Character Analysis
Zoo is one of the servants at Skully's Landing, and she represents the suffering of women at the hands of brutal men. We first meet her as she prepares breakfast for Joel on his first morning at the Landing: "a graceful Negro girl toting a load of kindling […]." Her beauty and her labor-intensive life are all part of her initial impression.
Amy explains everything she thinks Joel needs to know: "'Missouri belongs to Jesus Fever; she's his grandchild'" (1.2.57). That "belongs to" can mean a family relationship, but it also reminds us of the not-so-distant days of slavery. When we find out that Zoo and Jesus live in a cabin out back and have been working for the family for generations, the slavery connection strengthens.
You might be wondering why Amy calls Zoo Missouri. Zoo sets us straight:
"And something else is, you call me Zoo. Zoo's my rightful name, and I always been called by that till Papadaddy let on it stood for Missouri, which is the state where is located the city of St. Louis. Them, Miss Amy 'n Mister Randolph, they so proper: Missouri this 'n Missouri t'other, day in, day out. Huh! You call me Zoo." (1.2.98)
Refusing to call her Zoo is another disrespect and claim on her life.
Violations
Zoo, as the only black female character in the novel, seems to stand in for all of the suffering that has historically been dealt to women and minorities. She wears a red ribbon around her neck that hides a scar that "circled her neck like a necklace of purple wire" (1.3.18). Her ex-husband, Keg Brown, gave it to her. Rather than give a gift of jewelry (the necklace that the scar is compared to in this simile) her husband tried to take her life.
Zoo lives in fear that Keg will return and finish what he started, either by escaping or getting out of prison. When Jesus Fever has her gather firewood she scolds him:
"Papadaddy," said Zoo, lugging in a bundle of wood, "you is mighty thoughtless makin me hunt round out there in the dark where theys all kinda wild creatures crawlin just hungry for a nip outa tasty me. They is a wildcat smell on the air, they is, I declare. And who knows but what Keg's done runaway from the chain gang? Joel, honey, latch the door." (2.9.5)
For Zoo, wild animals and men are both dangerous creatures in the dark. Her tone is conversational and she might be exaggerating, but the casual chatter reminds us that the attack is never far from her mind.
When Jesus Fever dies, Zoo heads north, but doesn't make it far. Three white men and one black man stop her, push her into a ditch, and rape her at gunpoint. The leader puts out his cigar in her belly button. Zoo takes it as a sign: "an the Lord said Zoo, you done took the wrong road and come the wrong way'" (3.12.27). The story is horrific, but no one in this novel really pays much mind. It seems that, in that time and place, Zoo's story is to be expected.