way with the young black women in his small Georgia town. He is a classic goof-off, evading his duties whenever possible, but even Croft cannot help liking him. During the reconnaissance, he is mortally wounded by a sniper’s bullet.

Roy Gallagher

Roy Gallagher, a Boston Irishman, paranoid, bigoted, and bitter. He has worked in menial jobs for Boston politicians and deeply resents being sent to the misery of Anopopei while others who worked with him have gotten draft deferments. He persecutes the Jewish members of the platoon and makes life miserable for everyone, but he becomes more human when he receives word that his young wife has died in childbirth.

Joey Goldstein

Joey Goldstein, a Jewish soldier from Brooklyn. He tries to get along with everyone, finding rationalizations for the way others behave. He is physically stronger than others suspect, and in the end, he is stronger spiritually as well, performing well when the platoon is under stress. He is much less bitter than Roth, the other Jewish member of the platoon.

William Brown

William Brown, an all-American boy from a small Midwestern town. He was a cheerleader in high school, a moderately successful small businessman, and a pillar of his community. In the I and R platoon, he becomes a sergeant. He means well but is not very effectual.

Mailer uses an omniscient narrator to capture the expansive scope of history in The Naked and the Dead. This narrator represents social reality and offers essential information and insights about characters who cannot express their societal importance in the author's imaginative terms. Concurrently, Mailer allows the characters to voice their perspectives—not only through dialogue but also via the "Time Machine" sections, which are extensive flashbacks into the soldiers' pasts. This technique ensures that the present is always influenced by the past, and a character's actions are evaluated based on their personal history, a history usually unknown to other characters in the novel. The outcome of this approach is to objectify the narrative and the characters; both the plot and the personalities in the novel appear as parts of a complex social reality.

The novel tracks the lives of several soldiers: Wilson, the laid-back Texan, enjoys drinking and pursuing women. Although he closely resembles the stereotype of a Southerner, he offers a striking contrast to other characters, such as Joey Goldstein, a Jewish soldier known for his tenacity and physical agility. There is something insular about Goldstein's Jewishness, a lack of imagination that hinders his ability to form friendships with other men. Another Jewish character, Roth, prefers not to focus on his Jewish identity. Educated at college, he believes himself to be above ethnic considerations. Roth is also filled with self-pity, lamenting that his CCNY (City College of New York) degree has not secured him the desirable employment he feels he deserves. Other characters, like Gallagher, the anti-Semitic Boston Irishman, also derive from ethnic stereotypes. However, Sergeant Croft, another Texan, exudes a unique and terrifying meanness and intimidating presence.

The platoon's ensemble of characters—despite sometimes seeming clichéd—is an impressive geographical and ethnic portrait of America. What brings the novel to life is the interaction between the characters as they strive to break through the Toyaku line and prepare for a two-pronged attack to annihilate the enemy. Their confrontation with nature on the Japanese-occupied island of Anopopei evokes a sense of fate and the unchangeable nature of things, making Mailer's prose, for the first time, grapple with a theme larger than the sum of his characters.

However, the prolonged patrol of a platoon could not sustain the weight of the grand themes Mailer sought to introduce into his fiction. How should he address the army as an institution and the geopolitical significance of the war? To tackle this issue, Mailer incorporates the officers: Lieutenant Robert Hearn and General Edward Cummings.

Hearn, a Harvard alumnus, is discontented with his prewar existence and seeks a heroic quest to define his identity. He remains distant and, like many of Mailer's protagonists thus far, is wary of becoming too involved in the destinies of others. Hearn harbors a disdain for authority. His superior, General Cummings, perceives in Hearn a latent contempt for humanity, bordering on incipient fascism. The authoritarian Cummings suggests that Hearn, if stripped of his liberal facade, would actually relish wielding power. The army's brutality and its indifference to the individual align with Hearn's own arrogant attitudes.

