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Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Emperor of Gladness, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Found Family
Time
War and Generational Trauma
Distortions of Reality
The American Dream
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Hai returns to HomeMarket, where he waits out back for BJ. There, he meets another employee, a boy with dyed hair and a nose ring. He tells Hai about some violent sexual slang, but Hai is more concerned with whether Grazina’s dose will last her the day. Eventually, BJ, a hulking figure, comes to get Hai; BJ checks his eyes, and she is pleased to see he’s not on heroin. BJ then gives Hai a tour, introducing him to the other employees (Maureen and Wayne) and speaking of the restaurant with prideful grandiosity. She says HomeMarket is supposed to be a home away from home for the working people who dine there.
The boy with dyed hair’s interest in violent slang highlights the ubiquity of violence in American culture. Hai’s disinterest shows his maturity in comparison to his potential coworker. BJ’s need to check that Hai is not on heroin displays the relevance of such an issue in East Gladness. BJ’s pride in working in a fast-food restaurant is insightful to her character as she assigns great meaning to a relatively menial career; this shows her appreciation of the mundane aspects of life.
Active
Themes
BJ has Amanda, the teenaged dishwasher, bring Hai their famous corn bread, which BJ alters with her own secret recipe. It is just as incredible as BJ says. Hai then finds out that the boy he met out back is named Russia. Following the tour, BJ brings Hai to her office to give him his uniform—Hai is hired. Hai’s first shift begins immediately, and he is excited to finally be a part of a team. Sony trains him for the remainder of his shift, except for when BJ pulls Hai aside to get his opinion on the rock song she recorded for her stint as an amateur wrestler.
This first instance of Hai trying BJ’s corn bread exemplifies BJ’s personal efforts to create a pleasant dining experience for her customers because she goes out of her way to improve HomeMarket’s corn bread. The speed at which Hai is hired shows BJ’s need for a new employee and the minimal qualifications required for such a job; she is only worried whether or not he is on drugs, not about his past experience or abilities. This section’s final passage reveals BJ’s personal goals and passions, and the fact that she shows her music to a new employee displays her desire to find encouragement and validation for her efforts.
Active
Themes
On his way home from work, Hai recalls a night when he ordered his mother pizza (since he is the only English speaker) after she came home from a 13-hour shift. She was so tired that she fell asleep onto her slice of pizza. Bà ngoại told him to let her sleep and then gestured to the plastic pizza divider, saying it was a table for spirits. Returning to Grazina’s house, he gives her leftover corn bread from HomeMarket. She goes on to show him that she made a path through her overflowing basement so Hai could reach her husband’s book collection. Grazina shares that her daughter also held her father’s love of reading, but he was never particularly kind to her. Hai takes The Brothers Karamazov, a book he and Noah had started before he died.
Active
Themes
