نقد و بررسی داستان Holes نوشته ی Louis Sachar

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KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS



SETTING



The novel takes place at a boys’ juvenile detention center situated in the dried up bed of a fictional lake in Texas. Most of the story is set in contemporary time, around the end of the 1990’s. There are flashbacks to the town of Green Lake, which existed one hundred ten years earlier before the lake dried up. (Note: There is an actual Green Lake, one of the largest lakes in Texas, southwest of Port Lavaca, but the real town of Green Lake was all but abandoned after the Civil War.) There are also flashbacks to a village in Latvia in the mid-1800’s.


CHARACTER LIST



Major Characters



Stanley Yelnats



He is the fifteen-year-old main character, the protagonist of the novel. His family has a history of bad luck, and accordingly, Stanley is wrongfully convicted of stealing, and is sent to the detention center, Camp Green Lake. He arrives there an overweight boy with low self-esteem, but after befriending Zero and surviving the ordeals in and around Camp Green Lake, he leaves with tremendous physical and emotional strength.




Zero (Hector Zeroni)



He is a quiet, strong willed boy who is at the detention center with Stanley. He is good at digging. The other campers and the counselors think he is too stupid to do anything else. In reality, Zero is smart and very quick with numbers, but he is uneducated due to homelessness. Stanley teaches Zero to read and the two boys become best friends. It is this friendship that enables them to survive.


Minor Characters



Mr. Sir



He is the mean, antagonistic counselor at Camp Green Lake. He is cruel and sarcastic, always reminding the boys that they are not at a “Girl Scout Camp.”


Mr. Pendanski



He seems the nicer of the counselors at first, but he turns out to be mean spirited. He regularly taunts and berates Zero, and jokes that the holes could be graves for Stanley and Zero.


The Warden



She is the embodiment of cruel authority. She runs Camp Green Lake with rewards and threats, showing no concern for the suffering of others. She is the granddaughter of Charles and Linda Walker, and though she says the boys are digging to “build character”, they are really digging for the treasure that her ancestors never found.


X-Ray, Squid, Magnet, Armpit, Zigzag



These are the other boys at the camp. They have established an arbitrary hierarchy for the boys in Group D, with X-Ray at the top, and Zero at the bottom. Like the Warden, they use rewards and threats as their system of control.


Elya Yelnats



He is Stanley’s “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather”. The story flashes back to his village in Latvia where, at the age of fifteen, Elya accidentally breaks a promise to the gypsy, Madame Zeroni. This brings bad luck to the Yelnats family for generations to come.


Madame Zeroni



She is the one-footed gypsy who gave Elya Yelnats a pig with which to win the hand of his love. When Elya broke his promise to carry her up the mountain to drink where the “water runs uphill”, Madame Zeroni cursed the Yelnats family. The curse is broken because of the friendship between Stanley and Madame Zeroni’s descendant, Hector Zeroni (Zero).


Katherine Barlow



She was the schoolteacher in the town of Green Lake one hundred ten years ago. She was a kind woman, famous for her spiced peaches. She kissed Sam, a black man, causing the townspeople to burn down the school and murder her love. She then became the outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow, who robbed Stanley’s great-grandfather. Her preserved peaches lasted until Zero found them under the remains of Sam’s boat.


Sam, the onion man



He grew and sold onions and medicines made from onions in the town of Green Lake. He repaired the schoolhouse for Katherine, who fell in love with this kind, strong man. However, since he was black, it was against the law for him to be with Katherine. When they kissed it caused a riot in the town and he was murdered. His onions were still growing one hundred ten years later on the far side of the lake, where Stanley and Zero would find them.


Charles “Trout” Walker



He was an arrogant, stupid man in Green Lake who thought he could have anything because of his money. He could not have Katherine Barlow and this angered him. He led the riot into the schoolhouse and murdered Sam.


Stanley Yelnats I



He was Elya Yelnats’ son, Stanley’s great-grandfather. After being robbed in the desert by Kissin’ Kate Barlow, he climbed “God’s thumb” and survived there until his rescue.
منبع
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CONFLICT


Protagonist

The protagonist is Stanley, around whose ordeals the story centers. Holes is about how he overcomes his problems, both those created inside of him and the ones imposed upon him at Camp Green Lake. He grows stronger, physically and emotionally, and emerges a happy, confident young man.

