk between these lines toward a three-hundred-foot cliff. Pilar describes the death of the mayor, Don Benito, who was beaten and thrown into the river.
Some fascists died defiantly while others died as cowards. The townspeople became drunk on looted liquor, growing increasingly cruel as the day wore on. Pilar was sickened by the slowness and brutality of the massacre.
Chapter 11: Meeting El Sordo
They arrive at El Sordo’s camp and are challenged by the young guard Joaquín, a hawk-nosed boy whose family was shot by fascists. Maria kisses Joaquín as a brother to comfort him after he cries while speaking of his loss.
Jordan reflects on how Spaniards are loyal first to their village and family, and finally to their trade. They meet El Sordo, a short, heavy man with reptile’s eyes who is hard of hearing.
Sordo gives Jordan a bottle of Scotch whiskey obtained specifically for the dynamiter. He reports heavy fascist troop movements on the roads toward Segovia.
Jordan explains the plan to blow the bridge at the moment the Republican attack starts. Sordo is deeply concerned about the difficulty of retreating from the mountains in broad daylight. Sordo agrees to bring his eight men and sixty sticks of dynamite for the mission.
Chapter 12: Yielding Maria
The trio leaves El Sordo’s camp and heads back through the pines and high meadows. Pilar stops to rest, appearing physically ill with dark circles under her eyes.
She tells Maria that Jordan can have her now, but admits she is very jealous. Pilar explains that she is a woman made for men, and her jealousy is that of an older woman for Maria’s youth.
Jordan finds Pilar a very hard woman but respects her complexity. Pilar insists on leaving Jordan and Maria alone in the meadow for the afternoon.
The chapter ends with the two lovers alone in the mountain heather. Jordan feels an aching hollowness of wanting as he holds Maria’s hand.
Chapter 13: La Gloria in the Meadow
Jordan and Maria make love in the heather of the mountain meadow under the hot sun. For Maria, the experience is a blindness of red, orange, and gold colors.
For Jordan, it is a dark passage that ends with the sensation of the earth moving once again. Afterward, Maria calls Jordan her Inglés and he calls her his little rabbit.
Jordan’s mind immediately pivots back to the technical details of the bridge demolition. He thinks about his political views, realizing he is now simply a bridge-blower under Communist discipline.
Maria shows him a razor blade she carries to kill herself if she is ever captured. Jordan promises to shoot her himself if it becomes necessary. Pilar forces Maria to admit that the earth moved, saying it only happens three times in a lifetime.
Chapter 14: The Unseasonable Snow
It begins to snow heavily as they reach the camp, and Jordan is in a silent rage at the weather. Pablo is drunk and happy, believing the snow will cancel the Republican offensive.
Jordan insists he will still sleep outside in his high-quality down robe. Pilar stands over the fire and tells a long, vivid story about her former lover, the matador Finito.
She describes Finito’s extreme fear of bulls and his courage in the ring despite being tubercular. Pilar recounts a banquet where Finito vomited blood after being presented with a yellow bull’s head.
Rafael returns from his watch, cold and covered in snow, reporting on sentry rotations at the bridge. Jordan prepares to go out into the storm to find and relieve Anselmo.
Chapter 15: Anselmo’s Vigil
Anselmo crouches in the lee of a tree during the blizzard, recording vehicle movements on the road. He sees a camouflaged Rolls-Royce carrying fascist General Staff officers but simply records it as a motorcar.
Anselmo reflects on the soldiers at the sawmill post, realizing they are poor men just like him. He thinks about the sin of killing and believes a great penance will be needed after the war.
Inside the sawmill, the soldiers argue about the moon of May and the dangers of the war. Jordan and Fernando arrive to relieve Anselmo, and Jordan is moved by the old man’s extraordinary discipline.
Jordan gives Anselmo a drink of whiskey from Sordo’s bottle to warm him. They walk back to camp together, and Jordan feels a rare happiness in finding a dependable man like Anselmo.
Chapter 16: Provoking Pablo
They return to the warm, smoky cave where Pablo is drunk on wine and mocks Jordan for being a false professor with no beard. Pablo also ridicules the idea of men in Scotland wearing skirts.
Pablo admits he was once barbarous but now feels sorrow for the people he killed. Pilar and Agustín are disgusted by Pablo’s drunken sentimentality and soddenness.
Jordan realizes Pablo is not as drunk as he appears and is deliberately trying to provoke the group. Jordan attempts to provoke Pablo into a fight so he can kill him, but Pablo refuses.
