221; (469) Jordan fought unconsciousness and thoughts of suicide to remain alive until the enemies came into sight. “`All right’, he said And he lay very quietly and tried to hold on to himself as you feel snow starting to slip sometimes on a mountain slope, and he said, now quietly, `then let me last until they come.’” (470-471) He was successful in his struggle to remain conscious and the novel ends with Jordan waiting for a Lieutenant to reach just the right spot for execution. Consumption of alcohol is also one of the traits of the code hero. Alcohol is largely present in For Whom The Bell Tolls. Robert Jordan is an avid drinker. # Throughout the book Jordan drinks from his flask and enjoys the wine and liquor of Pablo and El Sordo. A final reference to alcohol is made near the end of the novel. Jordan’s horse had been hit by a shell while trying to escape after blowing up the bridge. The horse fell on top of Jordan, crushing his leg. As he lied in the forest he searches for the flask in his pocket. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this is that Jordan was not yet in extreme pain. “He touched the lower part of his leg and it was as though it were not part of his body.” (467) The crushed nerve in his leg delayed the pain, yet Jordan searched for a drink anyway. The alcohol was not an antidote for pain but instead one of the hero’s indulgences. “The flask was not there when he felt for it. Then he felt that much more alone because he knew there was not going to be even that. I guess I’d counted on that he said.” (467) There is no necessity for the inclusion of alcohol in the books dramatic final scene. According to Charles A. Norton however, “There isn’t always an explanation for everything. Nevertheless, what is certain is that attention to the alcoholic content of this work is important to a proper interpretation of its meaning in many of its finer p...
