Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

by

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe makes teaching easy.
Ari’s dad. He’s a Vietnam War veteran and works as a mailman. Dad is a quiet and reserved person, which frustrates Ari—Ari desperately wants to know something about who Dad is on the inside. He knows that Dad had horrific experiences in the war and came home changed, that he has bad dreams, and that he also refuses to talk about Ari’s older brother Bernardo. All of these things make Ari think that Dad is selfish, unwilling to communicate, and doesn’t need to communicate to make it through the world. It’s equally confusing when Ari notices that his parents clearly love each other deeply and that Mom doesn’t need to understand all of Dad in order to love him. This view of Dad begins to shift as Ari learns more about Dad’s past. He discovers that Dad studied art before he went to Vietnam, and once Dad starts teaching Ari to drive, Ari begins to see that Dad is happy and lighthearted when he’s smoking and driving around. It does seem that despite his silence, Dad wants to connect with Ari and feels bad about not doing so. He tries early on to remedy this by reading all the books that Ari reads after Ari’s accident, which helps them begin to connect. Ari and Dad don’t fully connect until their road trip to Tucson to be there for Aunt Ophelia in her last days. Dad admits that he doesn’t speak about Bernardo because when Bernardo was sentenced, Mom experienced a mental breakdown and he’s afraid of hurting her or throwing her back into that dark time by bringing him up. He also begins to share some of what happened to him in Vietnam. Seeing Dad’s pain when he talks about this allows Ari to understand that Dad’s suffering truly is real and close to the surface, even more than a decade later. The closeness that Ari and Dad develop allows Ari to finally feel understood when Dad encourages Ari to accept his sexuality and confess his love for Dante.

Dad Quotes in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

The Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe quotes below are all either spoken by Dad or refer to Dad. 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:
Identity, Ethnicity, and Masculinity Theme Icon
).
Part One, Chapter Three Quotes

So that’s the way it was. When I was eight, I didn’t know anything about war. I didn’t even know what a conscience was. All I knew is that sometimes my father was sad. I hated that he was sad. It made me sad too. I didn’t like sad.

So I was the son of a man who had Vietnam living inside him. Yeah, I had all kinds of tragic reasons for feeling sorry for myself. Being fifteen didn’t help. Sometimes I thought that being fifteen was the worst tragedy of all.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom
Page Number: 14
Explanation and Analysis:
Part One, Chapter Five Quotes

It made me smile, the way they got along, the easy and affectionate way they talked to each other as if love between a father and a son was simple and uncomplicated. My mom and I, sometimes the thing we had between us was easy and uncomplicated. Sometimes. But me and my dad, we didn’t have that. I wondered what that would be like, to walk into a room and kiss my father.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad, Mom, Sam Quintana
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Two, Chapter Two Quotes

I kept staring down at the floor. And then I heard my father’s voice in the room again. “I have bad dreams too, Ari.”

I wanted to ask him if his dreams were about the war or about my brother. I wanted to ask him if he woke up as scared as me.

All I did was smile at him. He’d told me something about himself. I was happy.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Bernardo Mendoza
Page Number: 66
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Two, Chapter Ten Quotes

Because my older brother was in prison and maybe my mother and father blamed themselves. If only they’d said something, done something. They weren’t going to make that mistake again. So I was stuck with my family’s guilt—a guilt that not even my mother would talk about. She sometimes mentioned my brother in passing. But she never said his name.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom, Bernardo Mendoza
Page Number: 92-93
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Four, Chapter Nineteen Quotes

Maybe my dad just didn’t need words to get by in the world. I wasn’t like that. Well, I was like that on the outside, pretending not to need words. But I wasn’t like that on the inside.

I’d figured something out about myself: on the inside, I wasn’t like my dad at all. On the inside I was more like Dante. That really scared me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad
Page Number: 200
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five, Chapter One Quotes

“You’re in high school, Ari. You’re not looking for a profession. You’re just looking for a way to earn some money. You’re in transition.”

“In transition? What kind of a Mexican mother are you?”

“I’m an educated woman. That doesn’t un-Mexicanize me, Ari.”

She sounded a little angry. I loved her anger and wished I had more of it. Her anger was different than mine or my father’s. Her anger didn’t paralyze her.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Mom (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:

Sometimes parents loved their sons so much that they made a romance out of their lives. They thought our youth could help us overcome everything. Maybe moms and dads forget about this one small fact: being on the verge of seventeen could be harsh and painful and confusing. Being on the verge of seventeen could really suck.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom
Page Number: 239
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five, Chapter Twelve Quotes

“I’m sorry about last night,” I said. “It’s just that sometimes I have things running around inside me, these feelings. I don’t always know what to do with them. That probably doesn’t make any sense.”
“It sounds normal, Ari.”

“I don’t think I’m so normal.”

“Feeling things is normal.”

“Except I’m angry. And I don’t really know where all that anger comes from.”

“Maybe if we talked more.”

“Well, which one of us is good with words, Dad?”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Aunt Ophelia
Page Number: 280
Explanation and Analysis:

I left him alone for a while. But then, I decided I wanted to be with him. I decided that maybe we left each other alone too much. Leaving each other alone was killing us.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom, Bernardo Mendoza, Aunt Ophelia
Page Number: 280
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter One Quotes

He looked tired but at that moment, as we sat at the kitchen table, there was something young about him. And I thought that maybe he was changing into someone else.

