Shriners

The Shriners are a convention-going group encountered at a charity golf tournament on the clubhouse grounds. Their red fezzes, bright clothes, and increasingly drunken revelry turn the grounds into a scene of disorderly festivity, providing Philip Marlowe with an incongruously comic setting as he escapes after being drugged and held captive.

Convention and Gathering

When Philip Marlowe visits the club in the afternoon, a convention is underway. Older men in colored shirts and tartan Bermuda shorts move among the bougainvillea with tall glasses; all wear red fezzes, which are described as resembling upturned flowerpots with tassels. The group’s presence is explained as a charity golf tournament, and the gathering is already rowdy enough that its organizer warns Marlowe that its members tend to get unruly.

The Grounds During Marlowe’s Escape

After getting out of the building, Marlowe crosses the grounds while still affected by drugs. The Shriners remain there, with half already drunk and the others close to it; their fezzes have slipped askew and their voices have grown louder. In his altered state, Marlowe briefly sees the crowd as a scene from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The bright, festive appearance of the gathering sharply contrasts with the coercion and danger from which he has just escaped.

Encounter and Narrative Function

At a bend in the path, a large, red-faced Shriner in a battered fez, lime-green shirt, and purple shorts blocks Marlowe’s way. Noticing Marlowe’s bare head, he points out that a fez is required and asks where his is. Marlowe answers that a monkey stole it and ran into the trees, prompting the man to laugh. The casual exchange lets Marlowe pass through a crowd that might otherwise have posed an obstacle, while the man’s attention then shifts to the Weihrauch .38 that Marlowe is carrying. The scene uses the Shriners’ costume and good humor to place a moment of farce alongside the aftermath of serious violence.