Antagonist

The antagonist is not an individual person, but the severe conditions and people at Camp Green Lake. Stanley struggles at first to survive then eventually to prevail over the injustice there. Ultimately, he fulfills his destiny and breaks the family curse through his friendship with Zero and their experiences together at Camp Green Lake.

Climax

When the other boys see that Zero is digging part of Stanley’s holes the stress level increases. The resulting fight causes Zero to run away and forces Stanley to take a stand. The climax occurs when Stanley attempts to steal the water truck and ends up running away to find Zero.

Outcome

Stanley finds Zero and their friendship is proven as they survive together on “God’s thumb”. They return to Camp Green Lake intent on finding Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s treasure and escaping. There the friendship endures one last test as Stanley refuses to leave Camp Green Lake without Zero.


SHORT PLOT/CHAPTER SUMMARY (Synopsis)

Camp Green Lake is a boys’ juvenile detention center in Texas. There is no lake there. The boys spend each day digging five-foot holes in the dried up lakebed. Stanley Yelnats, a boy who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, is sent there for stealing a pair of used sneakers that had belonged to a famous baseball player. The sneakers had actually fallen from an overpass and landed on top of Stanley’s head. Stanley believes his bad luck is because of a curse placed on his family after his great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats, stole a pig from a gypsy, Madame Zeroni.
When Elya Yelnats was fifteen he was in love with an empty headed girl. Madame Zeroni gave Elya a piglet to raise so that he could win the girl’s hand by gifting her father with a fatted pig. In return, Elya promised to carry Madame Zeroni up a mountain to drink “where the water runs uphill”. When the girl chooses not to marry Elya, he is so distraught that he catches a boat to America, forgetting his promise to Madame Zeroni. The Yelnats family has had bad luck ever since.
At Camp Green Lake Stanley is given the nickname “Caveman”, indicating that for the first time in his life, Stanley has some acceptance from a peer group. He grows stronger and tougher as he battles the harsh conditions at the camp, digging in the desert heat. He befriends a boy called Zero by agreeing to teach him how to read in exchange for help digging. This upsets the other boys and causes a fight. In the aftermath, Zero hits a counselor with a shovel and runs away into the desert. It is presumed that Zero will die out there and no one will care. His records are destroyed.
Deciding to help his friend, Stanley attempts to steal a water truck and go out after Zero. He drives the truck into a hole, gets out of the truck and runs away. He heads out across the desert toward a rock formation that looks like “God’s thumb,” the place where his grandfather, the first Stanley Yelnats, survived after being robbed by Kissin’ Kate Barlow.
One hundred ten years before, Green Lake was a beautiful place where Katherine Barlow taught school. She fell in love with Sam, the onion man, who sold onions as food and medicine in the town. Sam fixed up the schoolhouse for Katherine in exchange for jars of her famous spiced peaches. Because Sam was black and Katherine was white, when they were seen kissing, the townspeople were outraged. A stupid, arrogant man, Trout Walker, lead a riot and burned down the schoolhouse, then killed Sam. Grief stricken, Katherine became the outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow. On the day Sam was killed, rain stopped falling on Green Lake forever. Years later, Trout Walker and his wife tried to force Kate to tell them where in the dried up lakebed she had buried her treasure. Kate refused and died from being bitten by the fatal yellow-spotted lizard before any treasure was found.
The Warden at Camp Green Lake is a descendant of Trout Walker. She tells people that the boys there dig holes to build character. In reality, she is continuing the search for Kate Barlow’s treasure. While digging one of his holes, Stanley finds a gold lipstick tube with the initials K.B. engraved on it, but he gives it to another boy to turn in to the Warden. The Warden has the boys dig frantically in the area where she believes the lipstick tube was buried. Only Stanley knows where it was really found.
Stanley continues to walk across the lakebed and finds Zero under the remains of a boat. Zero survives by eating the remains of preserved peaches that had sunk with the boat. Stanley convinces Zero to head toward “God’s thumb” with him. Zero is weak and sick. They make it to the mountain, but Zero is too weak to climb so Stanley carries him up. They find wild onions and water that seems to have run uphill at the top of the rock formation.
After a few days the boys have regained their strength and decide to go back to the camp to try and dig up Kate Barlow’s treasure. Under cover of night, the boys return to the hole where Stanley had found the lipstick tube. Stanley digs and unearths a suitcase, just as the Warden arrives. In the light of flashlights, the boys see that they are covered with yellow-spotted lizards. They stay completely still until the sun rises and the lizards go down into the shade, off of the boys.
By then the State Attorney General and a lawyer hired by Stanley’s father arrive. The Warden tries to claim the suitcase as her own, but Zero, using his newly acquired reading skills, deciphers the name Stanley Yelnats on the side if the suitcase. The Attorney General and the lawyer take Stanley away. Stanley refuses to leave without Zero. There are no longer any records to keep him there, so Zero is released with Stanley.
It turns out that Zero’s real name is Hector Zeroni. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni, the gypsy that had cursed Stanley’s great-great-grandfather. By carrying Zero up the mountain, Stanley had broken the curse.
 

