For Whom the Bell Tolls avoids political propaganda in two ways. First, although Hemingway sides with the Loyalists, he doesn't hide their faults. Second, Hemingway sees the enemies as human beings like himself. By presenting both good and evil charac...
For Whom the Bell Tolls avoids political propaganda in two ways. First, although Hemingway sides with the Loyalists, he doesn't hide their faults. Second, Hemingway sees the enemies as human beings like himself. By presenting both good and evil characters on both sides and by dramatizing both Fascist and Loyalist atrocities, he is not saying there is no difference between the two sides but emphasizing the human tragedy of the war and the value of transcendental sacrifice. He manages to show things as they really were, not as they were supposed to be according to the propagandists. This enhances the literary quality of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Like Thoreau, Hemingway defends the essential human values beyond the political propaganda.