Character Analysis
Zack Edmonds is also a descendant of old Carothers McCaslin down the female line of the family. He is McCaslin "Cass" Edmonds's son and Carothers "Roth" Edmonds's father. He's less of a real man than Cass and more of a real man than Roth. Or so Lucas thinks. Zack and Lucas are the same age and grew up together on the plantation.
After Zack's wife dies in childbirth, Lucas's wife Molly moves in with him to nurse the baby along with her own newborn. Lucas gets fed up with this situation after six months and tries to kill Zack, implying that Zack has tried to steal his wife. It's one seriously intense fight, and Zack narrowly escapes death when Lucas's gun misfires. When Lucas was standing over him, razor in hand and revenge on his mind, the narrator tells us that Zack thought:
This is it […] He cant even see me right now. (2.1.2.44)
Thinking he's about to die, Zack has a moment of insight that Lucas is lashing out not at him as Zack, but at a white man. Surprisingly, their relationship continues after this incident. Zack even defends Lucas when his son Roth accuses Lucas of not being submissive enough to Zack.
Zack dies on the young side.