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THEMES

The predominant theme is how fate and history impact everyday life. From the moment “destiny’s shoes” land on Stanley we are shown that situations and events have been falling into place for over one hundred years, ultimately putting Stanley in the right place at the right time. Another strong theme is the value of friendship. The system of threats and rewards at Camp Green Lake accomplishes nothing, but the bond between Stanley and Zero earns them freedom and fortune. The third theme evokes compassion for victims of social injustice who have been misjudged. Characters who are at first presented as bad people seem not so bad once the reader knows their stories.

MOOD

There is a mood of hardship and confusion in Holes. The characters are often struggling with issues of which they do not have full knowledge. Stanley does not know where the sneakers came from or what will happen to him at Camp Green Lake, but he must endure that miscarriage of justice. Zero submits to taunting and cruelty from people who do not know how smart he is or why he is so quiet. Elya Yelnats does not realize how empty headed the girl he fell for is and it devastates him. Katherine Barlow does not know how severely the townspeople will react to the kiss, but the results are disastrous. In each instance, the way other people behave is a source of bewilderment and then suffering. The shifting of time frames used by the author intensifies this mood, as the reader always has more information than the characters.


AUTHOR INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY

Louis Sachar was born on March 20, 1954 in East Meadow, New York. When he was nine years old he moved to Tustin, California. He stayed in California and attended the University of California at Berkeley. While he was in college he helped out at Hillside Elementary School, which inspired his first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School. The book was approved for publication the week he started law at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He graduated law school in 1980 and became a lawyer part time as he continued writing children’s books. He got married in 1985 and now has a daughter. He lives with his family in Austin, Texas.
Sachar bases some of the characters in his stories on his own life and relationships. The character of the teacher in his first book was based on himself and his experiences at Hillside School. The counselor in There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom was inspired by his wife. The four-year-old little sister in the Marvin Redpost series was based on Sachar’s daughter, Sherre. In order to maintain his motivation when he is writing, Sachar allows only his dogs, no people, into his office until he finishes a book.
It took a year and a half to write Holes (published in 1998). It is Sachar’s most successful book. It has won the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, as well as being listed as a New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of the Year, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year. In addition it has been made into a motion picture.
Other books by Louis Sachar are:
Someday, Angeline
Johnny’s in the Basement
Sixth Grade Secrets
There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom
Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes
The Boy Who Lost His Face
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger
Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School
More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School
Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me?
Marvin Redpost: Alone in His Teacher’s House
Marvin Redpost: Kidnapped at Birth?
Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?


 

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CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH NOTES / ANALYSIS

Part One - You Are Entering Camp Green Lake

CHAPTER 1

Summary

The scene of the ominous Camp Green Lake is set. It is a desert, not a lake at all. There is no shade except over the Warden’s hammock. “The Warden owns the shade.” There are rattlesnakes and scorpions that occupy holes dugs by the campers. But most disturbing are the deadly yellow-spotted lizards. If one bites you, “There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.”

Notes

“There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.” The opening sentence of the story immediately sets a dark mood, and then the hazards of nature are described. With this first irony of the novel, the reader senses that Camp Green Lake is indeed a dismal place. In two short pages the anxiety builds to hopelessness and the reader wonders why anyone would go to Camp Green Lake.

CHAPTER 2

Summary

The reason “campers” go to Camp Green Lake is made clear. It is a detention center for boys. As punishment each boy must dig a hole every day in the desert heat. Supposedly their labor will turn a “bad boy” into a “good boy.” Stanley Yelnats, a fifteen-year-old boy from a poor family, chose Camp Green Lake over going to jail. He thought it would be like a summer camp, something he had never before had the opportunity to experience.

