Chapter Thirty-Five Summary: New Year's Day 1989
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
On New Year's Day 1989, a Sunday, Ari attends Mass with his mother, his sisters, their husbands, and his nieces and nephews. He feels numb, as if something inside him has died, and finds it hard to speak. After Mass, many people approach his mother, offering condolences and hugs. Ari desperately wants to be anywhere else, especially wishing he could return home to find his father sitting on the front porch waiting. He longs for the day to end. The chapter ends with Ari’s stark realization: Monday will come, then Tuesday—the first day of his final semester of senior year—but he will not go to school. Instead, he will attend his father’s funeral.
Key Events
- Ari attends Mass with his extended family on New Year's Day.
- He feels numb and dead inside, struggling to talk.
- After Mass, the priest speaks to Ari’s mother, and many people hug her.
- Ari wishes to be anywhere but at church; he imagines his father waiting on the porch at home.
- He wants the day to be over.
- The chapter closes with Ari acknowledging that he will skip the start of his senior semester to go to his father’s funeral.
Character Development
Aristotle Mendoza (Ari) is shown in the early, raw stage of grief. His numbness and desire to escape a public setting highlight his internal withdrawal. The contrast between the crowd’s comfort toward his mother and Ari’s isolation underscores his personal struggle. He does not yet articulate his pain; instead he clings to a simple wish—to see his father on the porch—revealing a deep longing for normalcy and his father’s presence.
Ari’s mother is visibly supported by the community, but the narrative stays tightly focused on Ari’s perspective, leaving her emotional state mostly implied.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Grief and Numbness: Ari’s description of feeling “dead” inside captures the emotional paralysis that often accompanies sudden loss.
- Ritual and Community: The Mass and the crowd’s hugs represent traditional ways of processing death, yet Ari feels disconnected from these rituals.
- The Porch: The image of his father waiting on the front porch symbolizes safety, home, and a world that has now been irrevocably altered.
- Time and Transition: The end of the holiday season and the start of a new semester contrast with the halt in Ari’s life—school will continue, but he will not participate.
Why This Chapter Matters
This short chapter marks a turning point in the novel. It is the first chapter set entirely inside Ari’s grief after his father’s death. The spare, restrained prose mirrors Ari’s numbness. By stating plainly that he will attend a funeral instead of the first day of his final semester, Sáenz signals a permanent shift in Ari’s trajectory—both his senior year and his personal journey will be defined by this loss.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does Sáenz convey Ari’s emotional state without direct explanation?
The author uses physical details: Ari feels numb, struggles to talk, and wishes only for the day to end. His desire to be “anywhere but there” and his fantasy of finding his father on the porch communicate his grief through action and setting rather than introspection. -
What role does the community play in this chapter?
The community—through the priest, the hugging neighbors, the many people who know his mother—provides a backdrop of traditional support. Yet Ari remains isolated from them, emphasizing how grief can feel solitary even when surrounded by others. -
Why does Ari focus on the idea of going home to find his father on the porch?
The porch represents a stable, unchanged home life. By longing for that image, Ari is trying to deny the reality of his father’s death, clinging to a moment of normalcy that has already been lost.