"Every woman ought to be given a copy of this face as she leaves the alter. Mothers should tell their daughters about this face. My son...go west with this face and grow up with the country." -pg. 108
The last line of this excerpt refers to the idea of manifest destiny. It is the theory that Americans are meant to spread ourselves and our customs across the entire continent. This alone shows the readers that Hemingway is seeking out. Granted that at that time more people would have been accustomed to this idea, it still would take a certain intelligence. Bill is portrayed as intelligent in the way he talks. He is also making fun of his own looks, showing that he may be the least restricted character of the novel. His intelligence is at the level of many people who would have been in his social circle post WW1. He is the brainy, journalistic traveller who has no doubts about himself. He drinks a lot, but it was not so frowned upon at that time. The war had given birth to a generation of uninhibitied citizens. Bill is the example of this.
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