Characters
Topdog/Underdog features just two characters: Lincoln and Booth, African American brothers living in a sparsely furnished apartment without running water in an unnamed city.
Lincoln
Lincoln, often referred to by Booth as “Link,” is the older brother by five years. Link is in his late thirties and used to be married to a woman named Cookie, but she slept with Booth and subsequently the two divorced. He plays the guitar and works as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator. As an impersonator he dresses up in Lincoln attire, including whiteface, and sits quietly in the dark while people pay to come into the “theater” and shoot him with a prop gun. Link used to work on the streets as a successful card hustler, but he quit cold turkey after his close associate, Lonny, was shot and killed. He is the “topdog.”
Booth
Booth is the “underdog.” The younger of the two brothers, Booth is unemployed but desperately trying to teach himself three-card monte so that he can be a successful card hustler like his brother. Early on in the play he gives himself the nickname “3-Card” and threatens to shoot anyone who doesn’t call him by his new name, foreshadowing his irrationality and more violent instincts. He has been seeing a woman named Grace off and on for the last two years, and he is largely motivated to earn money so that he can impress her. Though he is not employed, he is the one who rents the apartment and controls its comings and goings.
Non-speaking Characters
Link and Booth are the only characters who speak in the play, but there are a handful of other characters who are referenced throughout and who influence the two brothers. Lonny was Link's closest associate when he was hustling cards on the street, but he was shot and killed one afternoon. They never learned who murdered him, and his death is the reason Link quit the card-hustling game. Cookie is Link’s ex-wife who cheated on him with a number of other men, including Booth. Oddly, neither brother speaks ill of her. Grace is Booth’s paramour, though the two seem to be constantly engaged in an on-again, off-again relationship. Booth shoplifts an engagement ring for her and prepares a formal dinner at his apartment, but Grace rebuffs all his advances. At the end of the play Booth becomes increasingly agitated by her disinterest and, off stage, goes to her house and shoots her.
List of Characters
Best Customer
The Best Customer is a "miscellaneous stranger" who frequents the arcade daily to shoot at Honest Abe. This individual “[s]hoots on the left whispers on the right.” Link is uncertain if the Best Customer, who is a black man, realizes that Link is also a "brother." The Best Customer speaks in cryptic messages that have a quasi-metaphysical tone. He even whispers something into Honest Abe’s ear after shooting him. Although Link doesn't think highly of the Best Customer, he admits that this mysterious visitor “makes the day interesting.” In contrast, Booth considers him “one deep black brother.”
Booth
Booth is Link’s younger sibling, who dreams of mastering the three-card monte. He rents the room they share, but he doesn't have a job. Instead, he survives by committing petty thefts. Booth wants Link to teach him how to throw the cards, but Link refuses, which enrages Booth. Booth is convinced that learning the card tricks would allow him to earn enough money to win over Grace. He calls himself “3-Card” to boost his confidence. However, Grace plays mind games with him, keeping him unsure about their future together....
(This entire section contains 965 words.)
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Booth's frustration from these personal relationships finds an outlet in his obsession with girlie magazines and through acts of violence, ultimately destroying the symbiotic bond between the brothers.
Cookie
Cookie is Link’s ex-wife. One night, she visits Booth’s apartment looking for Link, who is out drinking, and ends up sleeping with Booth, who promises to marry her if she leaves Link. She justifies her actions by claiming that Link is sexually impotent, which contradicts his image as a ladies’ man.
Grace
Grace is Booth’s girlfriend and a cosmetology student, setting her apart from the “fly-by-night gals” Booth dated before. She is ambitious and career-focused but also knows how to have a good time. Booth describes her as “Wild. Goodlooking.” He says Grace is so sweet that she makes his teeth hurt. They were together for two years before breaking up because she needed time to think, and he had what he euphemistically calls a “little employment difficulty.” Booth tries to win her back with gifts and empty promises, similar to those he made to Cookie. He arranges a romantic dinner for her at his apartment, but she never shows up. In response to being stood up, Booth shoots her dead.
Honest Abe
Honest Abe is the name Lincoln uses when he adopts his character, including the time a kid on the bus asks him for an autograph. Noticing the kid is from a wealthy family, Link charges him ten dollars for it. When the kid gives Link a twenty-dollar bill, Link promises to return with the change the next day on the bus. Instead, he spends the entire twenty dollars on drinks at Lucky’s.
The Ladies
The Ladies are anonymous women with whom Pops has secret affairs. He brings Link along as a cover, but sometimes Pops allows Link to watch, “like it was this big deal this great thing he was letting me witness,” says Link. One of these women liked Link and took him to bed after Pops fell asleep, further introducing Link to adult sexuality.
Lincoln
Lincoln, Booth’s older brother, impersonates Abraham Lincoln—Honest Abe—at an arcade. Before working at the arcade, Lincoln was a three-card monte expert but quit hustling after his stickman, Lonny, was shot. Since Cookie left him, Lincoln has shared a room in a boarding house with Booth. Lincoln once considered himself a ladies' man, similar to Booth throughout the play, but he realizes his infidelity led to his marriage's end. He is thankful for a job with “benefits” that allows him to sit and ponder all day. Lincoln's job insecurity plunges him into despair, especially when he learns he has been replaced by a wax dummy. He briefly considers returning to hustling upon realizing he still has his skills. By the play’s end, Lincoln’s display of talent and his mocking tone provoke Booth to shoot him in a fit of anger and jealousy.
Link
See Lincoln
Lonny
Lonny was Link’s "stickman" when Link was a three-card monte master. The stickman blends into the crowd but knows every detail of the game. One day, Link is running the game, and the next, he learns Lonny has been shot dead. Lonny’s death serves as a stark warning to Link about the dangers of hustling on the streets.
Lucky
Lucky owns the bar that Link visits whenever he has some extra cash. Lucky keeps a dog behind the bar.
Mom
Mom was the first of the brothers' parents to leave, departing two years before her husband. Before she left, she handed Booth a nylon stocking stuffed with five hundred-dollar bills. Up until her departure, she had a lover who visited their home every Thursday. Booth, therefore, called him his mother's "Thursday man." Booth once eavesdropped on a conversation between his mother and her Thursday Man discussing a likely unwanted pregnancy. How she dealt with this issue remains uncertain, though her request for money from her Thursday Man implies she might have planned to get an abortion.
Pops
Pops named his sons Lincoln and Booth as a joke. He left the house two years after Mom abandoned him and the boys. Pops would visit his mistress at the same time Mom saw her Thursday Man. Before leaving the boys to begin a new life, Pops gave Link ten fifty-dollar bills wrapped in a handkerchief, instructing him to keep the money a secret, "especially from Booth."
3-Card
See Booth
Thursday Man
The Thursday Man is Mom’s lover who visited her at the house every Thursday. Booth was aware of his visits but chose not to mention them to anyone.