The murderer, Peterson, is a fully developed character, though he appears onstage only momentarily. Peterson, like the other soldiers, misunderstands Waters as the “new boss—shoutin’, orderin’ people aroun’.” Peterson does not see that Waters is a reflection of his own hidden self. Although Waters is equally demanding of everyone, it is Peterson who kills him, for Peterson senses his connection with Waters. Like Waters, Peterson tries to conceal his southern roots, preferring to call Hollywood, not Alabama, his home; his ambition to rise in the Army (his early enlistment reveals his illusions) mirrors Waters’s own. Finally, Peterson, like Waters, insults C. J. “Justice,” Peterson says as he kills Waters. The murder, though, is his symbolic self-destruction, Peterson executing his own despised, hidden identity.