For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway, was published in 1940. It is a novel set during the Spanish Civil War , which ravaged the country in the late 1930s. Tensions in Spain began to rise as early as 1931, when a group of left-wing republicans overthrew the country's monarchy in a bloodless coup. The new Republican government then proposed controversial religious reforms which aroused the anger of right-wing fascists, supported by the army and the Catholic Church. Hemingway traveled extensively in Spain and was very interested in Spanish culture. More specifically, he writes about bullfighting, not only in this novel, but also in his other works. Although Hemingway's novels carry a common theme, For Whom the Bell Tolls is no different. In the form of suicide, inevitable death, and sacrifice, death is the major theme surrounding this story. Many characters in For Whom the Bell Tolls say they would rather commit suicide than be tortured after being captured or be prisoners of war. In war, when a person is captured, they may be tortured so that the enemy can obtain information....