Agustín hits Pablo in the face several times, but Pablo refuses to retaliate. He toasts all the illusioned ones and leaves the cave to check on the horses.
Chapter 17: The Vote to Execute
With Pablo gone, the guerillas debate his fate, with most agreeing he must be eliminated. Andrés and Eladio both vote to kill him because he constitutes a great danger to the mission.
Fernando gives a long, bureaucratic speech in favor of eliminating Pablo to ensure success. The gypsy Rafael suggests blinding Pablo, but Pilar and the others find the idea filthy.
Jordan offers to perform the execution himself that night. Pablo suddenly returns to the cave and claims he has changed his mind about the bridge, saying the wind has changed and the snow is stopping.
Pablo pledges his loyalty and says he is ready for what the day brings. Jordan and Pilar are skeptical but decide to accept Pablo’s sudden reversal for now.
Chapter 18: Reflections at Gaylord’s
Jordan sits in the cave and finalizes his technical demolition plans and operation orders. He feels as though he is on a merry-go-round of repeating conflicts with Pablo.
He fantasizes about returning to Madrid and the Hotel Florida for a hot bath and clean sheets. Jordan recalls the luxury and cynicism of Gaylord’s, the Russian headquarters in Madrid.
He thinks about the Russian journalist Karkov, whom he considers the most intelligent man he has met. Karkov educated Jordan on the reality of the Spanish leadership and the role of the Comintern.
Jordan remembers the early days of the war when he felt like he was on a crusade. He reflects on the state of grace he felt during the defense of Madrid. He realizes that Maria has made him clearer in his head about his politics.
Chapter 19: The Smell of Death
Maria asks Jordan what he is thinking about, and he tells her he is thinking of a book he will write. Pilar mentions that Jordan shot his own comrade, Kashkin, after he was wounded.
This revelation shocks the other guerillas, and Pablo stares at Jordan curiously. Jordan explains he did it at Kashkin’s own request to prevent his capture.
Pilar insists she smelled death on Kashkin and on matadors like Manolo Granero. She provides a visceral description of the odor of death-to-come involving blood and refuse.
Jordan remains a skeptic, calling her stories gypsy manure and superstition. He checks the weather outside and finds the snow has stopped and the night is clear.
Chapter 20: Alliance Against Death
Jordan makes a comfortable bed of pine boughs in the lee of a rock wall. He waits in the cold night for Maria to join him, feeling nostalgia for the smells of his youth.
Maria arrives barefoot through the snow, wearing only her wedding shirt. They make love again, and Maria tells him she is on fire despite the freezing cold.
They talk about being one person and having no heart but mine. Maria says she will be Jordan when he is not there.
Jordan feels their union has abolished loneliness and made an alliance against death. They fall asleep together in the warmth of the robe. Jordan wakes in the night and holds her tight, feeling she is all of life there was.
Chapter 21: The Fascist Cavalryman
Jordan wakes to the sound of a fascist cavalryman trotting through the trees. He shoots the rider from his robe, and the horse drags the body away through the snow.
Maria hides under the robe as Jordan quickly dresses and gathers his equipment. The camp is instantly alert, and Pilar hands Jordan a bag of grenades.
Pablo takes the captured gray horse to ride it out and lead any pursuers away from the camp. Jordan orders Agustín and Anselmo to take the automatic rifle to a defensive position.
Maria tries to follow Jordan, but he sends her back to help Pilar with the baggage. Maria is in tears, but Jordan insists they cannot love and fight at the same moment. Pablo rides off on the big gray horse, looking like a new man in the saddle.
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Chapter 22: The Automatic Rifle Blind
Jordan builds a well-camouflaged blind for the automatic rifle near the mountain gap. He realizes the band’s previous defenses were amateurish and quickly corrects them.
Jordan instructs Agustín on how to use the gun effectively to massacre attackers. He watches the crows in the trees, using them as natural sentinels for approaching enemies.
Rafael the gypsy returns with two hares he caught while deserting his post. Jordan is furious but lets Rafael go to get breakfast and the dead soldier’s papers.
Jordan sees an observation plane high above and orders the men to stay hidden. He reflects on the worthless nature of gypsies in war but knows he needs Rafael for the bridge.
Chapter 23: Tactical Restraint
Four fascist cavalrymen appear in the glade, following the tracks of the first rider. Jordan has the leader in his sights but does not fire, hoping they follow Pablo’s trail instead.
A full troop of twenty more mounted men passes by, but the band remains completely undetected. Jordan feels a hollow sense of relief after the cavalry disappears into the timber.
