The document summarizes the character of Maria in Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Maria is a young Spanish woman who has suffered trauma, having been recently raped by Spanish fascists and having her head shorn. She now lives with anti-fascist guerillas in the mountains. Maria is kind, helpful, and caring, cooking and cleaning for the community. She develops feelings for Robert Jordan, the American dynamiter sent to destroy a bridge. Critics have noted that Maria seems to exist primarily to develop Robert's character and provide him meaning, though her willingness to be with Robert after her trauma is unlikely. The effects of rape can include both physical and psychological trauma with lasting mental health

1. Paper no.108
AMERICAN
LITERATURE
Prepared by Mayuri Pandya

2. Introduction of Author
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), born in Oak Park, Illinois,
started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas
City at the age of seventeen. After the United States entered
the First World War, he joined a volunteer ambulance unit in
the Italian army. Serving at the front, he was wounded, was
decorated by the Italian Government, and spent considerable
time in hospitals. After his return to the United States, he
became a reporter for Canadian and American newspapers
and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events as the
Greek Revolution.

3. CHARACTER OF MARIA
Spain during a time of political upheaval. Though still a young woman,
Maria has experienced a great deal of hardship in her life. She has recently
suffered a traumatic rape at the hands of the Spanish fascists and has had
most of her hair shorn off. Though damaging, this experience has not made
Maria cynical.
Spanish anti-fascist rebels in the mountains of central Spain. The guerrillas
and gypsies she lives with are kind to her and have taken her in. Pilar, a
gypsy woman, takes special care for her and acts as a mother-figure for the
young Maria.
She is helping around camp. Maria’s responsibilities amongst the guerrillas
include cooking, cleaning, and generally helping out with whatever needs
doing. This suits Maria’s helpful attitude and natural tendency toward care-
taking and service

4. She is pleasing her fellow anti-fascist comrades and community members. She has
taken a special interest in Robert Jordan, the American who has entered the company
of the rebels.
She love Robert, the American dynamiter who has been sent to destroy a bridge of
strategic importance. Maria and Robert catch each others’ eyes from the moment they
meet. Maria soon becomes honest about her emotions and expresses her feelings to
Robert. Robert is slightly more reserved and finds it difficult to express himself, yet he
provides a strong support for her. The two strengthen each other. “Nothing can ever
part us now, can it?” she asks. “Nothing, Maria,” Robert responds.
She is loving Robert fully in what little time they may have. An ominous feeling
pervades Robert’s mission and both lovers fear they will be parted. Maria’s challenge
is to love courageously and fully, and believe that nothing can separate true love.

5. She determined, kind, and helpful. Her role in the small mountain community is that of service.
Her love for Robert is unconditional. “If you don’t love me,” she tells him, “I’ll love you enough for
both of us.”
Maria, whose character was inspired by a Spanish nurse, seems to play a similar role to
Catherine’s, the role of a dream-like woman sexually gratifying the male protagonist. Because of
her idealisation signalled by her immediate willingness to enter a relationship with Robert and
desire to grant his wishes, Maria is generally denounced as vapid and unrealistic.
(A Farewell to Arms, third novel by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1929.)
Several critics, including Leslie Fiedler, have noted that Maria, like many of Hemingway's
women, lacks development. She appears in the novel as an idealized image of a devoted
woman who enjoys extreme sexual pleasure in her relationship with the protagonist. She seems
to exist in the novel as tool to help reveal Jordan's character and to provide him with a sense of
meaning. By the end of the novel, he must decide between his love for her and his duty to his
compatriots.

6. Maria's immediate sexual attraction to Jordan seems unlikely given
the sexual abuse she has repeatedly experienced at the hands of
the Fascists. Yet her romantic insistence on staying with the
injured Jordan at the end of the novel inspires readers' sympathy. (
encyclopedia)
The character of Maria, however, has been almost entirely ignored
or dismissed outright, especially by feminist critics who tend to
view her as one of Hemingway’s submissive dream girls. Author
would argue that there is another possibility for interpreting Maria,
one that is deeply enriched by a familiarity with trauma theory.
When a neglected character like Maria is analyzed not only as an
individual actor, but also against the backdrop of her culture, a
whole new set of possibilities for analysis is revealed.

7. The effects of rape can include both the initial physical
trauma as well as deep psychological trauma. Although
rape victims commonly report injuries and issues with
their reproductive health after the sexual assault, rape
doesn't always involve physical force. The most
common and lasting effects of rape involve mental
health concerns and diminished social
confidence.(Healthplace)
Psychological Trauma

8. After a traumatic experience, the human system of self-
preservation seems to go onto permanent alert, as if the
danger might return at any moment.
Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath
of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.
(According to me which is never seen character of maria)

9. “I'm a match to Maria from For Whom the Bell Tolls.” CharacTour,
https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Maria
.For-Whom-e-Bell-Tolls.Accessed 13 April 2022.
I'm a match to Maria from For Whom the Bell Tolls”)
Franco, General. ““Always Something of It Remains”: Sexual
Trauma in Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.” War,
Literature & the Arts,
https://www.wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/25_1/Carter.pdf. Accessed
13 April 2022.
“For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Encyclopedia.com,
https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/whom-
bell-tolls. Accessed 13 April 2022.
Tracy, Natasha. “About HealthyPlace.com.” HealthyPlace,
https://www.healthyplace.com/about-healthyplace/about-us/about-
healthyplace. Accessed 13 April 2022.
WORK CITE

10. Thank you