Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

by

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Dante Quintana Character Analysis

Ari’s best friend. When they meet, Dante is skinny, squeaky, and a bit wheezy, but he grows into a tall and handsome young man over the course of the novel. He loves swimming and is, according to Mr. Quintana, an intellectual—he loves novels, poetry, and philosophy, and is an aspiring artist. Dante is open, affectionate, and communicative, qualities that both intrigue and scare Ari. Ari takes offense to Dante’s willingness to cry, though he’s intrigued by Dante’s compassion and his desire to protect and rescue birds. This results in, most notably, Dante walking into the street to rescue a bird with a broken wing and almost getting hit by a car, though Ari saves him from certain death. Throughout their friendship, Dante encourages Ari to communicate more and better and introduces him to a number of novels and volumes of poetry. During Dante’s year in Chicago, he experiments with marijuana and alcohol and with kissing girls, though he ultimately discovers he is attracted to boys instead. Dante doesn’t fit the mold of “proper” masculinity, especially for a Mexican man—and Dante is especially bothered by his lack of ties to Mexican culture and the fact that he doesn’t speak much Spanish. All of this is heightened even more by the fact that Dante struggles with shame about being gay, especially when this aspect of his identity becomes too obvious to ignore. He adores his parents and is distraught about the fact that if he marries another man, he won’t be able to give his parents grandchildren—and because of this, he keeps his sexuality a secret until, after four boys beat him for kissing a boy named Daniel, Mr. and Mrs. Quintana find out. His shame about his own sexuality means that when his mom gets pregnant, he fixates on wanting a little brother who’s straight so that his parents will have one “good” son. Though Ari refuses to accept it, Dante has loved him from the moment they met and confesses his love at several points throughout the novel. Dante is thrilled when Ari finally admits that he’s also gay and loves him back.

Dante Quintana 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 Dante Quintana or refer to Dante Quintana. 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:
Identity, Ethnicity, and Masculinity Theme Icon
).
Part One, Chapter Five Quotes

It made me smile, the way they got along, the easy and affectionate way they talked to each other as if love between a father and a son was simple and uncomplicated. My mom and I, sometimes the thing we had between us was easy and uncomplicated. Sometimes. But me and my dad, we didn’t have that. I wondered what that would be like, to walk into a room and kiss my father.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad, Mom, Sam Quintana
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Part One, Chapter Seven Quotes

“My dad says it’s all right if people make fun of you. You know what he said to me? He said, ‘Dante, you’re an intellectual. That’s who you are. Don’t be ashamed of that.’”

I noticed his smile was a little sad. Maybe everyone was a little sad. Maybe so.

“Ari, I’m trying not to be ashamed.”

I knew what it was like to be ashamed. Only, Dante knew why. And I didn’t.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker), Sam Quintana
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Part One, Chapter Eleven Quotes

“We’re not really Mexicans. Do we live in Mexico?”

“But that’s where our grandparents came from.”

“Okay, okay. But do we actually know anything about Mexico?”

“We speak Spanish.”

“Not that good.”

“Speak for yourself, Dante. You’re such a pocho.”

“What’s a pocho?”

“A half-assed Mexican.”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker)
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Two, Chapter Eight Quotes

“I mean, my dad’s parents were born in Mexico. They live in a small little house in East LA and they speak no English and own a little restaurant. It’s like my mom and dad created a whole new world for themselves. I live in their new world. But they understand the old world, the world they came from—and I don’t. I don’t belong anywhere. That’s the problem.”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker), Sam Quintana, Mrs. Quintana
Page Number: 87-88
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Three, Chapter Two Quotes

This is what I understood: a woman like Mrs. Quintana didn’t use the word “love” very often. When she said that word, she meant it. And one more thing I understood: Dante’s mother loved him more than he would ever know. I didn’t know what to do with that piece of information. So I just kept it inside. That’s what I did with everything. Kept it inside.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Mrs. Quintana
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Three, Chapter Three Quotes

I guess it was enough just to hear the sound of Dante’s voice. It was like listening to a song. I kept thinking about the bird with the broken wing. Nobody told me what happened to the bird. And I couldn’t even ask because I would be breaking my own rule about not talking about the accident.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana
Related Symbols: Birds, Rain
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Three, Chapter Eight Quotes

When he was done, I opened my eyes. Tears were falling down his face. I should have expected that. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to tell him that it was me who should be crying.

Dante had this look on his face. He looked like an angel. And all I wanted to do was put my fist through his jaw. I couldn’t stand my own cruelty.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Four, Chapter Nineteen Quotes

Maybe my dad just didn’t need words to get by in the world. I wasn’t like that. Well, I was like that on the outside, pretending not to need words. But I wasn’t like that on the inside.

I’d figured something out about myself: on the inside, I wasn’t like my dad at all. On the inside I was more like Dante. That really scared me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad
Page Number: 200
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five, Chapter Three Quotes

“We’ll play that game,” I said. “That game you made up to beat the hell out of your tennis shoes.”

“It was fun, wasn’t it?”

The way he said that. Like he knew we would never play that game again. We were too old now. We’d lost something and we both knew it.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker)
Page Number: 249
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Two Quotes

“He was so happy that you were going to have another baby. And not just because he was going to be a big brother. And he said, ‘He has to be a boy and he has to like girls.’ That’s what he said. So that you could have grandchildren. So that you could be happy.”