He sends Anselmo to watch the road again and report on any tank tracks. They discuss the black milk of the revolution and the need to win the war above all else.
Agustín admits he felt a powerful desire to kill the cavalrymen, like a mare in heat. Jordan reflects on the extra sacrament of killing that exists in the Spanish soul.
Chapter 24: Sordo Under Attack
The men eat a breakfast of meat, cheese, and thick slices of onion. Agustín and Jordan discuss Maria, and Jordan declares he intends to marry her.
Jordan asks for Agustín’s confidence and blind obedience for the next day’s battle. They hear the distant, muffled roll of automatic rifle fire and grenades.
Jordan realizes that the cavalry has found and surrounded El Sordo’s band. He tells Agustín to stay with the gun and not to fire unless the camp is invaded.
Chapter 25: The Agonizing Decision
Jordan goes to the lookout post to observe Sordo’s hill through his field glasses. He sees a troop of cavalry charging up a snowy slope toward the firing.
Primitivo begs Jordan to let them go and aid their comrades, but Jordan refuses. He knows it is a passageway with no exit and they cannot divide their small force.
Pilar arrives and is saddened by Sordo’s fate but agrees they must stay put. They watch a fascist observation plane circle over the battle site.
The firing ceases completely, and Jordan knows Sordo’s band has been annihilated. Pilar calls Primitivo a romantic for wanting to help and tells him to act like a man.
Chapter 26: Letters from the Dead
Jordan sits in the sun and reads the personal letters found on the dead cavalryman from Tafalla. He learns the boy was twenty-one and had a sister and a fiancée who prayed for his safety.
Jordan is filled with temporary remorse but reminds himself that he is fighting for the people’s right to govern themselves. He debates with himself about the morality of killing and his own political evolution.
He concludes that his love for Maria is the most important thing that can happen to a human being. Jordan hears the fascist planes returning to bomb Sordo’s hill three hours later.
Chapter 27: El Sordo’s Last Stand
A detailed account unfolds of El Sordo’s final stand on a chancre-shaped hilltop. Sordo and his five men are surrounded and use dead horses as cover to fight off the cavalry.
Sordo kills a fascist captain, Mora, who mockingly dared the Reds to shoot him. The boy Joaquín prays to the Virgin Mary as the fascist planes begin their bombardment.
The planes bomb the hilltop into a wasteland of broken rock and dead bodies. Only Joaquín survives the blast, and Lieutenant Berrendo mercy-kills him with a shot to the head.
Berrendo then orders the guerillas to be beheaded as proof of their death. The entire band is wiped out in a matter of hours.
Chapter 28: The Grisly Discovery
Jordan and Primitivo hear the final grenades burst and know the battle at Sordo’s is over. Maria brings them stewed hare and mushrooms for their midday meal.
They see the fascist cavalry retreating with the heads of Sordo’s men wrapped in a poncho. Anselmo finds the bodies on the hill in the dark and prays for them.
Anselmo begs God to help him comport himself as a man in the coming battle. He reaches the camp and tells the others of the beheadings.
Chapter 29: The Final Dispatch
Anselmo reports the fascist troop movements on the road to Jordan. Jordan decides to send a final dispatch to General Golz, carried by Andrés.
He warns Golz that the enemy is fully prepared and has moved up anti-tank guns. Pablo acts surprisingly friendly and claims he has confidence in Jordan.
Jordan writes the dispatch with the official seal of the S.I.M. to ensure its delivery. He feels that the Republican offensive will likely go forward regardless of his warning.
Chapter 30: Grandfather’s Pistol
Jordan reflects on his grandfather’s military career and his own family history. He thinks about his father’s cowardice in committing suicide with his grandfather’s pistol.
Jordan finds comfort in the concrete memory of his grandfather’s Smith and Wesson revolver. He concludes that he will surely have to blow the bridge in the morning, as the machinery of the attack is already in motion.
He feels integrated and ready for the mission, drawing strength from his grandfather’s legacy.
Chapter 31: Maria’s Full Story
Jordan and Maria spend their last night together in the robe, fantasizing about a future in Madrid. Maria tells the horrific story of how she was gagged with her own braids and raped by Falangists.
Jordan is filled with a cold, murderous hate for the fascists after hearing her account. Maria worries she can never bear children, but Jordan insists she is his wife now.
They share a final moment of la gloria in their love for each other. Jordan thanks Maria for the life they have had in just three days together.