Notes

The protagonist, Stanley Yelnats, is introduced in this brief (9 sentences) chapter and the reader is let in on the second bit of irony: Camp Green Lake is not a camp. Though concise, this chapter introduces the pacing method the author uses throughout the novel. He gives the reader partial answers or small hints each step of the way, but at the same time plants new questions in the reader’s mind.

CHAPTER 3

Summary

Stanley rides the unairconditioned bus to Camp Green Lake handcuffed to the armrest. The bus driver and a guard with a rifle are the only other people on the bus. Stanley tries to pretend that he is going to Camp Fun and Games, a place he had imagined while playing with his stuffed animals when he was younger.
At home Stanley had been friendless and ridiculed, even by his teachers who unwittingly could embarrass him about his weight - like the time when Mrs. Bell’s lesson on ratios found Stanley three times heavier than another boy.
Stanley is a good kid and is actually innocent of the crime for which he is being sent to Camp Green Lake. As is the joke in his family, Stanley blames his misfortune on his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. His great - great-grandfather had reportedly stolen a pig from a one-legged gypsy and brought a curse down upon the family forever.
As Stanley remembers his family, he remembers a song his father had sung to him:
“If only, if only,” the woodpecker sighs, “The bark on the tree was just a little bit softer.” While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,
He cries to the moo-oo-oon,
“If only, if only.”
Stanley’s father was Stanley Yelnats III, making the Stanley in the novel Stanley Yelnats IV. The family liked the palindromic effect of naming their only sons Stanley. Stanley’s father was an unsuccessful inventor, looking for a use for old sneakers. Stanley’s great-grandfather, Stanley Yelnats I, made money in the stock market, but was robbed of everything and left stranded in the desert by the outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow. Unfortunately all of the Stanleys to date had bad luck, though they always remained hopeful.
Upon arriving at Camp Green Lake, Stanley notes, “hardly anything was green.”

Notes

Here we learn that Stanley is not popular, was wrongfully convicted, and seems to be following the pattern of bad luck set by the Stanley Yelnatses before him. Three stories within the main story are introduced, each seeming to echo the failure and wishful thinking of Stanley’s father’s song. Just enough information is given for the reader to wonder how Stanley’s family history will play into Stanley’s current predicament. At the chapter’s end, the third and last irony of the misnomer, “Camp Green Lake” is observed through Stanley’s eyes.

 

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CHAPTER 4

Summary

The guard leads Stanley out of the bus into an air-conditioned building. There, Stanley meets the tattooed, sunflower seed eating Mr. Sir. The bus driver, the guard and Mr. Sir have sodas. Stanley hopes there will be one for him. No such luck. Mr. Sir is stern and seems fond of pointing out to Stanley that Camp Green Lake is not for Girl Scouts. He explains that Stanley will have two sets of orange clothing, a T-shirt and a jumpsuit that will be laundered, alternately, every three days. Stanley is also given a hat with a cloth flap for neck protection. Mr. Sir describes the routine of having breakfast at 4:30 a.m., then going into the desert to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet across, every day. He laughingly points out to Stanley that there are no guard towers or fences, only the fatal heat of the desert to prevent escape. Then, mockingly, Mr. Sir tells Stanley to get used to being thirsty, as that is how it will be for the next eighteen months.

Notes

Stanley’s life will be hard at Camp Green Lake but Stanley is soft, as evidenced by the fact that he actually feels sorry for the guard and the bus driver who have to endure the scorching trip to Camp Green Lake and back. Now Stanley faces the cruel, strict authority of Mr. Sir, and the menacing environment of the desert. In addition to the curse of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather, both man and nature are against Stanley.


