On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

by

Ocean Vuong

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On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Themes

Themes and Colors
War, Trauma, and Abuse  Theme Icon
Drugs and Addiction  Theme Icon
Gender and Sexuality Theme Icon
Race and Racism  Theme Icon
Language and Storytelling Theme Icon
Memory Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

War, Trauma, and Abuse

Ocean Vuong’s epistolary novel On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from Little Dog, a young Vietnamese American, to his mother, Rose, who grew up near Saigon during the Vietnam War. Little Dog recounts his mother’s experiences during the war, as well as those of his grandmother, Lan, and the result is a stark picture of violence, suffering, and starvation. At the age of five, Rose watched as her school collapsed…

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Drugs and Addiction

Ocean Vuong’s On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous is an intimate look at the many forms of addiction. Vuong’s main character, Little Dog, grows up in Connecticut in the 2000s, during the early days of America’s opioid epidemic, and drugs are commonplace during his teenage years. Little Dog’s mother, Rose, chain-smokes cigarettes, and his grandfather, Paul, grows his own marijuana. “They say addiction might be linked to bipolar disorder,” Little Dog explains to…

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Gender and Sexuality

Ocean Vuong explores both gender and sexuality in his autobiographical novel, On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous. The novel focuses on Little Dog, a Vietnamese American, who knows from a very young age that he is gay. As Little Dog grows up in Connecticut during the 1990s and 2000s, he is constantly bombarded with society’s stereotypical assumptions of gender, particularly masculinity. When the cruel neighborhood kids laugh at Little Dog and call him a…

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Race and Racism

In addition to gender and sexuality, Ocean Vuong also explores race and racism in On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous. Vuong’s protagonist, Little Dog, is a Vietnamese American who immigrates to the United States from Vietnam in 1990. From the moment Little Dog and his family arrive, color proves to be of paramount importance in American society. “Do I look like a real American?” Little Dog’s mother, Rose, asks while trying on secondhand…

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Language and Storytelling

Ocean Vuong’s On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous examines the power of language and storytelling. Vuong’s protagonist, Little Dog, is Vietnamese American, and English is his second language. Language is also central to Little Dog’s identity as a writer, and the novel, which constitutes a letter to Little Dog’s illiterate mother, Rose, further draws attention to words and language. Storytelling, too, is foundational in Little Dog’s life, and the stories his mother and grandmother…

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Memory

While arguably a lesser theme in On Earth we’re Briefly Gorgeous, the novel is based on Little Dog’s stories and those told to him by others, and memory is nevertheless an important part of Ocean Vuong’s book. For example, Little Dog puts his father back together using only his memories, and his Vietnamese identity is closely related to his grandmother Lan’s stories, and her ability to remember their life back in Vietnam…

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