“I don’t care about grandchildren. I care about Dante.”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Sam Quintana (speaker), Dante Quintana
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Four Quotes

Sometimes, you do things and you do them not because you’re thinking but because you’re feeling. Because you’re feeling too much. And you can’t always control the things you do when you’re feeling too much. Maybe the difference between being a boy and being a man is that boys couldn’t control the awful things they sometimes felt. And men could. That afternoon, I was just a boy. Not even close to being a man.

I was a boy. A boy who went crazy. Crazy, crazy.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Julian Enriquez, Daniel
Page Number: 311
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Eighteen Quotes

“What am I going to do?”

My father’s voice was soft. “Dante didn’t run. I keep picturing him taking all those blows. But he didn’t run.”

“Okay,” I said. For once in my life, I understood my father perfectly.

And he understood me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Dante Quintana, Mom
Page Number: 350
Explanation and Analysis:
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Dante Quintana 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 Dante Quintana or refer to Dante Quintana. 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:
Identity, Ethnicity, and Masculinity Theme Icon
).
Part One, Chapter Five Quotes

It made me smile, the way they got along, the easy and affectionate way they talked to each other as if love between a father and a son was simple and uncomplicated. My mom and I, sometimes the thing we had between us was easy and uncomplicated. Sometimes. But me and my dad, we didn’t have that. I wondered what that would be like, to walk into a room and kiss my father.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad, Mom, Sam Quintana
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Part One, Chapter Seven Quotes

“My dad says it’s all right if people make fun of you. You know what he said to me? He said, ‘Dante, you’re an intellectual. That’s who you are. Don’t be ashamed of that.’”

I noticed his smile was a little sad. Maybe everyone was a little sad. Maybe so.

“Ari, I’m trying not to be ashamed.”

I knew what it was like to be ashamed. Only, Dante knew why. And I didn’t.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker), Sam Quintana
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Part One, Chapter Eleven Quotes

“We’re not really Mexicans. Do we live in Mexico?”

“But that’s where our grandparents came from.”

“Okay, okay. But do we actually know anything about Mexico?”

“We speak Spanish.”

“Not that good.”

“Speak for yourself, Dante. You’re such a pocho.”

“What’s a pocho?”

“A half-assed Mexican.”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker)
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Two, Chapter Eight Quotes

“I mean, my dad’s parents were born in Mexico. They live in a small little house in East LA and they speak no English and own a little restaurant. It’s like my mom and dad created a whole new world for themselves. I live in their new world. But they understand the old world, the world they came from—and I don’t. I don’t belong anywhere. That’s the problem.”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker), Sam Quintana, Mrs. Quintana
Page Number: 87-88
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Three, Chapter Two Quotes

This is what I understood: a woman like Mrs. Quintana didn’t use the word “love” very often. When she said that word, she meant it. And one more thing I understood: Dante’s mother loved him more than he would ever know. I didn’t know what to do with that piece of information. So I just kept it inside. That’s what I did with everything. Kept it inside.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Mrs. Quintana
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Three, Chapter Three Quotes

I guess it was enough just to hear the sound of Dante’s voice. It was like listening to a song. I kept thinking about the bird with the broken wing. Nobody told me what happened to the bird. And I couldn’t even ask because I would be breaking my own rule about not talking about the accident.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana
Related Symbols: Birds, Rain
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Three, Chapter Eight Quotes

When he was done, I opened my eyes. Tears were falling down his face. I should have expected that. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to tell him that it was me who should be crying.

Dante had this look on his face. He looked like an angel. And all I wanted to do was put my fist through his jaw. I couldn’t stand my own cruelty.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Four, Chapter Nineteen Quotes

Maybe my dad just didn’t need words to get by in the world. I wasn’t like that. Well, I was like that on the outside, pretending not to need words. But I wasn’t like that on the inside.

I’d figured something out about myself: on the inside, I wasn’t like my dad at all. On the inside I was more like Dante. That really scared me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Dad
Page Number: 200
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Five, Chapter Three Quotes

“We’ll play that game,” I said. “That game you made up to beat the hell out of your tennis shoes.”

“It was fun, wasn’t it?”

The way he said that. Like he knew we would never play that game again. We were too old now. We’d lost something and we both knew it.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana (speaker)
Page Number: 249
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Two Quotes

“He was so happy that you were going to have another baby. And not just because he was going to be a big brother. And he said, ‘He has to be a boy and he has to like girls.’ That’s what he said. So that you could have grandchildren. So that you could be happy.”

“I don’t care about grandchildren. I care about Dante.”

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Sam Quintana (speaker), Dante Quintana
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Four Quotes

Sometimes, you do things and you do them not because you’re thinking but because you’re feeling. Because you’re feeling too much. And you can’t always control the things you do when you’re feeling too much. Maybe the difference between being a boy and being a man is that boys couldn’t control the awful things they sometimes felt. And men could. That afternoon, I was just a boy. Not even close to being a man.

I was a boy. A boy who went crazy. Crazy, crazy.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dante Quintana, Julian Enriquez, Daniel
Page Number: 311
Explanation and Analysis:
Part Six, Chapter Eighteen Quotes

“What am I going to do?”

My father’s voice was soft. “Dante didn’t run. I keep picturing him taking all those blows. But he didn’t run.”

“Okay,” I said. For once in my life, I understood my father perfectly.

And he understood me.

Related Characters: Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza (speaker), Dad (speaker), Dante Quintana, Mom
Page Number: 350
Explanation and Analysis: