In “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”, the main characters, Aristotle (or Ari) and Dante are brought together by all odds. Their friendship escalates into a serious bond that later becomes a relationship. The boys are having trouble finding themselves racially, sexually, and individually. In the book, the author, Benjamin Alire Saenz’s choice of time period greatly affects how the characters interact with each other.

From the time period in which the novel takes place, the L.G.B.T.Q. community was not accepted. For instance, in the story Ari fought his “own private wars” (Saenz 359) deciding on how he would want to define himself. On the contrary, Dante knew who he was and what he stood for. Unfortunately, Dante was deemed for being gay. According to the novel, he was beaten severely he “cracked some ribs” (Saenz 304) and had “bruises everywhere” (Saenz 304). With Dante and Ari’s strong bond, they were able to talk to each other and express how they felt “no matter what” (Saenz 307).

With the low interest in technology in the late 1970s, Ari and Dante were able to branch out and articulate their feelings in creative ways. Referring to the book, the only types of technology that was mentioned were a telephone and television, so Dante and Ari had no choice, but to go out and interact. The lack of technology fortunately brought Dante and Ari together. If Ari had not “decided to go swimming at the Memorial Park pool” (Saenz 9) and he played a video game instead, then he would have never met Dante. That would have greatly impacted the whole plot of the novel. Furthermore, Ari used this lack of technology to express himself in a more fruitful manner. Ari would write an “entry” (Saenz 209) in his journal and he would pour out all of his feelings. He wrote about his dreams and his worries, like his dad.

Subsequently, the time period builds up the relationship with the conflict between Ari and his father as a result of the Vietnam War. The novel informs us that after Ari’s father fought in the war, it “changed him” (Saenz 9). For example, Ari's father has carried scars and memories of the war “on his heart” (Saenz 14) and “in his head” (Saenz 14). Nevertheless, towards the end of the novel, Ari’s dad starts to unfold and share all of his emotions. This made Ari more open to his dad about secrets. He always imagined doing father and son things with him. For example, he dreamt that his brother, dad and him “were all having a cigarette” (Saenz 297).

In “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” Saenz uses the time period to affect how many characters interact with one another. This is important to the novel because it affects the thoughts, beliefs and action of the characters. If the time period was different, then Ari and Dante would have never met and the story would be pointless. This means that the fate of the universe did not have everything to do with the boys’ encounter. The time period did.