In certain books that readers have read, there’s typically that one character that the reader is able to connect to or relate to. In this story, the main character, Aristotle Mendoza, and his best friend, Dante Quintana, are the main focuses of the book. Aristotle (AKA Ari), the main protagonist, is easy to relate to but Dante is another story. In Aristotle and Dante Discovers the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz vaguely portrays Dante Quintana’s character due to lack of exposition and the absence of expressing Dante’s thoughts.

Some readers would likely skim over the fact that Dante is quite secretive. Furthermore, his secrecy makes his ecstatic, joyful personality seem “fake,” or forced. To Ari, it seemed “interesting––that he had secrets,” (Sáenz, 29). Ari knows more about Dante than anyone and even he had interrogated the vagueness of Dante. Dante’s also secretive about his reasoning.

Dante doesn’t seem to like expressing his reasoning for certain actions. He himself said that “I don’t like them...I was born not liking them,” (Sáenz, 45). Dante expresses his thoughts and feelings without explaining as to why he feels this way. Not even when he’s in imminent jeopardy.

In fact, Dante decided not to run away from Julian and the others even though he knew he was about to get beat up. No reason had been mentioned as to why Dante didn’t make an escape except for when Ari said, “Because Dante’s like that. He doesn’t run,” (Sáenz, 319). Ari isn’t able to elucidate precisely why Dante didn’t run away which shows how Dante seemingly keeps his purposes under the hood.

As a reader, connecting to, understanding, and empathizing with a character has a satisfying feel because of how it’s like you’re in the book with them. The way Benjamin Alire Sáenz organized Dante’s disposition, however, makes him fairly misunderstandable. He seems to be very expressive to an average reader but, in turn, he emits abstruseness and a secretive ambiance. These attributes make Dante’s character less memorable, likable, and relatable, therefore, making him a worse character overall.