CHAPTER 5


Summary

Stanley is assigned to D tent. There he meets Mr. Pendanski, his counselor. Mr. Pendanski is not as threatening as Mr. Sir. He seems to have the good intention of genuinely helping the boys at Camp Green Lake. As the other boys from D tent return, tired and dirty from digging their holes, Mr. Pendanski introduces them to Stanley. The boys like to be called by unseemly nicknames, Armpit, Squid, X-Ray, Magnet, Zigzag and Zero, but Mr. Pendanski refers to them by their real names. That is, all except Zero, who Mr. Pendanski says is a zero and has “nothing inside his head.” The counselor either does not realize how cruel his comment is or else really believes it is true. The boys refer to Mr. Pendanski as “mom.”
Stanley is assigned to a cot formerly occupied by a boy called Barf Bag who Mr. Pendanski explains is in the hospital and will not be returning. As the counselor and the other boys leave the tent, Stanley asks Theodore where to get water. Theodore turns on Stanley threateningly, throws Stanley to the ground and insists on being called Armpit. He tells Stanley that there is a spigot in the shower stall. After Armpit leaves, Stanley thinks that if Armpit is so proud of that name, maybe the nicknames are terms of respect, and it will not be so bad to sleep on a cot that belonged to a Barf Bag.

Notes

The Yelnats hopefulness resurfaces in this chapter as Stanley is given a place that will be his home for the next year and a half. Mr. Pendanski is a sharp contrast to the stern Mr. Sir and seems to deserve his nickname, “mom.” However, his comment about Zero tells us that Mr. Pendanski has the potential to be mean spirited.



CHAPTER 6

Summary


Stanley takes the Camp Green Lake version of a shower - four minutes of cold water with an automatic shut off. He eats brown food for dinner - some kind of meat and vegetables. He tells the other boys that he was arrested for stealing Clyde Livingston’s sneakers. The boys do not believe him. Clyde Livingston is a famous baseball player. He testified in court that the stolen sneakers had been his and he had donated them for an auction to raise money for the homeless shelter where he once lived. Stanley felt bad that his sports hero thought him a thief.
What had actually happened was that Stanley had missed the bus home from school because a boy named Derrick Dunne, who was smaller than Stanley, had taken Stanley’s notebook and dropped it in the toilet in the boy’s bathroom. So Stanley had to walk home. On his way home, the sneakers fell from the sky and hit Stanley o the head. They had really fallen from an overpass, but Stanley did not realize that, nor did he know the sneakers belonged to Clyde Livingston. Stanley just knew the sneakers smelled horribly and that they represented his destiny. It had to be more than a coincidence that his father was working with old sneakers and a pair of old sneakers fell on Stanley. He was arrested quickly but his trial did not come for several months because of baseball season. Stanley told the truth in court but, of course, no one believed that sneakers could fall from the sky. Stanley no longer believed the sneakers were “destiny’s shoes.” He was just cursed by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.

Notes

The ironic tone of the novel is exemplified by the false impressions people have of Stanley. The staff at Camp Green Lake does not believe Stanley is innocent. The boys of D tent do not believe he was arrested for stealing Clyde Livingston’s shoes. His teachers do not believe that Derrick, being smaller than Stanley, could bully Stanley. The judge did not believe the sneakers fell on Stanley’s head. Thus Stanley finds himself in his present situation feeling the brunt of the family curse.
 

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OVERALL ANALYSES

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Stanley Yelnats

Stanley, the protagonist of the novel, is a friendless, self-conscious, overweight fifteen-year-old. He has constant bad luck that he blames on a curse that was brought upon the family by his great-great-grandfather. Stanley is wrongfully accused of stealing a pair of sneakers and is sent to a juvenile detention center that borders on the barbaric. While he is there he loses weight and develops physical strength by digging the required holes, five feet deep and five feet across, daily. He is given the nickname “Caveman” by the other inmates and for the first time in his life feels somewhat accepted by his peers. However, Stanley does not lose sight of the fact that the other boys have the potential for violence and does his best to stay on the good side of X-Ray, their leader.
At first Stanley bends to the cruelty around him and develops an emotional hardness, but then he befriends Zero, the least popular boy at Camp Green Lake, and finds an emotional strength that surpasses even his physical development. Soon he no longer concerns himself with the opinions of the other boys. He is even able to stand up to the authorities when he feels wronged. The power of his friendship with Zero helps Stanley discover his own courage, happiness and self-confidence. By the time he is released, Stanley has a new sense of himself and is no longer subject to the family curse.

