That's my town, ' Joaquin said. 'What a fine town, but how the buena gente, the good people of that town, have suffered in this war.' Then, his face grave, 'There they shot my father. My mother. My brother-in-law and now my sister.' 'What barbarians, ' Robert Jordan said. How many times had he heard this? How many times had he watched people say it with difficulty? How many times had he seen their eyes fill and their throats harden with the difficulty of saying my father, or my brother, or my mother, or my sister? He could not remember how many times he heard them mention their dead in this way. Nearly always they spoke as this boy did now; suddenly and apropos of the mention of the town and always you said, 'What barbarians. Ernest Hemingway
About This Quote

The speaker of this quote is describing the state of Joaquin's home town, Santiago de Cuba. He describes the townspeople that were killed by the Spaniards in the war. His family had lost his father, brother in law, and his cousin in this war. The speaker goes on to say how much he is saddened by the deaths of these people, but also how he feels sorry for these people because they lost so much in this war. He praises all the people who died fighting against the Spaniards for their bravery.

Source: For Whom The Bell Tolls

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