Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Kev is an American soldier in his early twenties. When he’s alive, Kev is often bombastic and exaggerated in his attempt to show his toughness: “You can boot up and watch Fast and Furious, but I live it, bitch” (15). Occasional cracks in his demeanor suggest a core sensitivity: He tells Musa he can only get his gear on when he’s alone, he is “near tears” after he sees Musa react to Uday’s gold gun, and he values his friendship with Tom far more than Tom does. After the Tiger dies, Kev expresses remorse over its death, seemingly as grief-stricken as he would be if he’d killed an actual human.

Before his death, Kev doesn’t seem particularly smart; Tom says he’s “got to be the dumbest piece of shit in the entire fucking world” (31). After he dies, Kev becomes far more enlightened, speaking Arabic and expounding on the origins of algebra, among other topics. He tells God that he wants to use this knowledge in the afterlife, assuming that now being “intelligent and aware and sensitive to the universe” means “there’s something out there a little more important than just haunting Tommy” (57).

Tom is an American soldier in his early twenties, though the text specifies he is “older and wiser than Kev” (5). While Kev puts on a tough guy act to cover up his sensitivity, Tom is “unsmiling” and “tough,” has actually seen combat (he killed Uday Hussein), and is primarily driven by his own needs and desires. After losing his hand to the Tiger, he rejects Kev’s friendship and threatens to kill Kev if Uday’s gold gun isn’t returned. He repeatedly lies to Musa, first in getting him to help translate the interaction with the girl and then by promising him there will be weapons at the bombed-out building.

As he interacts with Kev’s ghost, Tom shows more vulnerability, admitting that he’s “fucked up with guilt” over Kev’s death (51). In the final moments before he dies, Tom shows politeness toward the woman with no hands and admits he doesn’t want to die. As Tom is never shown as a ghost, it is unclear whether he pursues knowledge and self-awareness after death, as Kev and the Tiger have done. 

Musa is an Iraqi gardener who previously worked for Uday Hussein and is now a translator for the U.S. military. He considers himself an artist, as evidenced by the topiary garden he created, a garden where his sister was murdered by Uday and where ghosts gather as the play progresses. Lighthearted at first, Musa first shows anger when he holds Uday’s gold gun. He becomes more hardened and decides to take his fate into his own hands after Uday’s ghost tells him he won’t have a livelihood in bombed-out Baghdad once the Americans leave. He fights for autonomy after having been entirely defined through the “tyrants” (Uday, the Americans) who have employed him. His first autonomous act is to kill Tom, which he quickly regrets.

Musa also seems more outwardly compassionate than many of the other characters: He helps the American soldiers with their translation even in inappropriate circumstances, expresses remorse for killing Tom, and is clearly distraught by his sister’s death. He is the only main character to survive the play, and turns the hauntings he receives from Uday into something constructive. He resolves to move forward with his life and assert his autonomy through his art; though Uday says he will keep replaying Musa’s memory of his sister’s murder, Musa vows to learn to live with Uday’s voice, thus taking responsibility for what he has done.