The Emperor of Gladness

Hai, a 19-year-old son of a Vietnamese immigrant, is the protagonist of the book and the focal point around whom the story revolves. Hai’s family arrived in the United States when he was just two, and he has lived in Connecticut all his life. Vuong presents Hai as a character burdened by grief and guilt over things that he keeps entirely private, even attempting to avoid or escape them himself. Having been exposed to drugs when he was very young, Hai struggles with substance abuse as well as the grief and trauma of having seen numerous people in his life die of drug overdoses. His grief over the death of a man he calls “Noah,” his former lover, remains central to his character growth across the novel.

Vuong reveals Hai’s identity as a gay man through his memories of Noah and a clandestine affair he has with one of the regulars at HomeMarket. Keeping these aspects of his life secret from his family leads to the estrangement and loneliness that catalyze the events of the narrative. He’s never been able to tell his mother the truth about Noah’s death—the real reason he dropped out of college.