Everyone was always becoming someone else.

Sometimes, when you were older, you became someone younger. And me, I felt old. How can a guy who’s about to turn seventeen feel old?

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad
Related Symbols: Rain
Page Number: 300
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Nine Quotes

And loved my father too, for the careful way he spoke. I came to understand that my father was a careful man. To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 324
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Eighteen Quotes

“What am I going to do?”

My father’s voice was soft. “Dante didn’t run. I keep picturing him taking all those blows. But he didn’t run.”

“Okay,” I said. For once in my life, I understood my father perfectly.

And he understood me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Dante Quintana, Mom
Page Number: 350
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe LitChart as a printable PDF.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe PDF

Dad Quotes in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

The Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe quotes below are all either spoken by Dad or refer to Dad. 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:
Identity, Ethnicity, and Masculinity Theme Icon
).
Part One, Chapter Three Quotes

So that’s the way it was. When I was eight, I didn’t know anything about war. I didn’t even know what a conscience was. All I knew is that sometimes my father was sad. I hated that he was sad. It made me sad too. I didn’t like sad.

So I was the son of a man who had Vietnam living inside him. Yeah, I had all kinds of tragic reasons for feeling sorry for myself. Being fifteen didn’t help. Sometimes I thought that being fifteen was the worst tragedy of all.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom
Page Number: 14
Explanation and Analysis:
Part One, Chapter Five Quotes

It made me smile, the way they got along, the easy and affectionate way they talked to each other as if love between a father and a son was simple and uncomplicated. My mom and I, sometimes the thing we had between us was easy and uncomplicated. Sometimes. But me and my dad, we didn’t have that. I wondered what that would be like, to walk into a room and kiss my father.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad, Mom, Sam Quintana
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Two, Chapter Two Quotes

I kept staring down at the floor. And then I heard my father’s voice in the room again. “I have bad dreams too, Ari.”

I wanted to ask him if his dreams were about the war or about my brother. I wanted to ask him if he woke up as scared as me.

All I did was smile at him. He’d told me something about himself. I was happy.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Bernardo Mendoza
Page Number: 66
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Two, Chapter Ten Quotes

Because my older brother was in prison and maybe my mother and father blamed themselves. If only they’d said something, done something. They weren’t going to make that mistake again. So I was stuck with my family’s guilt—a guilt that not even my mother would talk about. She sometimes mentioned my brother in passing. But she never said his name.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom, Bernardo Mendoza
Page Number: 92-93
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Four, Chapter Nineteen Quotes

Maybe my dad just didn’t need words to get by in the world. I wasn’t like that. Well, I was like that on the outside, pretending not to need words. But I wasn’t like that on the inside.

I’d figured something out about myself: on the inside, I wasn’t like my dad at all. On the inside I was more like Dante. That really scared me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad
Page Number: 200
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five, Chapter One Quotes

“You’re in high school, Ari. You’re not looking for a profession. You’re just looking for a way to earn some money. You’re in transition.”

“In transition? What kind of a Mexican mother are you?”

“I’m an educated woman. That doesn’t un-Mexicanize me, Ari.”

She sounded a little angry. I loved her anger and wished I had more of it. Her anger was different than mine or my father’s. Her anger didn’t paralyze her.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Mom (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:

Sometimes parents loved their sons so much that they made a romance out of their lives. They thought our youth could help us overcome everything. Maybe moms and dads forget about this one small fact: being on the verge of seventeen could be harsh and painful and confusing. Being on the verge of seventeen could really suck.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom
Page Number: 239
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five, Chapter Twelve Quotes

“I’m sorry about last night,” I said. “It’s just that sometimes I have things running around inside me, these feelings. I don’t always know what to do with them. That probably doesn’t make any sense.”
“It sounds normal, Ari.”

“I don’t think I’m so normal.”

“Feeling things is normal.”

“Except I’m angry. And I don’t really know where all that anger comes from.”

“Maybe if we talked more.”

“Well, which one of us is good with words, Dad?”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Aunt Ophelia
Page Number: 280
Explanation and Analysis:

I left him alone for a while. But then, I decided I wanted to be with him. I decided that maybe we left each other alone too much. Leaving each other alone was killing us.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad, Mom, Bernardo Mendoza, Aunt Ophelia
Page Number: 280
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter One Quotes

He looked tired but at that moment, as we sat at the kitchen table, there was something young about him. And I thought that maybe he was changing into someone else.

Everyone was always becoming someone else.

Sometimes, when you were older, you became someone younger. And me, I felt old. How can a guy who’s about to turn seventeen feel old?

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad
Related Symbols: Rain
Page Number: 300
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Nine Quotes

And loved my father too, for the careful way he spoke. I came to understand that my father was a careful man. To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 324
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Eighteen Quotes

“What am I going to do?”

My father’s voice was soft. “Dante didn’t run. I keep picturing him taking all those blows. But he didn’t run.”

“Okay,” I said. For once in my life, I understood my father perfectly.

And he understood me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Dante Quintana, Mom
Page Number: 350
Explanation and Analysis: