A novel written by Benjamin Alire Saenz titled Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, depicts the theme of coming of age. Coming of age has a lot of aspects to it such as, love, adventures, the unknown, and experimentation. All these elements are important to the main character, Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza, who is on a journey of self-discovery that even he does not know he is on. A common detail to coming of age are questions; the constant asking of them. The theme of this novel is attached to Aristotle and how he questions who he is. Saenz writes “Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe? I don’t know. Maybe.” This proves life for any teenager is confusing as well are the questions of the world including of one self which is something that they cannot answer. …show more content…
Saenz uses love to unravel the theme of growing up and realizing life is much more than just living. Experiencing love from someone else than your own parents was something Aristotle had to experience in order to grow up. Saenz writes “I took Dante’s hand and held it. How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana?” Once Aristotle was able to admit his love he changed; he realized something about himself that was needed for him to grow up. He writes “All of the answers had always been so close and yet I had always fought them without even knowing it.” Love as well as friendship was something Aristotle needed to find for himself to find the most crucial part in his self-discovery, his
In the novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz provides a compelling Insight into the complexity of identity. Identity is subject to change by the experiences you live to modify a better and improved you. You have to endure some experiences to modify yourself such as like Dante experienced his sexuality with Ari and found his preference. We all have endured situations with people who have made a big impact In our growth as humans. As for Ari and Dante they seemed to be connected more than just friends not just outgrowing their old ways as regular teens but finding their true identity as lovers. They found themselves being more adventurous within themselves with each other,
To hold up a “tough” facade, Aristotle keeps secret from his family his true emotions about his brother Bernardo, which ultimately affect his everyday interactions. In addition, the pressure from his parents to never speak about Bernardo in fear
Ari has trouble dealing with his love because he is afraid of the emotions he feels for Dante. Deep in Ari’s heart, he knows that he loves Dante but it is not socially accepted for a boy to love a boy. Later in the story, Aristotle has the courage to admit to himself and to Dante that he loves him. “As Dante and I lay on our backs in the bed of my pickup and gazed out at the summer stars, I was free” (359). Ari has immense relief at having the weight off of his chest because he does not need to hide anymore.
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist that laid much of the foundation for Western philosophy. He was a person who sought out explanations that were unorthodox. His principles of common sense were built on naturalism and self-realization, which greatly influenced the world. His systematic concept of logic touched upon ethics. As an illustration, in the movie “Juice,” some of Aristotle’s beliefs and principles on friendship, character, and happiness are heavily portrayed throughout the film.
One element of the author’s style that I noticed and enjoyed about this novel is how the author properly characterizes each member of the story interestingly, and successfully manages to make the story more appealing due to his use of multiple literary elements. One opening property in this novel is the use of characterization. Aristotle, the protagonist and narrator of this story, is considered a dynamic character. Through the beginning of this novel, Aristotle was very shy, and had a limited amount of friends; moreover, he portrayed himself as timid, antisocial, and basic compared to other of his “peers.” This all changed, however, shortly into the novel, when Aristotle stumbled into a new individual. The book continues by letting the reader understand that Aristotle likes feeling sorry for himself. A passage in the book to support this claim goes as follows,”Feeling sorry for myself was an art. I think a part of me liked doing that.” (Saenz, 13) We also discover that Aristotle’s dad seems far away to him regardless of living in the same house. Moreover, we get some small backstory of Aristotle’s father, and we understand that his father feels distant to him because of the Vietnam war; a war in which Aristotle’s dad was a part of. A line
Over the summer I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I chose to read this book because I thought it was about two famous philosophers working together, figuring out how the universe works and everything. As I read the first few chapters I knew that it was completely different than what I had in mind, even though the book wasn’t about the two philosophers I still read it. I decided to keep reading the book even though it isn’t about famous philosophers, because I wanted to know how this is going to work out in the end. Reading the book, in the beginning, it felt really depressing how Ari was describing himself and his life and I didn’t really enjoy it because I pity him. As I read further into the book I was intrigued, reading page after page I started loving the book and wanting to finish it so badly knowing how it would end. I end up
In Plato’s Symposium, he constructed a dialogue between peers at a drinking party regarding the art of love. After hearing speeches of others in attendance, Socrates presented the thoughts of his former teacher, Diotima, by recounting the speech she had delivered years ago. Diotima first dissected two manifestations of the phenomenon: acquisitive desire, which is a longing to acquire something of beauty, and procreative desire, which is the longing to reproduce in the presence of beauty, either in body or in soul. She then described the ascent of eros, discussing forms of love in terms of their nobility. This spectrum of eros’ nobility brought forth by Diotima is reflected in and expanded on notions brought up in previous speeches, particularly those by Phaedrus and Pausanias, resulting in a much more complex understanding of love, its results, and what it stems from.
