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For Whom the Bell Tolls is the story of an American volunteer, Robert Jordan, fighting with Spanish Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, kind of like Hemingway himself did. Robert Jordan is there because of his special love for the Spanish people. But this is a love-hate relationship if ever there was one, since through his observations he offers us almost as many reasons to be revolted by the Spanish as to admire them. His position as a foreign newcomer leading a close-knit group of Spanish guerillas also brings him to reflect explicitly on his role as an outsider, and the larger role of outsiders in the Spanish War itself.
Robert Jordan's knowledge of Spanish and his familiarity with Spanish culture make him able to fit in with the guerilla group as well as any Spaniard would.
Robert Jordan does romanticize the Spanish. Many characters simply do not fit into his "stereotypes."