Zonia Loomis Character Analysis in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Herald and Martha Loomis’s daughter, who has been traveling from town to town with her father in the hopes of finding Martha. When Zonia and Herald arrive at the boarding house, Seth agrees to take them on if Zonia will help Bertha with the cooking and cleaning. While her father searches for her mother, Zonia spends time in the yard, talking to the neighboring boy, Reuben, who she eventually lets kiss her. When Martha finally returns, Herald insists that Zonia go live with her mother, though she doesn’t want to. She clings to Herald, saying, “Take me with you till we keep searching and never finding!”

Zonia Loomis Character Timeline in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The timeline below shows where the character Zonia Loomis appears in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...stay in the boarding house for the week if he pays $2.50 and his daughter, Zonia, helps with the cooking and cleaning. (full context)

Racism in Post-Slavery America Theme Icon

Bynum asks Herald where he and Zonia are coming from, and Herald says, “Come from all over. Whicheverway the road take us... (full context)

...sure he’s referring to Martha Pentecost, a woman Seth knows who apparently looks just like Zonia. When Bertha asks if he told Herald he knows where his wife is, Seth says... (full context)

In the backyard, Zonia meets a boy her age named Reuben, who lives next door. Reuben asks why she... (full context)

Herald comes into the backyard and interrupts Zonia and Reuben’s conversation, ordering her inside to take a bath. “Look at you,” he says.... (full context)

...went back to the place he and his family had been sharecropping, but Martha and Zonia were gone. When he went to Martha’s mother’s house, he discovered that Martha left Zonia... (full context)

The next morning, Zonia and Reuben are playing outside when Reuben says he saw Bynum the previous night “singing... (full context)

Reuben asks Zonia when she and Herald will be leaving, and she tells him they’re getting kicked out... (full context)

It is Saturday morning, and Bertha is making breakfast while Bynum, Herald, and Zonia sit at the table waiting for Selig to arrive. It’s raining outside, and Bynum posits... (full context)

After Herald and Zonia leave, Bertha remarks that his behavior toward Mattie was “the closest [she] come to seeing... (full context)

...and daughter are, and as Seth begins to explain, the door opens and Herald and Zonia appear onstage. They say hello, and Herald says, “You ain’t waited for me, Martha. I... (full context)

...church north, and since she didn’t know if the journey would be safe, she left Zonia with the girl’s grandmother with the intention of fetching her once she got settled in... (full context)

...your face I can say my goodbye and make my own world,” he says. Taking Zonia’s hand, he leads his daughter to her mother, saying she needs to live with Martha... (full context)

Martha comforts Zonia and turns to Bynum, thanking him. Seeing this, Herald erupts. “It was you!” he says.... (full context)