Character analysis
Zach
in Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
Zach is a minor yet crucial character in Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog. He is the unseen manager of the arcade where Lincoln works, and we mostly understand his influence through Lincoln's descriptions of their workplace interactions rather than through any direct presence on stage. Zach hires Lincoln to impersonate Abraham Lincoln in a shooting-gallery booth, requiring him to wear whiteface makeup and a stovepipe hat so that customers can reenact the assassination. This setup is necessary for Lincoln’s finances but also deeply dehumanizing, forcing him to stage his own symbolic death for entertainment. Zach symbolizes the exploitative economic system that keeps Lincoln trapped in a cycle of humiliation: he dictates the terms of Lincoln's employment, has the authority to fire him, and ultimately does let Lincoln go when the arcade reduces its staff. This dismissal becomes a key turning point in the plot, leaving Lincoln without his main source of income and pushing him back toward the three-card monte hustle he had attempted to escape. Even though Zach never speaks during the play, his authority influences Lincoln’s self-esteem and the tensions between the brothers throughout. He represents the faceless institutional power that keeps both brothers economically marginalized, making him an important symbol of systemic constraint, even in his absence.
Connected characters
- Lincoln
Zach is Lincoln's employer at the arcade, holding direct power over Lincoln's livelihood. He assigns Lincoln the degrading role of assassination-booth performer and ultimately fires him, triggering the play's fatal final sequence.
- Booth
Zach affects Booth indirectly: Lincoln's wages from Zach fund the brothers' shared room and their fragile domestic stability. When Zach fires Lincoln, the economic pressure on Booth intensifies, accelerating the play's violent climax.
- Grace
No direct relationship, but Zach's firing of Lincoln removes the financial foundation Lincoln had, which ripples into the brothers' rivalry over Grace and the money that Booth hopes will win her back.
- Cookie
No direct relationship established in the text; both Cookie and Zach exist largely offstage, functioning as absent figures whose past or ongoing influence shapes the brothers' present circumstances.
- Lonny
No direct relationship; Lonny operates in the street-hustle world while Zach represents the legitimate (if exploitative) wage economy, placing the two characters at opposite poles of the brothers' economic options.