Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Part One, Chapter OnePart One, Chapter TwoPart One, Chapter ThreePart One, Chapter FourPart One, Chapter FivePart One, Chapter SixPart One, Chapter SevenPart One, Chapter EightPart One, Chapter NinePart One, Chapter TenPart One, Chapter ElevenPart One, Chapter TwelvePart Two, Chapter OnePart Two, Chapter TwoPart Two, Chapter ThreePart Two, Chapter FourPart Two, Chapter FivePart Two, Chapter SixPart Two, Chapter SevenPart Two, Chapter EightPart Two, Chapter NinePart Two, Chapter TenPart Two, Chapter ElevenPart Two, Chapter TwelvePart Three, Chapter OnePart Three, Chapter TwoPart Three, Chapter ThreePart Three, Chapter FourPart Three, Chapter FivePart Three, Chapter SixPart Three, Chapter SevenPart Three, Chapter EightPart Three, Chapter NinePart Three, Chapter TenPart Three, Chapter ElevenPart Four, Chapter OnePart Four, Chapter TwoPart Four, Chapter ThreePart Four, Chapter FourPart Four, Chapter FivePart Four, Chapter SixPart Four, Chapter SevenPart Four, Chapter EightPart Four, Chapter NinePart Four, Chapter TenPart Four, Chapter ElevenPart Four, Chapter TwelvePart Four, Chapter ThirteenPart Four, Chapter FourteenPart Four, Chapter FifteenPart Four, Chapter SixteenPart Four, Chapter SeventeenPart Four, Chapter EighteenPart Four, Chapter NineteenPart Four, Chapter TwentyPart Four, Chapter Twenty-OnePart Four, Chapter Twenty-TwoPart Four, Chapter Twenty-ThreePart Four, Chapter Twenty-FourPart Four, Chapter Twenty-FivePart Four, Chapter Twenty-SixPart Four, Chapter Twenty-SevenPart Four, Chapter Twenty-EightPart Four, Chapter Twenty-NinePart Four, Chapter ThirtyPart Four, Chapter Thirty-OnePart Five, Chapter OnePart Five, Chapter TwoPart Five, Chapter ThreePart Five, Chapter FourPart Five, Chapter FivePart Five, Chapter SixPart Five, Chapter SevenPart Five, Chapter EightPart Five, Chapter NinePart Five, Chapter TenPart Five, Chapter ElevenPart Five, Chapter TwelvePart Five, Chapter ThirteenPart Five, Chapter FourteenPart Five, Chapter FifteenPart Five, Chapter SixteenPart Five, Chapter SeventeenPart Five, Chapter EighteenPart Six, Chapter OnePart Six, Chapter TwoPart Six, Chapter ThreePart Six, Chapter FourPart Six, Chapter FivePart Six, Chapter SixPart Six, Chapter SevenPart Six, Chapter EightPart Six, Chapter NinePart Six, Chapter TenPart Six, Chapter ElevenPart Six, Chapter TwelvePart Six, Chapter ThirteenPart Six, Chapter FourteenPart Six, Chapter FifteenPart Six, Chapter SixteenPart Six, Chapter SeventeenPart Six, Chapter EighteenPart Six, Chapter NineteenPart Six, Chapter TwentyPart Six, Chapter Twenty-One
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
byBenjamin Alire Sáenz
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Themes and Colors
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
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe follows two teenage boys, Aristotle “Ari” and his best friend Dante, as they grow up over the course of two years in late-1980s El Paso, Texas. When the boys first meet at the local pool, they’re 15 and in many ways, have no idea who they are—Ari even suggests that until a person turns 18, their parents and teachers are the ones who…
Silence and Trauma vs. Communication
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe presents two opposing visions of how people can relate to others: Ari and his family are overwhelmingly silent and ignore past trauma, such as Dad’s experiences in the Vietnam War and the reason why Ari’s older brother, Bernardo, is in prison. Dante and his family, on the other hand, are open, communicative, and affectionate with each other and with others. Especially as Ari begins…
Family and Coming of Age
When the reader meets Ari, he shares that one of his deepest desires is to know his father, Dad. Dad, a Vietnam War veteran, came back from the war emotionally scarred and Ari, who was born in the year after Dad’s return, has only ever known his father as silent and closed-off. Through Ari’s journey to get to know his dad and through the novel’s other explorations of family, the novel shows that…
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Intellectualism and Emotion vs. Physical Strength
One of the reasons why Ari and Dante become friends so quickly is that, though Ari doesn’t know it at first, they’re both intellectuals. Dante is interested in art, literature, and poetry, and he encourages Ari to develop his taste for the written word in particular throughout their friendship. Though Ari follows Dante’s example and genuinely enjoys writing, reading, and thinking—he is, after all, interested in figuring out the titular secrets of the universe—Ari leans…
read analysis of Intellectualism and Emotion vs. Physical Strength
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