Love Interest

Character Role Analysis

Alma/Lorene and Karen Holmes

Prewitt is in love with Alma (whose stage-name, so to speak, is Lorene). Unfortunately, she's not interested in marrying a lowly private—she wants a prosperous life. This isn't out of mere greed, however—she got burned by an old boyfriend in the past, and knows poverty and deprivation. It adds some serious complications to Prewitt's attempt to woo her, though by the time she's nursing his knife-wound, Alma's feelings seem to have changed.

The situation with Karen Holmes is a little different. In this case, Warden is reluctant to pursue officer-status, in order to later leave for the mainland with Karen, after she's divorced Holmes. The fact that the relationship is an extramarital affair makes things pretty complicated too. In the end, the war basically decides their fates for them, dragging them apart.