In Plato’s work Symposium, Phaedrus, Pausania, Eryximachus, Aristophane and Agathon, each of them presents a speech to either praise or definite Love. Phaedrus first points out that Love is the primordial god; Pausanias brings the theme of “virtue” into the discussion and categorizes Love into “good” one or “bad” one; Eryximachus introduces the thought of “moderation’ and thinks that Love governs such fields as medicine and music; Aristophanes draws attention to the origin and purposes
The Symposium presents a philosophical discussion about love between specific historical individuals, including well-known Athenian poets and intellectuals, and the politician Alcibiades (introduction). Each person at the symposium needs to deliver a speech that represents his idea of love. At the end of The Symposium, Socrates expresses his sophisticated point of view by presenting a conversation he has with Diotima, an objective fictional character who represents his idea of love. By providing a logical, fundamental and comprehensive examination of love, Socrates’ speech contributes significantly to The Symposium in the effort to promote the philosophical approach of objective truth. This effective inspection of love makes readers understand
Reading Benjamin Alire Saenz's novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was like discovering a new color: I saw the world in a different way. Saenz put into words what every teenager feels as we attempt figure out our way in the world. The book is a journey of self-discovery for the main character Aristotle, but as I read the book, I found myself discovering aspects about myself as well. My own thoughts and feelings were echoed in Aristotle's mind and it made me feel less alone and out of place.
thesis what Aristophanes defines as love. He believes that love is innate: " love is born into
Reporter’s privilege is an ongoing topic for the past four decades. Since Branzburg v. Hayens, there have been many unsuccessful attempts to pass a federal shield law in Congress. There have been many bills to protect reporters from being subpoenaed but none of those passed as a law. Based on all the case listed above, modern reporter’s privileges is a combination of rules that courts take into consideration however those are not laws. Sources of reporters privileges are First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, State constitutions, State common law, and State status. However, none of the sources has it as an inevitable law. Basically, reporter’s privileges are built like a collection of amendments that will protect reporters in some case
Love is a supernatural force that unites two beings, whether they are the two most unlikely candidates or childhood friends, and it inspires hope in all. Homer’s The Odyssey is the tale of the epic hero Odysseus on his quest back from the Trojan War, and all the hardships he faces as a result of his decisions. Throughout the course of the book, love plays a large role, and is his fuel to return to Ithaka, his home. There are three types of love are presented in the epic; lust, which is purely sexual and lacks a deeper meaning, family love, such as that displayed between Odysseus and his men, colleagues and Telemakhos, and lastly there is true love, which is shown between Odysseus and Penelope, true love holding the most value and power over all other forms of love.
In the popular sitcom TV series Friends (1994- 2010), has displayed all of Aristotle's six important elements throughout the show that were required for the drama. The main plot of the show is revolving around six best friends living together in Manhattan, and following up with their everyday personal and professional lives. Throughout the show, all six elements of drama are being taken place in the modern series showing that regardless of small changes here and there, there are still connections back to Aristotle’s view.
This quote by Aristotle was taken from ‘Aristotle: a Very Short Introduction’ and there is no-one of whom this is more true than Aristotle as he was dedicated to every possible discipline he could sink his teeth into making him one of the utmost key figures within philosophy, not only in classical philosophy but he is still regarded as influential in modern philosophy.