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There seems to be a large percentage of author/alcoholics. Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and Jack London come to mind and there were many others. Maybe the part of the brain that disposes one to alcoholism also enhances creativity? Or is it just that the loneliness of spending hour after hour, day after day, writing in solitude, drives many people to the bottle? Just speculating here.

Jack Malloy is my favorite character in the book. He is his own man and extremely intelligent but in the military environment, he just doesn't fit in. Ironically, many of the characters in the book who were perceived by the officers as "screw-ups" would have made the best soldiers in wartime. This is something that SSgt Warden seemed to realize. His relationship with Prewitt is interesting. One one hand, Warden respected Prewitt as a potentially great soldier but on the other hand, hated him for who he was and happily went along with Captain Holmes efforts to break him.

During my time in Marine boot camp, I served briefly on guard duty for the brig (they called it "Correctional Platoon"). The conditions there are much as described in the book. Those men go through hell. I remember how they had to wake up and completely disassemble their "racks" (bunk beds) and stack the rails up against the wall. At the end of the workday (usually digging ditches or doing other scut work), they would have to reassemble them. Sometimes the Sgt. on duty would take a handful of bolts and throw them across the room after they left for the day, adding to the confusion that evening when the poor guys had to put their racks back together again.

Jack Malloy is my favorite character in the book.

I am sure Mallow was based on a real person (as most of Jones' characters are). There was just too much detail about the IWW (Wobblies) for Jones not to know such a person. Also since Jones was only in his 20s when he wrote FHTE I don't think he would have known enough about the Wobblies on his own to completely invent such a character. Most likely, Jones did meet an ex-Wobbly much like Jack Malloy. I would also like to know which real-life person Jones based Sgt. Warden on.

BTW, Robert E. Lee Prewitt was based on an Army buddy of Jones' named Robert Stewart.

In terms of the relationship between Sgt. Warden and Pvt. Prewitt.

Warden is a man in his early or mid-thirties. He's found his place in the Army and made his peace with "the system." He's also one of those men who lives in strict accordance with a code. In his case the code won't allow him to become an officer. He is becoming embittered.

Prewitt is a very young man. He has spirit. In some ways he is quite mature for his age. He's also a proto-artist (the trumpet). But he's definitely a misfit.

Warden sees the good qualities in Prewitt. There's a scene in which he makes an appreciative comment about the Taps that Prewitt plays. But he also sees Prewitt as trouble. He has a company to run. Prewitt's a bit of grit that will keep the well oiled machine from running smoothly.

Prewitt doesn't really have enough experience to make a judgement of Warden. But he does sense that Warden has more going on inside himself than the other sergeants Prewitt has encountered.

Jones is a rich writer.