King of Pride

Kai exhibits pride and a competitive nature throughout the novel. However, there are times when his pride turns to hubris and is detrimental to his professional and personal life. Due to the upcoming CEO vote for Young Enterprises, Kai knows that “all eyes w[ill] be on [him], waiting for [him]” to mess up, but he believes that “[he] never w[will]” because he has “too much control of that” (13). Kai exhibits this absolute certainty in his abilities throughout the novel. While confidence is good in moderation, Kai does not see failure as a possibility for him. Though there are five other candidates for the CEO position, he believes it’s his because he “[i]s the best” (13). When his relationship with Isabella progresses, Kai allows himself to become distracted. While this is positive for his character development, he is so self-assured of his superiority that he believes that even without trying, he will get the CEO position. In his mind, there is no room for doubt; he admits that “[he] may [be] distracted, but [he] c[an] still outsell, outsmart, and outperform every other member of the Young Corporation with [his] eyes closed” (160). Even when his mother and other board members remind him that he could still lose the vote, he balks at the possibility because while history remembers the winners, “losers fade[] into obscurity, their names lost over time like statues rubbed smooth by too many hands. Dead in every way, as if they’d never existed” (166). This is a possibility that Kai will not entertain; his pride will not allow it. 

Kai’s arrogance and carelessness also cause his secret relationship with Isabella to be photographed and published by the press, causing ruin for them both. In the climactic third act of the novel, Victor Black—the CEO of Black&Co who owns the National Star publication—tells Kai, “You think you’re so fucking smart. That you’re better than everyone […] you were so blinded by your superiority complex—your belief that no one could possibly touch you because you’re so above them—that you didn’t see what was right in front of you” (275). He follows up his monologue by claiming that pride is Kai’s downfall—the main theme of the novel. Kai underestimates both Victor and his co-conspirator, Russell Burton, and dismisses them too easily, which allows them to pull the CEO position out from under him.

However, the novel also portrays the dangers of a lack of self-confidence through Isabella’s character. She is heavily influenced and debilitated by the expectations and opinions of others because she does not rely on her own inner confidence to further her writing. She views herself as less impressive than her family and her peers and believes the negative things others say about her, from her brother Gabriel, to Kai’s mother, to the slanderous press. Though the novel mainly centers around the pitfalls of excessive pride, through Isabella’s character arc, Huang also shows the pitfalls of excessive self-doubt. The story argues that there is a difference between Excessive Pride and Self-Confidence and that the latter, less extreme quality is necessary and important. For success, the two protagonists must reach an equilibrium in their levels of pride.