While many contemporary novels have focused on the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffered by American soldiers returning home from war in Vietnam, The Gangster We Are All Looking For offers a window into an overlooked topic: the impact of trauma on Vietnamese soldiers in the war. Ba fights as a Vietnamese soldier for the American forces and witnesses wide scale death and suffering. He receives no thanks for his service and instead is forced into a re-education camp run by the Vietnamese forces after the war. He misses the birth of his daughter and the death of his son. And he is forced to temporarily abandon his wife on a beach in Vietnam so that he can escape with his daughter to safety.

All of these traumatic events haunt Ba for years after they occur. Instead of speaking about these traumas, Ba adopts a soldierly stoicism and turns to other coping methods: crying, drinking, and engaging in violent and erratic behavior. He does finds moments of peace when he is gardening, but his mind is still troubled. He’ll often stare off into the distance and become lost in his own thoughts. Ma, too, suffers from the trauma of failing to prevent her son’s death, and she in turn adopts the tactic of silence to deal with her grief.