Mailer has admitted to infusing Hearn with aspects of his own personality—the educated liberal challenging authority, aligning with the common soldier, wanting to be part of the army, viewing it as a test of manhood, yet recognizing its brutalizing effect. When Hearn defies Cummings by deliberately crushing his cigarette on the pristine floor of the General's tent, he is assigned to lead a platoon. This assignment, which Hearn welcomes, places him in conflict with the men he must now command on a perilous mission behind Japanese lines.

Hearn believes he can unify his platoon without resorting to the authoritarian tactics used by Cummings. However, he quickly finds himself isolated because the men are accustomed to the harsh leadership of their sergeant, Croft, who ultimately orchestrates Hearn's death in an ambush.

Critics have noted Mailer's intriguing affinity for Cummings, the grand strategist. With his expansive historical vision, Cummings is notably devoid of empathy for others, as though his self-contained emotions are necessary for his exercise of power. He must suppress his feminine side, as do the other soldiers in the novel. The men in "The Naked and the Dead" are not fully human because they struggle to integrate their masculine and feminine aspects. For instance, Red Valsen finds it impossible to commit to marriage with the woman he lives with or to express his love for her, associating domestic life with the erosion of his independent male identity. As a result, he feels isolated and incapable of believing in any positive direction for his life. Generally, the men distrust women, cheat on them, and accuse them of betrayal. Women, in short, represent instability, unreliability, and insubstantiality. The worst insult Croft can hurl at his men is calling them "a bunch of women."

Cummings' aversion to human contact mirrors Croft's dislike of being touched. As Andrew Gordon has observed, this results in a novel with a very "narrow emotional range." Although some characters briefly connect with each other, the predominant atmosphere is one of self-absorption. This isn't just a story about the military machine crushing the human spirit—according to Gordon, The Naked and the Dead "seems to correspond not so much to the reality of masculine relationships as to the author's own psychological reality."

Sergeant William Brown
Brown is a young, insecure soldier who constantly questions his own abilities. He is preoccupied with the fear that his wife is unfaithful while he is away at war.

Staff Sergeant Sam Croft
Croft commands the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon of Headquarters Company in the 460th Infantry Regiment. The men regard him as "the best platoon sergeant in the Army and the meanest." Described as "efficient and strong and usually empty," Croft possesses a "superior contempt toward nearly all other men." He despises weakness and feels affection for almost nothing. Croft takes pleasure in killing: during the Anopopei campaign, he shoots a Japanese prisoner after giving him false hope, crushes a bird that one of his men found, and coldly orchestrates Hearn's death to regain control of the platoon. Croft relishes war because it allows him to indulge his hatred and desire for power. He says, "I hate everything which is not in myself."

General Cummings
Cummings commands the American invasion forces on Anopopei and possesses an "almost unique ability to extend his thoughts into immediate and effective action." A brilliant and ambitious fascist, he believes totalitarianism is superior to communism because "it's grounded firmly in men's actual natures." He asserts, "there's never a man who can swear to his own innocence. We're all guilty, that's the truth." To achieve victory, he aims to break his men's spirits. He explains, "there's one thing about power. It can flow only from the top down. When there are little surges of resistance at the middle levels, it merely calls for more power to be directed downward, to burn it out." Despite his stern exterior, he harbors self-pity and paranoia.

Casimir Czienwicz
Czienwicz, also known as Polack, is a cynical and astute member of Croft's platoon. His tough upbringing on the streets of Chicago has prepared him well for the hardships of army life.

Major Dalleson
Following Hearn's death, Dalleson assumes command of the American invasion of Anopopei. Though a methodical and competent leader, he often feels "a little overwhelmed" when dealing with officers, fearing "the slowness of his mind." His responsibilities sometimes leave him feeling despondent. "He was always afraid that a situation would develop in which he would have to call upon the more dazzling aptitudes that his position demanded, and which he did not have." A few wise decisions—combined with some luck—allow him to claim credit for the Japanese army's defeat on Anopopei.

