Aristotle and Dante Reflection: The theme of isolation

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe tells the story of how Aristotle or Ari navigates his young adolescents despite having so many questions about his family and the world around him. Pretty early on in the book, we get to know Ari through his narrations as a lonely boy who tends to stick to himself a lot. Before Ari meets Dante, he sees himself as someone that doesn't really fit in with people his age group. Ari likes being alone and says, "Feeling sorry for myself was an art" (pg 13). He grew up in a family as the "odd man out" with siblings too old to relate to and an older brother who was out of his life. It wasn't until Ari later meets his best friend Dante that his life changes along with his perspective on people.

Dante is very different than Ari in many ways. He has a close relationship with both his parents, he's confident, and he knows who he is. He doesn't have a hard time getting along with others and being friends with other people. Ari notices these qualities and takes an admiration for Dante. He wonders how a boy with a big heart like Dante who cries over dead birds can exist. After hanging out with Dante for the day Ari goes home and reflects to himself saying, "...it seemed to me that Dante's face was a map of the world. A world without any darkness" (pg 56). Based on what Ari says, finding Dante to him was a breath of fresh air. The world can be so dark sometimes that it's not hard for adolescents such as Ari to be pessimistic or resort to isolation as a means of protection against the world. The theme of isolation in this book is shown a lot through Ari. He doesn't like many people and he thinks that adults are pretty weird. Any adolescent who reads this book could probably relate on some level of how isolating it can be if they don't feel like they fit in with their friends or family.

Comments

  1. Ally DunlapSeptember 17, 2019 at 2:06 PM

    I like how you mentioned how Ari acts at the beginning of the novel. He is very negative and does not have the best outlook on life. I think this is something that a lot of adolescents can relate to. I agree with you that Dante was kind of Ari's "saving grace". I think that Dante showed Ari that there is so much more to life. I think the scenes with Dante being upset over the bird and Ari and Dante reading the poems/books shows a lot of growth in Ari's character. Would you want to include this book in your classroom?

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  2. NoahGoodwinSeptember 18, 2019 at 8:02 PM

    I appreciate your decision to focus on the theme of isolation. This theme is the one that stood out to me the most when examining how dynamic of a character Ari is. The initial meeting with Dante is probably one of my favorite parts of the novel because of the somewhat immediate character shift we see in Ari; he goes from hating being around people to finally finding someone he enjoys. It's interesting to think about how the novel would have gone had Ari not been so isolated from everyone else. Would him and Dante develop the relationship that they did?

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