Who is The Groom from The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam and what is their importance?

The nameless groom appeared in the chapter, "The Little Altar on the Roadside." He built a bamboo bed for his wedding night, and an extremely venomous snake happened to live in one of the bamboo stalks he cut. On his first night in bed with his new wife, the groom was exposed to the snake's poisonous breath and died.