Roy Gallagher
A member of Croft's platoon, Gallagher is a hot-tempered, racist, working-class man from South Boston. He constantly feels sorry for himself, believing that "everything turned out lousy for him sooner or later." His fears are confirmed when he learns that his wife Mary died during childbirth.

Joe Goldstein
Goldstein is another member of Croft's platoon. Although he sometimes faces anti-Semitic remarks, he fares better than Roth due to his religious faith, steadfast courage, and inherently trusting nature. He is one of the soldiers who carry the wounded Wilson through the jungle.

Lieutenant Robert Hearn
Hearn is General Cummings' young aide, educated at Harvard. His affluent background and slightly aristocratic demeanor clash with his authoritarian superiors and the enlisted men. As a result, he struggles to make friends on the island. He confesses that he feels "blank ... superior, I don't give a damn, I'm just waiting around." Initially, he enjoys the general's company but grows alienated by Cummings' manipulative mind games and self-pity.

Hearn's composure is shattered when the general humiliates him by forcing him to pick up a discarded cigarette. This incident leaves him "burning with shame and self-disgust ... suffering an excruciating humiliation which mocked him in its very intensity." When the general assigns Hearn to command a reconnaissance mission, Hearn relishes the power of his new position. Despite this, he strives to treat his men fairly and humanely before he is ultimately killed.

Hennessey
A young soldier in Croft's platoon, Hennessey is killed on their first day on the island. His death instills a sense of doom in the other men.

Japbait
See Sergeant Julio Martinez.

Sergeant Julio Martinez
Martinez, also known as Japbait, is an excellent scout for Croft's platoon. He sometimes feels nervous about giving orders, fearing that the men might not listen to a Mexican American. Despite this, his role in the platoon fills him with "a quiet pride that he was the man upon whom the safety of the others depended. This was a sustaining force which carried him through dangers his will and body would have resisted."

Steve Minetta
Minetta is another member of Croft's platoon. After being sent to the Division Clearing Hospital for a minor wound, his fear of returning to combat leads him to feign insanity to stay there longer. Eventually, he becomes restless and returns to the platoon.

Polack
See Casimir Czienwicz.

Oscar Ridges
A member of Croft's platoon, Ridges is a simple-minded and good-natured religious farmer from Mississippi.

Roth
Roth is a member of Croft's platoon and a well-educated Jewish man. His sense of superiority isolates him from the other men. He experiences self-pity when he realizes he cannot match the others as a soldier. His weakness and overwhelming fatigue lead to his fall and death on Mount Anaka.

Stanley
Upon his promotion to corporal, Stanley gains authority and starts to bully the men. Eventually, he questions "how he could lead men in combat when he was so terrified himself." He breaks down during the trek back to the beach with Wilson and has to be left behind.

Toglio
Toglio is part of Croft's platoon. Shortly after their arrival, a Japanese bullet shatters his elbow. The other soldiers envy his "million-dollar" injury, considering it a stroke of good luck.

Private Red Valsen
Red Valsen, a defiant member of Croft's platoon, is a disillusioned, wandering laborer from Montana's coal mines. His harsh existence has aged him prematurely at twenty-three. He enlisted to escape the monotony and poverty of his life. However, on the island, he feels "the familiar ache of age and sadness and wisdom." Although he tries to remain aloof to protect himself from others' suffering, he sometimes experiences "sad compassion" for the men, feeling a deep understanding of their desires and disappointments. Red frequently clashes with Croft due to his disdain for authority. His cynicism stems from the belief that "everything is crapped up, everything is phony, everything curdles when you touch it."

Woodrow Wilson
Wilson, another member of Croft's platoon, is a wild and jovial man from Georgia who is battling venereal disease. He gets shot in the stomach and eventually succumbs to his injuries after a grueling journey through the jungle.

Buddy Wyman
Wyman, a twenty-eight-year-old soldier in Croft's platoon, harbors "vague dreams about being a hero," believing it will bring him a significant reward and alleviate the burden of supporting his mother and himself. However, the realities of war shatter his romanticized expectations.