Chapter 32: Intrigue at Gaylord’s
A scene at the Hotel Gaylord in Madrid shows Karkov and other leaders drinking and gossiping. They hear rumors of the fascists quelling mutinies near Segovia, oblivious to the truth of Sordo’s stand.
Karkov prepares to leave for the front to witness Golz’s offensive. The leadership is shown to be largely disconnected from the reality of the guerillas’ struggle in the mountains.
Chapter 33: Pablo’s Ultimate Betrayal
Pilar wakes Jordan at 2:00 AM to report that Pablo has deserted and stolen the detonators and exploder. Jordan is in a silent rage but realizes he cannot afford to be bitter.
He decides he must improvise the demolition using hand grenades. Jordan comforts Pilar, telling her that Pablo’s betrayal is of small importance to save the mission’s morale.
Chapter 34: Andrés Crosses the Lines
Andrés travels through the lines, reflecting on the small and regular things of village life he misses. He thinks of his brother Eladio and his fear of the coming battle.
He is challenged by Republican sentries who are suspicious and bureaucratic. Andrés is frustrated by the crazies in the Republican lines who nearly throw a bomb at him.
Chapter 35: Accepting the Inevitable
Jordan lies with Maria and resolves to blow the bridge even if it means his own death. He focuses on the now and tries to let go of his anger toward Pablo and the treachery-ridden country.
He decides he will not wake Maria, wanting her to have a good night’s sleep as a wedding present. Jordan achieves a state of cold, professional focus.
Chapter 36: Through the Republican Trenches
Andrés and a Republican officer move through the foul-smelling trenches toward the commander. Andrés is disgusted by the lack of discipline and the filth of the anarchist positions.
He gives up his carbine to the officer as a sign of trust. The internal rot and lack of basic discipline in the Republican military are laid bare.
Chapter 37: Final Intimacy Before Dawn
Jordan and Maria have their final intimate conversation before the dawn attack. Jordan feels he has learned more about life in four days than in his entire previous life.
They acknowledge that they are people of much luck for having found each other. Jordan experiences a final moment of glory with Maria, finding peace in their connection before the violence begins.
Chapter 38: Pablo Returns
The band prepares for the attack in the cave, and Jordan checks his grenades. Pablo suddenly returns with five new men and their horses.
He admits he threw away the exploder in a moment of weakness but came back because he was lonely. Pilar and Jordan accept his return, knowing they need the extra men for the mission ahead.
Chapter 39: Moving Into Position
The band moves out to their positions in the dark, and Jordan feels a surge of professional confidence. He says a final, awkward good-bye to Maria.
Jordan reminds himself not to think of Maria during the operation to avoid being handicapped. The operation begins with a renewed sense of possibility as Pablo leads the new men to their positions.
Chapter 40: André Marty’s Paranoia
Andrés and Gomez are further delayed by the high-ranking commissar André Marty. Marty is portrayed as paranoid and crazy, suspecting the messengers of being fascist spies.
He puts the dispatch in his pocket, potentially dooming the chance to cancel the attack. The self-destructive paranoia of the Republican leadership threatens to undermine everything.
Chapter 41: Final Positions at the Bridge
Jordan, Anselmo, and Agustín take their final positions at the bridge. Jordan gives Anselmo an explicit order to kill the sentry, trying to ease the old man’s conscience.
Jordan prepares his submachine gun as the first light of day appears. The tactical deployment at the bridge is completed, setting the stage for the final act.
Chapter 42: The Message Arrives Too Late
Karkov intervenes at Marty’s headquarters and secures the release of Jordan’s dispatch. Andrés finally delivers the message to General Golz, but the planes have already launched their bombardment.
Golz realizes the attack is foutu, doomed beyond recall, but accepts his orders with grim professional pride. The Republican casualties are now inevitable.
Chapter 43: The Bridge Falls; Jordan’s Last Stand
Jordan kills the sentry and successfully blows the bridge using his improvised grenade trigger. Anselmo is killed by flying steel from the explosion he helped trigger.
Pablo kills his new men to keep their horses for his own band during the retreat. As they flee, a fascist shell breaks Jordan’s horse’s leg, and Jordan is crushed underneath, breaking his own leg.
Jordan realizes he cannot travel and forces Maria to leave with Pilar and Pablo. He tells Maria that they are now one person and he will always be with her.
Jordan stays behind with a submachine gun, struggling against the pain and the urge to commit suicide. He waits until Lieutenant Berrendo, the man who beheaded Sordo’s band, comes into range. The novel ends as Jordan feels his heart beating against the pine needle floor, ready to fulfill his final duty.
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