Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

Dante is a 17-year-old Latino boy growing up in El Paso, Texas in the late 1980s. Dante is bright and ambitious—he is an aspiring artist, an accomplished athlete, and graduates at the top of his high school class. Though he is kind and caring, Dante is also stubborn, often ruled by his emotions. His own mother acknowledges that while Dante “has many fine qualities […] he’s not selfless” (368). In a break-up letter to Ari, Dante admits, “I’m the one who’s difficult to love,” a reference to the fact that he asks “for what isn’t possible” (365).

Unlike Ari, Dante is self-assured and fearless, “unafraid to be himself, unafraid to be a part of everything around him” (80). Whereas Ari is quiet and says little, Dante always “[knows] what to say and how to say it without being afraid” (12). Dante connects easily with others and is happy to talk to people and learn about their lives. Though Dante harbors love for everyone in his life and the world at large, his love for Ari is especially potent. When he is accepted into a prestigious summer art program in Paris, he is ready to give up the rare opportunity to spend the summer with Ari. Because Dante is willing to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to jumpstart his art career—and gets upset when Ari insists he go—speaks both to his love for Ari and his headstrong personality.

Despite his confidence, Dante is insecure about certain aspects of his identity, namely his orientation and Mexican heritage. Once, while confiding in Ari, Dante admits his concern: “We’ll never be Mexican enough. We’ll never be American enough. And we’ll never be straight enough” (21). Dante resents that he and Ari must hide their love from the world, even once witnessing a straight couple kissing in public and declaring, “It’s not fair” (106), that he and Ari cannot do the same.

Lilly is Ari’s mother. She works as a teacher at a local middle school. She is intelligent, thoughtful, and strong. She is confident in her abilities and self-assured in her personality and purpose, a woman who “knows who she is and […] knows what she thinks” (126).

Lilly is a gifted and well-respected teacher. When she is named teacher of the year, she receives endless praise from the community, including from fellow teachers and former students. Most notably, Lilly receives a letter from a former student, a successful lawyer, who thanks her for “saving his life” (336) when she taught him many years ago. Because a former student of Lilly’s thanks her for “setting a standard of excellence” and giving him the opportunity “to have sat in [her] classroom” speaks to her ability to connect to people and leave an impression (336).

Lilly has a close relationship to Ari and provides him with loving care and support. She encourages open discussions, having always “talked to [Ari] and told [him] things” (129). Though she is resilient in the face of tragedy, Ari often wonders how his mother “ha[s] learned to bear all her losses” (291). Though it has been over a decade since Bernardo’s incarceration, Lilly still mourns the loss of her son. When Ari is found unconscious in the desert following the death of his father, Lilly tells him that though she empathizes with his sadness, she encourages him to “overcome [his] own hurts” and “learn to live again” (304).

Jaime is Ari’s father. He works as a mailman and is a Vietnam War veteran. Though it has been many years since he fought in the war, Jaime still struggles to cope with the trauma of his war experience. For most of Ari’s life, Jaime has been quiet and distant, barely speaking to his son and offering very little about himself. When Ari comes out to Jaime, their relationship changes for the better; Jaime begins to open himself up emotionally, especially to his son, for whom he “felt like home” (256) once they grow closer.

Despite his tendency to keep to himself, Jaime is a caring and affectionate man. He is concerned with the greater good and “care[s] about the world he live[s] in” (283). He loves his wife deeply—her name is the last word he utters before dying—and is extremely protective and supportive of his son. To better express the emotions and thoughts he struggles to share with his loved ones, Jaime keeps a daily journal. At his funeral, Ari shares one entry aloud, which reads, “there are no reasons to hate other people—especially other kinds of people” (283).

Sam is Dante’s father. He works as an English professor at a local university. He is a kind and empathetic man who is not afraid to show his love and affection for others. Soledad is Dante’s mother. She is a psychiatrist and is strong willed, caring, and thoughtful. Despite their many years of marriage, Sam and Soledad are still deeply in love and sometimes act “like they had just gotten married” (78). Sam and Soledad are good friends with the Mendozas. When Jaime dies of a heart attack, the Quintanas are deeply affected, especially Sam, who sobs on Ari’s front porch after losing his good friend. The Quintanas function as a second set of parents for Ari and care deeply about him. When Ari and Dante break up, Sam and Soledad assure Ari that they love him, a reality that “will never change” and that he “will always be welcome in [their] house” (369), regardless of his relationship with Dante.

Cassandra is a 17-year-old girl living in El Paso, Texas. Cassandra is “intimidatingly beautiful” (135), strong willed, and intelligent, and she graduates first in her high school class. Cassandra is a deeply caring and thoughtful person, though she is often mistaken by her peers as intimidating and snobby. Cassandra comes from a troubled household; she had an abusive father who beat her older brother when he came out as gay, effectively ending his marriage when Cassandra was 12. The trauma of her childhood forces Cassandra to grow up quickly.

Though they share a mutual dislike for one another for most of their acquaintance, Cassandra becomes a close friend of Ari’s after he attends the funeral of her brother, who dies of AIDS. When Ari comes out to Cassandra, she empathizes with him without hesitation, immediately changing her behavior and tone “as if all the hardness in her had just vanished” (137). From the moment Ari comes out to her, Cassandra vows to support him, telling him that she, along with Susie and Gina, “would never betray [him]” (139).

Early in their friendship, Cassandra becomes Ari’s regular running buddy. Ari considers running to be a sacred time for himself, but “from that first morning, it seemed like it was right, like we fit” (199). While running, and throughout the whole of their friendship, Cassandra proves to be naturally compatible with Ari. When they attend a house party and dance together, Ari even notes, “Something about holding her in my arms felt right,” as they have an emotional connection and mutual respect that “just felt comfortable and intimate” (215).

Bernardo is a Latino man in his late-20s and the eldest son of Jaime and Lilly Mendoza. Bernardo has been in prison for over a decade after having murdered two people as a teenager. When Ari visits Bernardo in prison for the first time, Bernardo is rude and hostile. In speaking of the transgender woman he brutally murdered, Bernardo is merciless. When Ari reveals that he is gay, Bernardo exhibits a violent intolerance towards gay people, referring to Ari in derogatory ways without a second thought. By the end of the visit, Ari is glad to be leaving, as he knows now that his brother is “not a man [he] wanted to know” (253).

Legs is Ari’s beloved dog. Legs is loyal and obedient, seeming to understand Ari and how to communicate with him despite not being able to speak. Legs serves as a much-needed companion for Ari, especially during times when he is not up to speaking to humans. When Legs comes into Ari’s life, he feels as though she “somehow sensed [his] sadness and gave [him] her heart” (199). By just being a loving and consistent presence in his life, Ari feels as though “that dog saved [his] life” (102).

Emma is a middle-aged woman who owns a small art gallery in Texas, where all the paintings are products of her late son. Emma meets Dante and Ari while they are on their first camping trip together and immediately forms a meaningful bond with them. Emma is kind and inviting, though noticeably “a little bit sad” (91). After getting tearful hearing Dante recite her son’s poem, Emma gifts one of her son’s paintings to Dante and Ari, suggesting that they share it between them “for [their] whole lives” (107). In the short time she spends with Dante and Ari, the boys learn that her son died of AIDS. Still hurting from the pain of her son’s death, Emma “seemed to wear that hurt” (107). Ari notes Emma’s strength due to her vulnerability and inability to hide her deep emotional pain. Before the boys leave with the gifted painting, Emma pointedly reminds them, “[Y]ou matter more to the universe than you will ever know” (107).