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Kirby is Ellie’s ghost dog. A springer spaniel, Kirby spent 12 years as Ellie’s living companion and, since his death when she was in sixth grade, has been by her side as a ghost. Affectionate and protective, Kirby is always willing to play with Ellie and help protect her from most threats, though he hasn’t explicitly been trained as an attack dog. His primary defensive trick is to howl, which gives living people nosebleeds and temporarily disables or disarms any magic. When Ellie takes Dr. Allerton to the underworld and he tries to grab her and not let her leave, Kirby attacks Dr. Allerton and somehow gets either lost or hurt in the underworld; he doesn’t return to Ellie for several months after. However, when he does return, the mesquite dog toy he brings suggests that he met Six-Great in the underworld.
Kirby Quotes in Elatsoe
The Elatsoe quotes below are all either spoken by Kirby or refer to Kirby. 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:
).
Chapter 22
Quotes
“If I’m right,” Dan said, “you won’t need to stop waking ghosts, as long as you’re mindful of the difference between the dead and the living.” He wagged a finger at Ellie, as if lecturing a class of rowdy toddlers. “There is a difference. The dead should not seem like kin. When they do? They might devour you.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28
Quotes
Ellie always reasoned that Six-Great lived in a more violent era, one that transformed pacifists into warriors. Six-Great didn’t fight because she enjoyed it; she had to protect her family and friends from genocide.
There were still people to protect. That, Ellie now realized, would never change.
Chapter 34
Quotes
“I guess I should start from the beginning,” she said. “When I was a kid, my parents took me to the pound. That’s where I met a dog...”
She’d say his name and tell his story. Maybe, someday, he’d follow the words home.
Get the entire Elatsoe LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kirby Quotes in Elatsoe
The Elatsoe quotes below are all either spoken by Kirby or refer to Kirby. 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:
).
Chapter 22
Quotes
“If I’m right,” Dan said, “you won’t need to stop waking ghosts, as long as you’re mindful of the difference between the dead and the living.” He wagged a finger at Ellie, as if lecturing a class of rowdy toddlers. “There is a difference. The dead should not seem like kin. When they do? They might devour you.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28
Quotes
Ellie always reasoned that Six-Great lived in a more violent era, one that transformed pacifists into warriors. Six-Great didn’t fight because she enjoyed it; she had to protect her family and friends from genocide.
There were still people to protect. That, Ellie now realized, would never change.
Chapter 34
Quotes
“I guess I should start from the beginning,” she said. “When I was a kid, my parents took me to the pound. That’s where I met a dog...”
She’d say his name and tell his story. Maybe, someday, he’d follow the words home.
