Allusion

" 'It's enough to make a man join the Klan,' Bill said. The priest looked back at him." Page 93

Originally I was going to blog about how Hemingway alluded to the Catholic Church and aspects of it. But I decided that the Ku Klux Klan reference would be better to discuss. First of all, he alludes to it by using its shorter name of simply the 'Klan' instead of coming out and saying it. This makes the allusion fit better in a casual conversation. Also, the Catholic Church is mentioned many times while this is the first time the Klan is discussed.
I think this allusion is important because it is something that the novel's American audience could identify with. The rest of the novel is set in foreign countries and there are not many American connections. This was something they were familiar with and informed about.