The Fifth Column

Originally a play and therefore an anomaly in the Hemingway canon, "The Fifth Column" takes place during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Its main character, Philip Rawlings, is an Anglo-American secret agent for the Second Spanish Republic. The title of this work originates from a comment made in 1936 by the Spanish Nationalist commander Emilio Mola, who stated that there were four of his columns descending on Madrid, as well as a fifth column of Fascist spies working from within the Loyalist-defended city—a group that would ruthlessly aid in destroying the Republican government.

Nonetheless, "The Fifth Column" is not about members of the fifth column; instead, it revolves around Rawlings, a Communist operative posing as a war correspondent, who is determined to defend against the threat posed by this internal group. A typical Hemingway hero, he will not speak about the horrors that he has witnessed, yet he cannot sleep at night because he has been so wounded by his experiences. Aided by Max, another Communist-Party operative, and Antonio, the Spanish officer in charge of the Loyalists, Rawlings ultimately tracks down and captures a fifth-column member whose confession under torture leads to the discovery of 300 more fifth columnists.

Much of this script’s action depicts the tense, dangerous existence inside a Madrid hotel, which is simultaneously occupied by journalists, counter-espionage agents, and members of General Franco’s fifth column. Rawlings himself is torn between his duty to the anti-Fascist cause and his attraction to the easy-going life of boozing, brawling, and “broads.” He is also torn between his attraction to Dorothy Bridges, a rich, glamorous, and pampered young American woman who knows little about politics, and an aging Moorish tart named Anita Amor, who knows enough about politics to stay away from it.

Rawlings must decide, then, if he wants to devote himself to a tranquil, apolitical, self-gratifying life with a woman—any woman who’ll have him (and each of these two will)—or if he believes it is his moral responsibility to fight the Falangist forces to the end. He has to decide, moreover, if any measures, no matter how brutal and barbarous, are justifiable in order to protect the Republic from the insidious threat posed by the fifth column. As the violence takes its toll on Rawlings in the course of "The Fifth Column", he begins to question the value of his undercover work, ultimately deciding to break with one woman, to indulge himself with the other . . . and to continue his mission.