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Part Five, Chapter Three
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 drives Dante and Legs to the desert to look at the stars. After a minute, Dante says that Mrs. Quintana is pregnant. They wonder if parents ever outgrow sex, and Dante asks if it makes Ari think of Bernardo. Ari says that everything makes him think of his brother. Dante suggests that Ari sit Mom and Dad down and force them to talk about Bernardo like adults, but Ari believes this won’t work. They laugh and then Dante says that he hopes his mom has a boy who likes girls. They laugh, and then Dante says he has to come out to his parents. Dante cries and Ari assures him that his parents will always love him. Dante is afraid that he’s going to disappoint them and Ari, but Ari says he’s not disappointed. On the way home, Dante says he’s going to get a job to learn about life.
Dante’s hope that the new baby will be straight speaks to the intensity of his shame and discomfort with his own sexuality. While he’s clearly more comfortable with being gay than Ari is, he’s acutely aware of the difficulties that he’ll experience as a young gay man—and the ways in which his parents might struggle as a result. The simple fact that Dante isn’t out yet to his parents shows that when it comes to his sexuality, he’s trying to rely on silence in order to preserve his positive relationship with his parents for as long as possible, in case things change.
Themes
