Previous
Symbols
For Ari and Dante, birds represent their childhood innocence and fleeting sense of wonder as they grow up. During their first summer especially, Dante is fascinated by birds. He consistently rescues them when he finds them hurt or, once, when he finds boys shooting at them with pellet guns, and he sees them as a symbol for the unknown potential he wants to protect in himself and the world around him. However, the way that Dante goes about rescuing the birds—often, it puts him in danger of violence or, in the case of the accident, in the path of a speeding car—reinforces how young and innocent Dante is. Ari’s fascination with Dante’s interest, meanwhile, represents Ari’s own innocence and sense of wonder. Following the accident, the birds and the innocence they represent begin to look less positive, indicating that both Ari and Dante are growing up and gaining experience—they will never again look at birds the same way, as at this point, they began to symbolize their innocence lost after the accident.
Birds Quotes in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
The Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe quotes below all refer to the symbol of Birds. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part Three, Chapter Three
Quotes
I guess it was enough just to hear the sound of Dante’s voice. It was like listening to a song. I kept thinking about the bird with the broken wing. Nobody told me what happened to the bird. And I couldn’t even ask because I would be breaking my own rule about not talking about the accident.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe LitChart as a printable PDF.
Birds Symbol Timeline in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
The timeline below shows where the symbol Birds appears in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part One, Chapter Twelve
...hear a noise across the street and see three boys with BB guns and a bird that they shot. Dante shouts at them to stop, races to them, and demands that...
(full context)
...fight, and Dante insists he’s not really a pacifist—he just doesn’t think people should kill birds for no reason. They agree to not tell Mrs. Quintana and decide that moms are...
(full context)
Ari thinks that he wants to tell Dante that the bird doesn’t matter, but he knows that the bird is very important to Dante. When Dante...
(full context)
Part Two, Chapter One
...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....
(full context)
Part Two, Chapter Five
...up feeling lost. His fever is back. He falls asleep again and dreams of killing birds.
(full context)
Part Two, Chapter Six
...even though it’s not much fun. He reads poems out loud and Ari thinks of birds falling from the sky. He wonders if Bernardo ever read a poem and in a...
(full context)
Part Two, Chapter Twelve
...he refuses to admit it. A strange look comes over Dante’s face. Dante notices a bird in the street. Its wing is obviously broken. He steps into the street and picks...
(full context)
Part Three, Chapter One
...wakes up in a hospital room. He remembers Dante standing in the street with a bird, and screaming Dante’s name. Both legs and one arm are in casts. He groans in...
(full context)
...that he’s fine and is at the hospital too. Ari asks what happened to the bird. Dad shakes his head and says that the boys are crazy and then leaves the...
(full context)
...Ari makes a joke of it. Dante begins to cry. Ari blames everything on the bird, and Dante insists he’s done with birds. He tears up again, and Ari institutes the...
(full context)
Part Three, Chapter Two
...looks like he was once a jock. Sometimes, in Ari’s dreams, Dr. Charles heals Dante’s bird. When Ari is awake, Dr. Charles answers all of his questions about his legs. He...
(full context)
Part Three, Chapter Three
...normal. Dante tells Ari about a man on the bus and Ari thinks about the bird with the broken wing. He still doesn’t know what happened to it, but now that...
(full context)
Part Three, Chapter Five
...car, Ari has to lie down in the backseat. He looks out the windows for birds.
(full context)
Part Three, Chapter Eleven
...Dad on the porch. It starts to rain and Ari sees Dante holding a hurt bird in his mind. Ari feels like the saddest boy in the world.
(full context)
Part Four, Chapter Sixteen
...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....
(full context)
Part Five, Chapter Nine
...Ari gets up to go and thinks about Dante chasing the boys who shot a bird. As he gets in the truck, Dante asks if Ari wishes he hadn’t saved him....
(full context)
