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Part Two, 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 goes into the kitchen, where Mom is cleaning. Mom asks what he and Dante were talking about. Ari wants to ask about Bernardo, but instead talks about the Quintanas’ education. Mom smiles and says that her story sounds similar: she got her bachelor’s degree while Dad was in Vietnam, had Ari, and continued with school. Ari asks if it was hard, and Mom says that Ari was great and she was happy. She always knew she wanted to be a teacher and says that her mother cried when she said she was getting married. Mom says that her mother was afraid that she’d stop going to school. Ari thinks that he’s seeing Mom as a person for the first time.
Hearing about how Mom found her way toward becoming an educated, happy adult shows Ari that Mom is more than just a mother. With this, he begins to learn that when he sits down with people and expresses curiosity about them, he’ll learn a lot and be able to feel a deeper connection to others. His choice to not mention Bernardo shows how deeply he’s internalized the family rule to not talk about him—in a sense, he has inherited the pain his parents have surrounding the issue of his brother, despite being too young to understand the situation at the time.
Themes
Ari asks if Dad was different when he came back from the war. Mom says that he has an injury somewhere inside and she doesn’t know what or where it is. Ari asks if it will heal. Mom doesn’t think so. Ari asks if it’s hard to love Dad, and Mom doesn’t hesitate when she says it isn’t. She insists that she doesn’t have to understand him to love him when Ari asks if she does. Ari says that it’s hard for him to not understand Dad, but Mom suggests that someday, Ari will understand. Ari hates that he has to wait.
Again, Mom understands that Ari is 15 and has some developing to do before he’ll be able to have a conversation like this with Dad, just because Dad is so private about things. Because Mom is more open, she’s able to act as an example for Ari and encourage him to develop these communication skills before he uses them with someone with whom it’s more difficult to speak.
Themes
