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Part Six, Chapter Eight
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 asks if he can frame a photo of Bernardo saluting Dad before Dad left for Vietnam. Mom says she loves the photo and that Bernardo was inconsolable when Dad left. She says that she tried not to think about the possibility that Dad might not come back and asks if they can put the photo in the living room. Ari feels like Bernardo has suddenly come home. Dad answers Ari’s questions while Mom listens, and Ari thinks that he loves her for her silence. He starts to realize that Dad is careful with his words and with people.
Ari’s realization that Dad is careful rather than cold shows that he now understands that there are many different types of silence. Ari’s youthful inability to understand Dad may have been in part because Dad was exhibiting a more negative kind of withdrawal, but it’s also possible that Ari just didn’t understand that silence could actually be a kind and valuable thing under certain circumstances.
Themes
