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John Kwang
Eduardo is a young Latino man who works for John Kwang. When Henry first meets him, he’s told that Eduardo is a college student studying political science and helping Kwang’s organization when he’s not studying. He strikes Henry as a very devoted volunteer, though he also looks older than his purported age of 23. Kwang, for his part, is very fond of Eduardo and lets him handle the “money club” (or ggeh) that he has established to help financially empower his constituents. After discovering that Eduardo is actually a spy, though, Kwang hires a Korean gang to handle the situation, and the gang bombs the Kwang headquarters while Eduardo is working late one night. Eduardo dies in the blast, attracting controversy and media attention to Kwang’s entire political operation. At first, Henry doesn’t know why Eduardo was killed and fears that his own company, Glimmer & Company, had something to do with it. But Kwang eventually tells him the truth while drinking one night, and Henry realizes that Eduardo must have been working for Glimmer & Company, too—perhaps to make sure Henry didn’t mess up the Kwang assignment.
Eduardo Quotes in Native Speaker
The Native Speaker quotes below are all either spoken by Eduardo or refer to Eduardo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 16 Quotes
And I think she’s saying it perfectly, just like she should. When you’re too careful you can’t say anything. You can’t imagine the play of the words in your head. You can’t hear them, and they all sound like they belong to somebody else.
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Chapter 19 Quotes
He is no longer moving in his customary way. He looks old and weary, like he’s standing still. He decides to make a brief appearance for the media in the foyer of the ruined offices (against the repeated warnings of Janice, who hates the shot—all that shadowy wreckage and defeat), and with the barrage of questions and arc lights and auto winders he actually falters. Perhaps for the first time in his public life he mumbles, his voice cracks, and even an accent sneaks through.
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“[…] He worked for me for nothing, the same as you. For nothing, except for what I might show him about our life, what is possible for people like us. I thought this is what he wanted. Was I crazy? I would have given him anything in my power. But he was betraying us, Henry. Betraying everything we were doing. […] I loved him, Henry, I grieve for him, but he was disloyal, the most terrible thing, a traitor.”
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Eduardo Character Timeline in Native Speaker
The timeline below shows where the character Eduardo appears in Native Speaker. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
...good locations for his public appearances, so she takes Henry and a college volunteer named Eduardo to check out a location in Brooklyn, where Kwang will be meeting with church authorities...
(full context)
After scouting the location in Brooklyn, Janice takes Henry and Eduardo to a diner. Henry studies Eduardo, who looks older than 23. He’s muscular and wears...
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Later, Henry stays with Janice while Eduardo goes back to the office. They drive through the southern neighborhoods of Queens in search...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...Luzan used to look at him. For the most part, though, Kwang pays attention to Eduardo, shadowboxing with him because they’re both boxers.
(full context)
Chapter 9
Kwang’s volunteers are all very committed to him—especially Eduardo, who’s his favorite. Kwang often takes the staff out to dinner and holds forth for...
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...commotion, Henry tries to make his way to Kwang, who’s now surrounded by loyal volunteers. Eduardo jumps toward Kwang and shields him, moving him through the mass of bodies toward a...
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Chapter 16
...Two people died in the explosion: an older woman who worked as a custodian, and Eduardo. He was working late when the bomb went off. As soon as he can, Henry...
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...house. She also gives Henry a thick envelope and asks him to deliver it to Eduardo’s family. He follows her instructions, taking the envelope (which contains $10,000) to the bereaved family’s...
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Chapter 17
Among the many rumors, there’s one circulating that the bombers specifically wanted to kill Eduardo. Henry considers this possibility. If somebody wanted to antagonize Kwang, killing Eduardo would be a...
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...to genuinely believe in their cause. He then takes out a piece of paper with Eduardo’s handwriting on it. It’s a long list of names and corresponding personal information. Kwang explains...
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Chapter 18
Henry takes over Eduardo’s job, which involves receiving money from all kinds of community members. Kwang has organized a...
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Chapter 19
...ask the question that is on everyone’s mind: namely, how a young college student like Eduardo managed to pay for an expensive apartment in Manhattan that even his family didn’t know...
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Henry, for his part, wonders if Eduardo was stealing money from Kwang. He goes through all of the records, but he can’t...
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...puts Kwang in a combative mood, telling Henry to go ahead and ask him about Eduardo and the secret apartment—he is, after all, the only person who hasn’t asked.
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...formal and uncomfortable he looks. Finally, Sherrie tells Kwang to stop, saying, “John, he’s not Eddy. He doesn’t like it.” But Kwang tells her to be quiet. Sherrie gets angry and...
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...Everyone, he says, is against him and doesn’t understand what he’s trying to do. Even Eduardo was like that, he says, prompting Henry to suggest that Eduardo must have been stealing....
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Chapter 20
...happened, but it won’t be from him. To that end, he’s now quite sure that Eduardo was a second operative working for Hoagland. When he finally meets with Pete and Grace...
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Chapter 22
...who said he’d give him a ride. On the way, Jack admitted that he knew Eduardo was a spy, but he didn’t know this until after the bombing. He seemed apologetic,...
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