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Part One, Chapter Twelve
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
The next morning, Ari wakes up with a fever. When he gets up, he spins and collapses. Mom appears and looks unreal to Ari. He can’t understand what she’s saying, except that he’s hot. Ari doesn’t know where he is. Mom holds him and then gets him aspirin and water. His temperature is 104 degrees and Ari says it’s just a cold, but Mom says he has the flu. She tucks him into bed. Ari dreams that birds are falling from the sky and he can hear “La Bamba” as a plane falls. Dante cries and holds Richie Valens’s body. Ari wakes up screaming, and Dad picks up Ari and rocks him in the rocking chair. Ari wants to hold Dad too, but he has no strength. He wants to ask if Dad held him like this when he was a kid.
Ari is extra vulnerable because he’s so sick, which offers the reader insight into who Ari really is on the inside, when he’s not posturing for other characters or for the reader. His desire to ask Dad about whether he ever held young Ari like this shows that inside, Ari is still just a little kid who craves affection and attention, especially from his dad. The falling birds in the dream contrast with this, foreshadowing Ari’s coming loss of innocence.
Themes
Mom changes Ari’s sheets and then she and Dad change Ari’s clothes. Ari asks that they not throw his tee shirt away since Dad gave it to him. They settle Ari in bed and Ari sees Dad’s face. He knows that Dad is worried and is sad that he’s making him worry. Ari wants to tell Dad that he doesn’t hate him; he just wants to understand him. He falls asleep again and dreams that he’s running through the rain, looking for Dante and then Dad. Ari wakes up and sees Dad studying him. Mom comes into the room and Ari apologizes for scaring them. Mom suggests that Ari take a shower and Ari puts his head on her shoulder, wishing they could be like this forever.
In opposition to the bird, the rain in Ari’s dream here represents experience and learning more about the world. Notably, after this dream, Ari feels somewhat closer to Dad and at ease in his family the way it is now. This suggests that he’s starting to learn more about how his family interacts and how he should fit into it in order to be happy. Looking for Dad and Dante in the dream also suggests that as Ari comes of age, he’ll discover who Dad and Dante truly are inside.
Themes
Dad helps Ari into the shower and Ari wonders if young Dad was as beautiful as Dante is, but he’s not sure why he has this thought. Back in his bedroom, Mom declares that Ari’s fever broke. Ari and Dad stare at each other for a moment and Dad says that Ari was looking for him in his dream. Ari whispers that he’s always looking for Dad.
In this moment of vulnerability, Ari again shows the reader that he’s unaware of his own sexuality. Thinking that Dante is very beautiful suggests that Ari is attracted to him, at least on some level, but his confusion shows that he’s trying hard to ignore the attraction.
Themes
