On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Themes
All Themes War, Trauma, and Abuse Drugs and Addiction Gender and Sexuality Race and Racism Language and Storytelling Memory
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Little Dog Ma/Rose Trevor Lan Paul Rose’s Client Gramoz Carl Mai Kyle Trevor’s Father Marsha Marin Kevin Xavier
Symbols
All Symbols The Buffalo Monarch Butterflies Macaque Monkeys Superman The Table
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On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

by

Ocean Vuong
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Kyle Character Analysis

Marsha’s son and Kevin’s brother. Kyle is a student at Little Dog’s school when Little Dog first moves to America, and Kyle bullies Little Dog and pushes him around because he is different. “Speak English,” Kyle demands of Little Dog, slapping his face. Like his brother Kevin, Kyle overdoses on drugs and dies later in the novel. Kyle’s character draws attention the effects of drug use and abuse in American society, and his actions also illustrate the discrimination faced by people of color; Kyle exerts power over Little Dog and makes him miserable simply because Little Dog is Vietnamese.

Kyle Quotes in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

The On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous quotes below are all either spoken by Kyle or refer to Kyle. 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:
War, Trauma, and Abuse Theme Icon
).
Part 3 Quotes

One afternoon, while watching TV with Lan, we saw a herd of buffalo run, single file, off a cliff, a whole steaming row of them thundering off the mountain in Technicolor. "Why they die themselves like that?" she asked, mouth open. Like usual, I made something up on the spot: "They don’t mean to, Grandma. They’re just following their family. That's all. They don’t know it's a cliff,"

"Maybe they should have a stop sign then."

Related Characters: Little Dog (speaker), Trevor (speaker), Lan (speaker), Kyle (speaker), Kevin (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Buffalo
Drugs and Addiction Theme Icon
Page Number: 179-180
Explanation and Analysis:
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Kyle Quotes in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

The On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous quotes below are all either spoken by Kyle or refer to Kyle. 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:
War, Trauma, and Abuse Theme Icon
).
Part 3 Quotes

One afternoon, while watching TV with Lan, we saw a herd of buffalo run, single file, off a cliff, a whole steaming row of them thundering off the mountain in Technicolor. "Why they die themselves like that?" she asked, mouth open. Like usual, I made something up on the spot: "They don’t mean to, Grandma. They’re just following their family. That's all. They don’t know it's a cliff,"

"Maybe they should have a stop sign then."

Related Characters: Little Dog (speaker), Trevor (speaker), Lan (speaker), Kyle (speaker), Kevin (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Buffalo
Drugs and Addiction Theme Icon
Page Number: 179-180
Explanation and Analysis:
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