Reading the first half of “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” I am really enjoying it. I think that Ari is a really interesting Character so far. He calls himself a loner, he know he doesn’t really have any friends, and he says that he prefers it that way, but throughout the book it almost seems like he is desperate for love and affection. When he gets sick his father is holding him, and Ari doesn’t want his father to stop. He wants to be close with people but he doesn’t know how to be. Ari’s father was in the Vietnam War, his father doesn’t talk about his time there, and when he talks to Ari its always really short and to the point. Having a male role model that is a loner and doesn’t communicate with others, you’re somewhat like to become the same way. When Ari does get sick and his father is helping take care of him he opens up to Ari just for a second and tells him he Ari that he has nightmares just like him. Ari thinks about it and he wants to ask questions and know more and get closer with this father but he doesn’t know how.

Ari is out by the pool, he doesn’t know how to swim, and a random guy comes to him and says that he can teach him how to swim, that starts the friendship of Ari and Dante. Dante comes from a close family that is very affectionate and Ari doesn’t understand their family dynamic. He seems almost jealous. A part of the book that really sticks out to me is the part when Dante sees these boys killing a bird with a BB gun, and so he run over to where the boys are and demands that they not continue, and how killing that bird was not right, Dante is very upset which upsets Ari. Ari makes the boys go away and Dante is crying because they killed the bird, and Dante wants to burry the bird. While this entire thing is going on Ari has no idea how to handle the situation and why he upset about a bird. Which shows how different the two boys are, Dante cares about everything, he loves everything, and he wants to just be happy, while Ari he cares about certain things and certain people. Ari wouldn’t have care if he saw the boys shooting at the bird. He cared about it because it made Dante upset, and he cares about Dante.