Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

This section is titled “Remember the Rain” and begins with an epigraph from W.S. Merwin: “turning the pages patiently/in search of meanings” (233). Once again, the author uses the natural world as a symbol of the characters’ emotional condition, frequently using metaphors to explain Ari’s changing emotions. The changing seasons and weather are connected to changes in his characters’ inner worlds.

For example, rain is a symbol of transformation that portrays pivotal emotions in the story. It is connected with the revelation of emotional truth. The section ends with Aristotle thinking to himself that boys like him “belonged to the rain”: in other words, he and Dante are inherently different from most boys (294). Aristotle is beginning to embrace his differences rather than conceal them.

Mrs. Quintana tells Ari to “remember the rain” before he and Dante take off in the truck to hang out in the desert (270). She is warning him to be cautious, but her warning is ambiguous and metaphorical. It seems like she is telling him to be safe on the road so that another accident like the one from last summer doesn’t happen again. Another possible meaning is that she is telling him to be careful with her son’s heart. By reminding Ari of the bond forged between he and Dante last summer when he saved Dante’s life, she is advising him to treat Dante with kindness, regardless of whether he reciprocates Dante’s romantic feelings.

When Dante and Aristotle are reunited after nine months apart, they notice the physical changes first: Dante has gotten taller, and Aristotle has gotten more muscular. Dante quickly notices that Ari’s personality has changed as well, and he praises him because he is “really talking” (247). Aristotle’s mother uses the analogy of an ecotone to explain the transitional phase he is in as a 17-year-old boy. Ari realizes that just like a borderland between two landscapes, at this stage of his life “responsibility must coexist with irresponsibility” (238). Ari’s changing personality is a result of his personal growth and Dante’s influence on him.

There is foreshadowing of what will happen between Aristotle and Dante when Ari’s mother says she wants him to “make it a nice summer” and he replies that maybe he “will fall in love” (239). This hints that Dante and Ari’s relationship will progress from a friendship into a romantic relationship this summer.

Finally, some of the secrets that Aristotle’s parents kept from him are revealed. Aristotle and his father share an emotional moment when they discuss Bernardo’s trial and how it affected his mother. Ari’s mother tells him that his Aunt Ophelia was romantically involved with a woman. She tells him that the woman, Franny, had passed away six years earlier, and she regrets that she didn’t tell him before. Ari is pleased with this change in his parents and thinks that his “mother and father had decided that there were too many secrets in the universe,” in a reference to the book’s title (291).