Zero

Zero is a quiet, dark-skinned boy with a wide-mouthed smile. He was homeless before being sent to Camp Green Lake. The counselors and other inmates there feel that Zero is stupid and worthless and treat him cruelly. In reality, Zero is extremely smart, but uneducated. He and Stanley become friends when Stanley agrees to teach Zero how to read. As Zero describes the hard life he has had to his new friend, his amazing willpower and strength of character are revealed. (It is Zero who actually committed the theft for which Stanley was convicted, not because he is dishonest, but because he needed shoes.) The ridicule Zero bears at Camp Green Lake eventually becomes too much and Zero runs away. Stanley goes after him and they survive the desert together, cementing their friendship. The reader learns that Zero is the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni, the gypsy that cursed Stanley’s great-great-grandfather, and it is through the boys’ friendship that curse is undone.

PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

The present day parts of the story are narrated like an adventure. The historic parts are narrated like a folk take. However when the parts come together, Holes turns into a puzzle, or mystery book. The reader is never quite given all of the details needed to solve the puzzle until the very end. Small pieces of Stanley’s family history and the history of Green Lake are revealed bit by bit. The reader must keep careful track of the details of Stanley’s trial, Elya Yelnats’ story and the powers of Sam’s onions. This pacing method allows the reader to make inferences but does not confirm positive connections. For example, when the reader begins to suspect a link between Zero and Madame Zeroni or a link between the Warden and Trout Walker, the real names of the characters are not yet revealed so the ties between past and present are not yet proven.
As the narrative shifts from present to distant past, back to present, then to recent past, etc. a linear story line cannot be maintained. Current events are described in chronological order, but do not necessarily correspond to the historic events described at the same time. Therefore, the tempo of the plot movement is slower for the first half of the novel. Then, as the pieces of history start to fall into place and the reader can see the relationship between past and present more clearly, the tempo speeds up. It is at these points that the narration changes to address the reader directly with instructions such as, “You make the decision: Whom did God punish?” and, “You will have to fill in the holes yourself.”


The irony and dark humor of the stories within the story finally come together making the point that although fate seemed always to be against Stanley, his convoluted history proves otherwise.

THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS

Impact of Fate and History on Everyday Life

The events of the past one hundred fifty years have been setting the stage for a Yelnats and a Zeroni to be together again. Each time a Yelnats seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, a fateful turn of events makes it the right place at the right time. Though certain events may seem like mere coincidence, there are far too many “coincidences” in Holes to discount the hand of fate. If Stanley had not fallen into the mud on “God’s thumb” would he have found Sam’s onions (which cured Zero’s stomach and saved the boys from the yellow-spotted lizards)? If Kate Barlow had not robbed Stanley’s great-grandfather, would Camp Green Lake even exist? If Derrick Dunne had not taken Stanley’s notebook would the sneakers have landed on Stanley? If Stanley had been assigned to a different group at Camp Green Lake would he have met Zero? This combination of events is so unlikely that the only conclusion is that history has been manipulated by fate, to bring Stanley and Zero together where the water runs uphill, so a Yelnats could keep an age-old promise to a Zeroni.

Friendship

The value of loyal friendships is illustrated repeatedly in Holes. When Elya Yelnats betrays his friendship with Madame Zeroni, the trouble starts for the Yelnats family. When Stanley and Zero’s friendship leads to their mutual survival, the curse is broken. X-Ray’s brand of friendship, the false kind based on rewards and threats, earns alienation from Group D at the end of the story. Only true friendship, like the unselfish bond between Stanley and Zero, can earn freedom and fortune - not just physical freedom and material wealth, but emotional freedom, happiness, and self-satisfaction.

Compassion for Victims of Social Injustice/Misjudgment

Often in Holes, characters who are introduced with negative connotations evoke sympathy once the reader learns their stories. Stanley’s no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather was actually a sincere man who was treated insensitively, and inadvertently broke a promise. He was not a thief. Kissin’ Kate Barlow, first introduced as a murderous outlaw, was a sweet, loving schoolteacher whose life was destroyed by the cruelty and violence of the townspeople. Though she becomes a criminal, the reader is sympathetic to her pain. Even Stanley and Zero are at first introduced as bad boys who have been sent to a detention center, but once again the false first impression that gains them society’s punishment, earns them compassion from the reader who knows the truth. Many social stereotypes that lead to injustice, for example that the inability to read signifies stupidity, or that if you tell the truth you will be treated fairly, are challenged once the victims’ stories are revealed.

