Part of a swift ending, Aristotle figures out that he does, in fact, like Dante and that he accepts it. This succeeds hundreds of pages of conflict and struggle for not only Aristotle, but all his friends and family. It only comes to an end once he realizes what was obvious for the whole story. If he had realized the obvious earlier, hundreds of pages of bad things happening to good people wouldn't have happened. Any smart, rational, reasonable person would at least make an attempt to realize such facts earlier on.

In Aristotle & Dante, Aristotle began as a lonely helpless teen struggling with his emotions. Then, he met Dante. He was left bewildered as Dante was the missing piece to Ari's puzzle. Find out how Ari overcomes his fear of vulnerability down below ⬇️

"As Dante and I lay on our backs in the bed of my pickup and gazed out at the summer stars, I was free. Imagine that. Aristotle Mendoza, a free man. I wasn’t afraid anymore" (296). Digital copy

In the book "Aristotle and Dante" by Benjamin Sáenz, Aristotle is initially trapped in a cloud of his own self-loathing and doubt. He is burdened by his family's silence and the shadow of his imprisoned brother. However, when he meets Dante, he finds someone who brings out the best in him, and learns to be curious about the secrets fo the universe. While his relationship with Dante is impeded by Ari's discomfort with his identity, they eventually bond across their differences, escaping from their "private universes of pain" (154).

Families aren't perfect; there will always be something that causes problems or trauma. There was a teenage boy who suffered because his older brother was in prison for violent crimes. His family also suffered, and it was always a tough topic for all of them to discuss. It deeply affected them, but they never wanted to talk about it until they realized it worsened the pain. Eventually, they realized that they should talk about it, and they started communicating a lot more and began to heal from the incident.

Dante entered the house, he kissed his mom and dad on the cheek—

or they kissed him—as if all that kissing was perfectly normal," (40 PDF).

In Dante's family, they are very communitcate of their feelings, and the kisisng accentuales it. This is a stark contrast to Ari's family where they bottle of their feelings and don't share them, al teast until the very end. For most of the book, Ari's parents keep all the secrets about his brother from him, and his dad remains quiet about the war.

"Aristotle Mendoza, a free man. I wasn't afraid anymore." (359)

"How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana?" (359)

For most of the novel, Aristotle did not express or acknowledge his romantic his feelings towards Dante. However, he saved Dante's life and injured a person who hurt Dante. At the end of the novel, Ari's parents made him realize that he liked Dante. When Ari was able to embrace his identity and come to terms with his sexuality, he felt free and no longer burdened by the feelings he could not express. The last sentence of the book shows that Ari is not ashamed of who he is, and hints at better communication and a hopeful future for him and Dante.

"High School was just a prologue to the real novel. Everybody got to write you, but when you graduated, you got to write yourself" pg 335.

These quotes exemplify Ari's value of independence and self determination, within himself. Throughout the story, Ari is getting older, and slowly gains independence. When he starts his senior year, he reflects on how close he is to starting college and adulthood, something he considers as freedom and being free from the constraints of being a mexican boy.