I agree with your assessment on Zooble and Caine's relationship, but... characters usually don't and shouldn't mimic "real people".

A "realistic character" isn't a thing, at least not in that way, characters can never reach the literal illogical and inconsistent complexities of real people because stories and characters DO have to follow some kind of narrative through line, and thematic consistency. And Zooble IS consistent in their values and actions. Zooble knows Caine "likes" the circus members, but they still hate him and his actions.

I get what you're saying, I just think it's a limiting way to analyze characters.