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
Dante hates wearing shoes. He takes them off everywhere. Ari watches him take them off at Mass one Sunday; Dante points out that Jesus didn’t wear shoes. At Ari’s house, Dante takes his shoes off and leaves them on the porch, like the Japanese do. When Ari points out that they’re Mexican, not Japanese, Dante says that they’re not really Mexicans: they don’t know anything about Mexico and speak poor Spanish. Ari calls Dante a pocho—a “half-assed Mexican.” Dante doesn’t know the term or deny it.
When Dante doesn’t know what pocho means, it actually proves his point—he doesn’t know enough Spanish slang to get by, while Ari appears to have more of the language. Dante’s desire to figure out where he fits in culturally indicates that this is something close to his heart and that he possibly feels uncomfortable with how non-Mexican he thinks he is.
Themes
Ari enjoys Dante’s war with shoes and asks one day why he doesn’t like them. Dante says that he just hates shoes. Mrs. Quintana, however, forces Dante to wear them because he could get diseases or be mistaken for “another poor Mexican.” Dante says that she often reminds him that he can afford shoes, but Dante tells her that he doesn’t have a job so he can’t afford shoes. Dante says that it’s not about being poor or being Mexican; it’s simply a matter of not liking shoes. He tells Ari that he believes wearing shoes is unnatural. Ari gives Dante a look and says that he’s nuts, but he takes it back when Dante looks upset.
What Dante says about Mrs. Quintana’s pro-shoe argument shows that she desperately wants Dante to do better than her—and that he can do better, in part, by looking the part of a middle-class American teen. Because Dante is a generation removed from the shame that Mrs. Quintana might feel about coming from poverty, this argument doesn’t seem at all reasonable to him.
Themes
Dante tells Ari to take his shoes off and then makes up a game in which they have to see who can throw their shoes the farthest. It’s systematic, and Dante even borrows Mr. Quintana’s tape measure. Ari thinks this is silly, since they could just mark where the shoe lands with chalk, but Dante insists that they must know exactly what they’re doing. He says that they measure distance when people throw javelins and insists that what they’re doing is a real sport. Ari points out that they could get hit by a car, but they both agree that it’s more fun to play in the street than the park. Ari agrees to play by Dante’s rules.
Making this game so regimented and specific speaks to the developmental space the boys are in right now: they’re still definitely boys who play silly games with their shoes, but they’re also starting to look forward to their futures as adults and try to infuse their games with some of the specificity of the adult world.
Themes
The game evolves. Mr. Quintana comes outside and reprimands Dante for playing in the street and beating up on his shoes. Dante innocently explains that they’re playing a version of the javelin, which makes Mr. Quintana laugh. He insists that they have to tell Mrs. Quintana and sends the boys to the park.
That Mr. Quintana laughs at Dante suggests that adults don’t have to be entirely boring or uptight. He shows the boys that they can maintain some of their childish delight and still exist as adults.
Themes
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