Character Relationship Map: Laughter in Hell

Characters

• Barney Slaney (played by Pat O'Brien) — protagonist

  Irish mine worker turned train fireman. After discovering his wife's affair, he murders her and Grover Perkins, serving a life sentence. He works on a chain gang, kills his overseer Ed Perkins, escape...

• Lorraine (played by Gloria Stuart) — supporting

  A woman Barney meets while hiding at a farm recently affected by a pestilence infection. They escape together after his prison break.

• Mileaway (played by Lew Kelly) — supporting
• Ed Perkins (played by Douglass Dumbrille) — supporting

  Brother of Grover Perkins. In charge of Barney's chain gang where he repeatedly bullies him. Barney knocks him unconscious and drops him into an open grave during the escape chaos.

• Grover Perkins (played by Arthur Vinton) — supporting

  Barney's childhood nemesis. He is having an affair with Barney's wife, which causes Barney to lose control and murder them both.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Ed Perkins → Barney Slaney (Power Chain Gang Overseer) — Ed exercises direct authority over Barney as his prison overseer.

  Ed Perkins is placed in charge of Barney's chain gang and repeatedly bullies him.

• Ed Perkins → Grover Perkins (Family Brother) — Ed is Grover's brother and becomes involved in Barney's imprisonment.

  The plot explicitly states that Ed Perkins is the brother of the man Barney killed, Grover Perkins.

• Barney Slaney → Mileaway (Professional Employee) — Mileaway is connected to Barney's employment as a train fireman.

  Barney later gets a job as a fireman on the local train for an engineer named Mileaway.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Barney Slaney → Lorraine (Alliance Escape Partner) — Lorraine joins Barney after his prison escape and becomes his partner in flight.

  Barney meets Lorraine while hiding at the farm, and they run away together.

• Barney Slaney → Grover Perkins (Conflict Childhood Nemesis) — Their longstanding hostility becomes central to Barney's violent breakdown.

  Grover is identified as Barney's childhood nemesis.

Story Analysis

Barney Slaney's life descends from ordinary labor into murder, imprisonment, violent escape, and a precarious flight with Lorraine.

Plot Progression

1. From Mine To Railway — Barney begins as an Irish mine worker and later becomes a fireman on a local train for Mileaway. His working life establishes the ordinary circumstances preceding the tragedy.
2. Betrayal Ignites Violence — After marriage, Barney discovers his wife's affair with Grover Perkins, his childhood nemesis. He loses control, murders both of them, and turns himself in.
3. Punishment And Humiliation — Barney receives a life sentence of hard labor and joins a chain gang. The punishment becomes more personal when he learns that Grover's brother Ed supervises the gang and bullies him.
4. The Graveyard Breakout — While prisoners dig graves, Barney attacks Ed and places him in an open grave. The resulting chaos enables Barney's escape and coincides with the warden's death.
5. Flight Toward Lorraine — Barney evades the police dragnet and hides at a farm recently affected by pestilence. There he meets Lorraine, and they run away together.