Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity, Ethnicity, and Masculinity
Silence and Trauma vs. Communication
Family and Coming of Age
Intellectualism and Emotion vs. Physical Strength
Summary
Analysis
Ari and Dante don’t talk for a few days. Finally, Ari invites Dante to go running. Everything feels normal for a while. Ari runs and works, and Dante gets a job at a drugstore. Mrs. Quintana starts teaching Dante to drive and the boys don’t see much of each other for a few weeks. One morning, Ari gets back from a run to find a note from Mom, asking when he’s going to start his shift at the food bank. He calls Dante and invites him to volunteer with him. Dante agrees and Ari realizes how much he missed him.
Especially once Dante gets a job, the boys have the opportunity to experience more with what it’s like to handle their relationship as adults with adult responsibilities. In this moment, they can also experiment with communicating more like adults, and Ari’s realization that he misses Dante shows that he’s becoming more mature.
Themes
Ari showers and then finds Bernardo’s envelope. He wants to open it, but doesn’t. All day, Ari thinks of Bernardo and after work, he invites Dante to go get drunk with him. Dante agrees without a question. Ari showers at home and discovers that Mom and his sisters are visiting Aunt Ophelia in Tucson, so he and Dad are home alone. Ari takes a tone with Dad, who says that Ari seems angry. Ari thinks of the conversation he’d like to have in his head, in which he accuses Dad of being silent about Bernardo. Dad would insist that silence saved him, and Ari would shoot back that he hates Dad for teaching him to be silent. Dad reaches for Ari, but Ari pulls away.
While the way that Ari treats Dad might not serve him, Ari’s anger is entirely justified. It’s especially important to note that he is now fully aware that he’s learned to be silent from Dad, and that being silent is detrimental, rather than helpful, to his family. The fact that Ari doesn’t know why exactly they have to be silent, but must fall in line anyway, makes things even worse, as he doesn’t have any reasoning to back it up.
Themes
At Dante’s house, Mr. Quintana and Mrs. Quintana see that Ari is crying and invite him inside. Dante smiles at everyone and gets in the truck. Ari isn’t sure how he finds his way to his spot in the desert, but he thinks it must be one of the secrets of the universe. When they arrive, Ari shouts that he forgot the beer and that they need it. He starts to sob and falls into Dante’s arms. Ari thinks that pain can come out of nowhere, like a rainstorm.
Ari’s meltdown illustrates how destructive and unsustainable this kind of silence can be when a person has to maintain it without knowing why for so long. However, friendship or relationships in general, like what Ari has with Dante, can help make things better by showing Ari that he’s not alone; he can find companionship and understanding.
Themes
