For Whom the Bell Tolls: Novel Summary: Chapter 19

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Chapter 19

Summary
This group tells stories about the supernatural. Jordan does not believe in premonitions and Pablo believes Pilar can tell the future from examining the palms of hands. Pilar says that dogs can see and hear things that human cannot so there are powers that most humans cannot access but some that can: "do not doubt what thou cannot see and cannot hear" (252). For instance, Pilar insists she was able to smell death on Kashkin, Jordan's predecessor, and goes into great detail on how he too can come to smell death. Jordan dismisses her words as fancy.
Analysis
In chapter two, Pilar reads Jordan's palm but refuses to tell him what she sees. He thinks of it later on and it bothers him somewhat. Did she see his death? Here, however, Jordan, the professor of Spanish, unequivocally denies anything remotely to do with the supernatural. All the others however believe in signs and portents of evil. In this way, Hemingway reiterates earlier points in the novel and unites Jordan and Kashkin.