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Bernardo Mendoza
Ari’s aunt who lives in Tucson. She never appears in person in the novel, but Ari fondly remembers staying with her when he was four years old, and she’s his favorite aunt. At the beginning of the novel, Ari loves Ophelia but is incurious about her, why she’s estranged from the rest of the extended family, and why he stayed with her as a kid. After she has a stroke, he learns the truth: Ophelia was a lesbian, so the rest of the family (except for Ari’s parents) cut her off. Both Ari and Dad describe Ophelia as a kind and decent woman who could make a person feel like the center of the universe. She leaves Ari her house in her will.
Aunt Ophelia Quotes in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
The Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe quotes below are all either spoken by Aunt Ophelia or refer to Aunt Ophelia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part Five, Chapter Twelve
Quotes
“I’m sorry about last night,” I said. “It’s just that sometimes I have things running around inside me, these feelings. I don’t always know what to do with them. That probably doesn’t make any sense.”
“It sounds normal, Ari.”
“I don’t think I’m so normal.”
“Feeling things is normal.”
“Except I’m angry. And I don’t really know where all that anger comes from.”
“Maybe if we talked more.”
“Well, which one of us is good with words, Dad?”
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I left him alone for a while. But then, I decided I wanted to be with him. I decided that maybe we left each other alone too much. Leaving each other alone was killing us.
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Aunt Ophelia Quotes in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
The Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe quotes below are all either spoken by Aunt Ophelia or refer to Aunt Ophelia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part Five, Chapter Twelve
Quotes
“I’m sorry about last night,” I said. “It’s just that sometimes I have things running around inside me, these feelings. I don’t always know what to do with them. That probably doesn’t make any sense.”
“It sounds normal, Ari.”
“I don’t think I’m so normal.”
“Feeling things is normal.”
“Except I’m angry. And I don’t really know where all that anger comes from.”
“Maybe if we talked more.”
“Well, which one of us is good with words, Dad?”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
I left him alone for a while. But then, I decided I wanted to be with him. I decided that maybe we left each other alone too much. Leaving each other alone was killing us.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
