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Birds
Broadly, rain and rainstorms throughout the novel bring about clarity, knowledge, and understanding for all the characters. In this sense, it often represents the end of innocence and naïveté. Sometimes, this is violent and horrible, as when Ari dives in front of the car to save Dante after a rainstorm. Other times, it’s significantly more lighthearted, as when Ari and Dante run naked around the truck in the desert during a sudden rainstorm. Specifically, Mrs. Quintana’s regular refrain to Ari—“remember the rainstorm”—suggests that she sees the storm in which Ari was injured as the symbolic end of the boys’ childhoods and the beginning of their lives as experienced adults.
Rain 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 Rain. 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:
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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.
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Part Six, Chapter One
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He looked tired but at that moment, as we sat at the kitchen table, there was something young about him. And I thought that maybe he was changing into someone else.
Everyone was always becoming someone else.
Sometimes, when you were older, you became someone younger. And me, I felt old. How can a guy who’s about to turn seventeen feel old?
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Rain Symbol Timeline in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
The timeline below shows where the symbol Rain 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 Two, Chapter One
...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...
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Part Two, Chapter Twelve
...Later, he meets Dante at the pool, but he doesn’t swim. It looks ready to rain. As Dante and Ari leave the pool, it starts to pour. They walk slowly in...
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...cough, so Dante makes them tea. They sit outside on the porch and watch it rain and then hail. Dante interrupts the silence and says that they need to talk about...
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...gang, doesn’t drink or do drugs, and would like to have sex. Finally, it stops raining. Dante suggests they go for a walk—barefoot, since their shoes are in the dryer. Ari...
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Part Three, Chapter One
...that there’s nothing to forgive. Ari dreams that he and Dante are barefoot in the rain and he feels afraid.
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Part Three, Chapter Seven
It rains almost every afternoon. Ari finishes The Grapes of Wrath and then War and Peace. Dad...
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Part Three, Chapter Eleven
...When they leave, Ari sits with Mom and Dad on the porch. It starts to rain and Ari sees Dante holding a hurt bird in his mind. Ari feels like the...
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Part Four, Chapter One
...asks Ari what happened. She demands an explanation and Ari tells the truth: after a rainstorm, he saved a guy standing in the street and a car ran over his legs....
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Part Four, Chapter Seven
...to tell her some of the truth: in his dream, he was driving in the rain and hit Dante. He says he wishes he smoked. Mom threatens to take the truck...
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Part Four, Chapter Twenty-Five
...more than ever. Ari takes Legs out for a run later, and it starts to rain. Ari thinks about the accident and his legs hurt.
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Part Four, Chapter Twenty-Six
...he’s glad that 1987 is over and reminds her of the “small incident in the rain.” They toast to 1988 and Mom says that Ari is looking more and more like...
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Part Five, Chapter Six
...falls into Dante’s arms. Ari thinks that pain can come out of nowhere, like a rainstorm.
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Part Five, Chapter Nine
...her and Ari agrees. She makes Ari promise to be careful and to remember the rain before he and Dante drive away.
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Part Five, Chapter Ten
...their spot in the desert, they pass the joint until it’s gone. They can smell rain and hear thunder in the distance. The wind picks up and the boys run into...
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Part Five, Chapter Eighteen
...watches Mom and Dad hold hands. He thinks of smoking and running naked in the rain with Dante. Ari says that he’s going to work, read, and hang out for the...
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Ari rolls down his window and looks at dark clouds ahead. Raindrops fall on his hand and he thinks they’re like kisses. He’s been dreaming about kissing,...
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Part Six, Chapter One
It rains the entire way back to El Paso. Ari sleeps and feels safe and protected. He...
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Part Six, Chapter Twenty-One
...and talk and look at the stars, and Dante says that he wishes it were raining. Ari says that they don’t need the rain.
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