Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: Part Four, Chapter Sixteen Summary & Analysis

Ari gets his casts off. He feels like his old self, but thinks that this isn’t entirely true—that person doesn’t exist, and Ari doesn’t yet know who he’s going to be. He takes a walk and ends up where Dante held the bird. He walks past Dante’s house and sees a dog in the park across the street. Ari sits down with the dog, which wiggles close and puts its head in Ari’s lap. Ari notes that the dog is female and doesn’t have a collar. Ari walks to the library and then home again, thinking that Dante’s math was off about when he was going to get his casts off. He wonders if Bernardo knew how to swim and thinks about how Dad never talks about Vietnam, even though he has a photo of his war buddies on the wall at home.

At home, Ari sits on the steps. The dog, who followed him, lays down on the sidewalk and stares at Ari. Dad notices the dog, and both he and Ari start to smile. They reminisce about Charlie, their dog that died, and Dad laughs that Mom doesn’t like dogs inside.