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
Mr. Quintana, Mrs. Quintana, and Dante come over on the night before they leave. Ari and Dante sit on the front porch quietly. Ari asks Dante to get his sketchpad from under Ari’s bed. Ari admits that he hasn’t looked at it and asks if they can look at it together. Dante says nothing, so Ari flips through it. He says that the sketches are honest and that he wants to keep the sketchpad. Before the Quintanas leave, Mr. Quintana kisses Ari on the cheek and Mrs. Quintana stares into Ari’s eyes. Ari and Dante hug, and Dante promises to write. When they leave, Ari sits with Mom and Dad on the porch. It starts to rain and Ari sees Dante holding a hurt bird in his mind. Ari feels like the saddest boy in the world.
Now that Ari can’t deny that Dante is gay and starting to come out, his assessment that the sketches are honest suggests that Dante was using his art like Ari uses his journal (that is, as a way to speak the truth in a safe space). The rain again suggests that changes are on the horizon and that Ari is entering a new phase of knowledge and understanding. However, the image of Dante and the bird makes it clear that he’ll still need to heal from the sudden loss of innocence represented by the accident.
Themes
