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Recommended: The Impacts of Wars on Ernest Hemingway in A Farewell to Arms

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy”( Gandi)? Gandi, arguably the most influential advocate for world peace, said this quote in response to war-mongering imperial nations in the 20th century. Known for his pacifist ideology during the movement to liberate India, Gandhi exercised civil disobedience rather than entering an armed conflict against the tyrannical British Government. His ultimate conclusion about war was that the horrors of war do not justify any moral corse or ideology. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, both authors subtly battle this idea. In The Things They Carried Tim O'brien remarks on the impact of war on soldiers serving in Vietnam. For Whom the Bell Tolls focuses on an American soldier during the Spanish Civil War. Known as a testing ground for fascist dictators, the Republic of Spain faced a terrifying adversary of fascist rebels supported by Hitler. The main character, Robert Jordan, known as Roberto, fights against the rebels via guerilla warfare. In both novels, The Things They Carried and For Whom The Bell Tolls, the main characters must evaluate whether they are willing to sacrifice their morals and ideology during wartime; ultimately, their end conclusions differ as to whether war is justified.
The Things They Carried and For Whom The Bell Tolls illustrate tragic events in war, refiguring the main characters initial thoughts on war and their moral ideologies. Hearing the story of the Republican massacre, Roberto reflects the tragic fate of those lost in war as he realizes,“ You never see the mother...

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.... Hemingway equally displays another juxtaposition for Roberto. Each situation in war requires him to kill other human beings while he vindicates his actions under the pretense of war. Yet, after each death, he balances both conflicting beliefs. On one side he agrees the cause requires killing. He does believe the right for people to govern themselves, yet ironically he believes the destruction of life is just to allow the people to govern themselves. Ultimately, the author does conclude killing is justified, yet Hemingway hints towards another direction. Doubt is slightly introduced when the author adds “not reassuringly”. These two words introduce the beginning of self doubt that Roberto never does solve about killing and moral ideology. However, the author does have a strong stance for personal sacrifice.

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