Jerry clings to quaint notions of Southern honor and is respectful of the power and authority Bogan Murdock represents.

Not the lower-class man who tastes a bit of success and abandons his class to serve selfish interests, as Jerry does.

[citation needed] At Heaven's Gate can be definitely linked to Warren's residence in Nashville, Tennessee during his time at Vanderbilt University.

Scandals surrounding a Nashville bond-trading house, Caldwell & Company, in the 1930s provide a close parallel to some of the machinations of the Murdock empire.

News reports have indicated that in later years Warren acknowledged the link between his story and Nashville events during the Great Depression.