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 wakes up in a hospital room. He remembers Dante standing in the street with a bird, and screaming Dante’s name. Both legs and one arm are in casts. He groans in pain and Mom and Dad lean over him. Mom is crying. Ari wonders if this is real, but decides that the pain is very real. Mom pushes a button on Ari’s IV and says it’s morphine. Ari jokes that he gets to do drugs and Mom fetches a nurse. Ari tells Dad that everything is okay, but Dad says that Ari is brave. Ari insists this is false; he’s afraid of his dreams. He thinks that Dad’s smile is wonderful and wants to ask what happened, but he’s afraid.
Now, Ari has experienced trauma firsthand. This means that he’s now in the driver’s seat and will get to decide how to deal with it—whether he’s going to communicate about it to heal, or whether he’s going to emulate his family members by remaining silent, covering up his pain and fear, and passing the trauma on to others. Ari’s jokes and his insistence that he’s not brave suggest that he may be more willing to talk this time.
Themes
Ari says, “Dante?” A nurse arrives to check Ari and Ari asks again about Dante. Mom says that he’s fine and is at the hospital too. Ari asks what happened to the bird. Dad shakes his head and says that the boys are crazy and then leaves the room to get Dante. Mom tells Ari that Dante has been here for the last 36 hours while Ari had surgery. She says that Ari kept asking for Dante, and Dante stubbornly refused to leave. Ari smiles and Mom says she loves him. Like he did when he was a kid, Ari says that he loves her more. Mom tears up and tells Ari that the car ran over his legs. She breaks off and says that she’s not letting Ari out again. Ari calls her a “fascist.”
Ari never does figure out what happened to the bird, which mirrors the way that Ari’s innocence seems to slip away without rhyme or reason after this accident. Ari and Dante’s dedication to each other in the hospital reinforces how close they are, especially since Ari was asking for Dante while delirious. Something inside of Ari understands that his relationship to Dante is special and something to hold onto at all costs, even if Ari himself might not admit it.
Themes
Dante and Dad walk in. Dante and Ari smile at each other. Dante says that Ari saved his life, but Ari makes a joke of it. Dante begins to cry. Ari blames everything on the bird, and Dante insists he’s done with birds. He tears up again, and Ari institutes the rule that nobody can cry. Dante laughs and says that Ari dove like he was swimming. Ari tries to stop him, but Dante keeps going. He says that Ari dove because he was an idiot who went into the road to save a “stupid bird.” Ari tells him to stop crying and insists that birds aren’t stupid.
True to form, Dante wants to talk about what happened—something that makes Ari wildly uncomfortable given how he’s learned to deal with trauma and difficult emotions thus far in his life. When Dante blames himself, he essentially suggests that his compassion is dangerous and not something that he should act on like this. In this sense, Dante is doubting who he truly is, just like Ari.
Themes
Everyone laughs when Ari insists he didn’t save Dante on purpose. Ari can’t stay awake but feels Dante squeezing his hand. He hears Dante asking Ari to forgive him, but Ari thinks that there’s nothing to forgive. Ari dreams that he and Dante are barefoot in the rain and he feels afraid.
Insisting that he didn’t save Dante on purpose allows Ari to avoid engaging critically with his emotions or his desires. This indicates that Ari isn’t actually ready to become more open—here, he’s doing what Dad does and repeating the cycle of silence and trauma.
Themes
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