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Comparing Saenz's Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe

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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

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