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Part Two, Chapter Four
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
That night, Ari dreams that he and Bernardo are standing on opposite sides of the Rio Grande. Ari yells in English and in Spanish for Bernardo to come over, but Bernardo shakes his head. Dad appears next to Bernardo, and Ari sees that Dad is deeply hurt by Bernardo. The scene changes and Ari is on the Mexico side, while Dante is in the U.S. Dante speaks to Ari in English, and Ari replies in Spanish, but they can’t understand each other. Ari feels alone and wakes up feeling lost. His fever is back. He falls asleep again and dreams of killing birds.
Again, Ari’s dreams give voice to his anxieties. He wants to connect with his brother in a positive way, and he wants to understand how Dad feels about Bernardo in a more nuanced way than the silence in his family allows. Dreaming of killing the birds, meanwhile, speaks to Ari’s anxieties about growing up and leaving behind childhood, even as this process is something that will help him in the long run.
Themes
