Chapter summaries Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Chapter 106: Chapter Thirty-Eight Summary and Analysis

⚠️ 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

Chapter 106 (Chapter Thirty-Eight) recounts the funeral of Ari’s father, Jaime Mendoza. Ari wears his father’s dog tags attached to a cross given by Gina and Susie. He reflects on the small skills his father taught him—shaving, tying a tie, tying shoelaces—and feels surrounded by his presence. During the funeral Mass, Ari delivers a eulogy that draws heavily from his father’s journals. He reveals a man who worked to eliminate his own racism, questioned America’s habit of inventing false narratives about others, and sought humility. Ari shares the story of his father traveling to Los Angeles to deliver a dying soldier’s message, and of their trip to the Vietnam Memorial where his father traced the names of fallen comrades. He concludes the eulogy by declaring, “I am my father’s son.” The congregation rises in a standing ovation, applauding not Ari but the man they have come to honor.

Key Events

  • Ari attaches his father’s dog tags to the cross Gina and Susie gave him.
  • He remembers his father teaching him everyday tasks like shaving and tying a tie.
  • The funeral procession moves with pallbearers, including Sam Quintana and Susie’s father.
  • Ari becomes distracted during Mass and feels anxious about the eulogy.
  • After communion, Ari approaches the pulpit and freezes, but recovers by thinking of his father.
  • Ari reads a eulogy that includes extensive passages from his father’s journals.
  • He describes his father’s transformation from a silent, war-wounded man to someone who actively fought his own prejudices.
  • Ari recounts the story of his father delivering a dying soldier’s final message to his parents in Los Angeles.
  • He shares the memory of visiting the Vietnam Memorial and seeing his father cry as he traced names.
  • Ari finishes the eulogy and receives a standing ovation from the entire congregation.
  • Ari acknowledges that the applause is for his father, not for himself.

Character Development

  • Ari Mendoza demonstrates profound maturity and emotional honesty, able to articulate a complex portrait of his father that moves beyond the silent figure of his childhood. By weaving his father’s own words into the eulogy, Ari shows he has truly come to know the man behind the silence.
  • Jaime Mendoza is revealed posthumously as a thoughtful, humble, and self-aware individual who worked tirelessly to unlearn racism and to value every human life. His journals show a man who honestly examined his own faults and yearned for peace—both within himself and with his son.
  • Ari’s mother and sisters are shown supporting Ari, with his mother’s pride evident as she joins the standing ovation.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Invention vs. Truth: A central theme is the danger of “inventing” others—creating fictional narratives about people based on race, nationality, or personal expectations. Ari’s father’s journal entry directly critiques this, and Ari admits he invented his father until they both chose to see each other truly.
  • Humility: Ari’s father sought humility and found it, a quality Ari explicitly honors. The motif of humility contrasts with ego and prejudice.
  • Legacy and Memory: The father’s legacy is carried forward through Ari’s eulogy, the dog tags, and the traced names on the Vietnam Memorial. Memory becomes an active, honorable act.
  • The Cost of War: War is framed not as heroic but as a source of enduring wounds. The funeral and the memorial scene emphasize the human toll behind the statistics.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter serves as the emotional and thematic climax of Ari’s relationship with his father. It resolves the “war” between them that the father’s journal described, and shows Ari fully embracing his father’s influence as he declares himself “my father’s son.” The eulogy synthesizes the novel’s concerns with identity, prejudice, honesty, and the search for peace. It also solidifies the Mendoza family’s capacity for growth and love.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. What does Ari mean when he says he “made up” his father?
    Ari admits that for years he viewed his father through a fictional lens—as a silent, distant, wounded man—without understanding his inner thoughts or struggles. Only by reading his father’s journals did Ari see the real person beneath the silence.

  2. How does the father’s journal entry about “inventing” people connect to the novel’s broader themes?
    The entry critiques how society invents stereotypes about racial and ethnic groups—a process that dehumanizes them. This reflects the novel’s exploration of identity and prejudice, and mirrors the Mendoza family’s own need to “invent” each other rather than see each other clearly.

  3. Why does the congregation stand and applaud after Ari’s eulogy?
    The ovation honors Jaime Mendoza—not Ari’s words alone. The community recognizes the honesty and love in the eulogy, and they celebrate a man who lived with humility, fought his own flaws, and served others with dignity.

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