Aristotle and Dante: Reflection

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Sáenz is a novel that explores multiple themes such as homosexuality and parental relationships, among many others.  These themes are exclusively examined through the lens of an adolescent boy, which provides a very unique perspective.  
For almost the entire novel, Ari is stuck in a constant state of not understanding any of his feelings and acting to avoid any confrontation of his own feelings whatsoever; this wholeheartedly represents the emotional storm of adolescence.  By the end of the novel, the reader can conclude that much of Ari’s seeking to understand the universe was a gateway for understanding his emotions: “All this time I had been trying to figure out the secrets of the universe, the secrets of my own body, of my own heart.  All of the answers had always been so close and yet I had always fought them without even knowing it” (358).  Ari proclaims his realization of his storm of frustrations being caused by his deep love for Dante.  At this final realization, many connections can be drawn to previous points in the novel that tie together the theme of homosexuality with the internal struggle of adolescence, particularly in relation to Ari’s actions following the hate crime against Dante. 

As previously mentioned, Ari tends to avoid any confrontation for his own feelings.  He primarily does this by resorting the the ‘crutch’ of thinking about his brother and the mystery behind him: “No, no no. No thinking about kissing.  And then I don’t know why, but I felt sad. And then I started thinking about my brother. Everytime I felt sad, I thought about him” (177).  This crutch comes up in other places, particularly whenever Ari has to face a deep emotional issue such as his feelings towards Dante’s letters.  Sáenz includes this repetitive reference towards Ari’s brother to show that commonplace of comfort to avoid realization of feelings that many teens go through. 

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