POINT OF VIEW

Stanley’s story is told by an omniscient narrator that is able to move back and forth between the events at Camp Green Lake, the story of Elya Yelnats in Latvia, and the stories of pre-drought Green Lake. The combination of stories creates the feeling that fate is at work, molding Stanley’s destiny. The historic scenes are narrated like fables. The modern day scenes are narrated in light of Stanley’s thoughts and actions. The narrator seems to know more than he shares with the reader and uses irony and dark humor to make his point, occasionally addressing the reader directly to make the reader form inferences before the facts are completely clear.
 

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OTHER ELEMENTS

Significance of Names

Names have significance in Holes, the title itself describing many features of the novel. The boys dig holes at Camp Green Lake, there is a hole in Stanley’s life before Camp Green Lake, and there are holes in the story that the reader must fill in as the plot develops.
In addition, the dual character names denote two sides of each character’s image. Stanley’s “no-good-dirty-rotten-pigstealing-great-great-grandfather” is called simply Stanley’s “great-great-grandfather” after it is explained that he is not really a thief. The sweet-sounding name “Miss Katherine” changes to the dangerous-sounding “Kissin’ Kate Barlow” when her lifestyle changes from schoolteacher to outlaw. All of the boys in Group D have real names that “society will recognize them by” and their bad boy nicknames that they insist on being called at Camp Green Lake. The narrator uses nicknames for the other boys, however, continues to refer to Stanley as “Stanley” rather than “Caveman,” and that sets Stanley apart from the other boys. The view of each character that the narrator intends to present is reflected in the characters’ names.

IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS - QUOTES

[Page numbers are from the hardcover edition, eighth printing 1999.]
1) “There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.” (p. 3)
This is the opening line of the novel. It immediately sets a mood of hardship and confusion and starts right in with the irony that permeates the novel.
2 ) “If only, if only,” the woodpecker sighs,
“The bark on the tree was just a little bit softer.”
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,
He cries to the moo-oo-oon, “If only, if only.”
(p. 8)
This is Stanley’s father’s song, one of three versions of the pig lullaby Madame Zeroni taught Elya Yelnats. The wishful thinking, defeated attitude of the song is fitting for a family that has experienced hardship and bad luck - especially for a family that believes they have been cursed.
3) “Nearly everything in the room was broken; the TV, the pinball machine, the furniture. Even the people looked broken, with their worn out bodies sprawled over the various chairs and sofas.” (p.43)
This is Stanley’s view of the “wreck room” at Camp Green Lake. It is the one place the boys are allowed to relax somewhat and they have trashed it. The inhumanity of the camp has possessed the boys. Stanley sees this room as a reminder that the boys have the capacity for violence, and he does not want to cross them.

4) “He needed to save his energy for the people who counted.” (p.82)
After turning down Zero’s first request that Stanley teach him how to read, Stanley tries to justify his decision. This quote shows that Stanley has begun to buy in to the negative opinion of Zero that the others at Camp Green Lake express. His heart is hardening. However, he will later reconsider and become friends with Zero.
5) “He’s not going to die,” the Warden said, “Unfortunately for you.” (p.91)
The Warden threatens Stanley with the prospect that Mr. Sir will take revenge against Stanley, since Stanley is the one who put Mr. Sir into a position to be scratched with the Warden’s rattlesnake fingernails. Stanley has learned, contrary to what Mr. Sir told him upon arriving at Camp Green Lake, that the people could be more dangerous than the desert.
6) “You make the decision: Whom did God punish?” (p. 115)
Here the narrator addresses the reader directly. He poses a question to make the point that fate does not necessarily do what people say, but what destiny dictates. The drought did not hurt Katherine Barlow, rather nature turned against the townspeople of Green Lake because of their racism and violence.
7) “If I had just kept those old smelly sneakers, then neither of us would be here right now.” (p. 184)
Zero, thinking that he is the cause of the boys’ predicament on “God’s thumb,” laments that it could all have been avoided if he didn’t take off Clyde Livingston’s sneakers. However, his statement really sums up the whole theme of fate. The boys were destined to be together on the mountain so that Elya Yelnats’ promise to Madame Zeroni could be fulfilled.
8) “If only, if only, the moon speaks no reply;
Reflecting the sun and all that’s gone by.
Be strong my weary wolf, turn around boldly.
Fly high my baby bird, My angel, my only.”
(P. 233)
The novel ends with Hector Zeroni’s mother singing a more hopeful version of the pig lullaby. Unlike the wishful thinking Yelnats version, the Zeroni version is a mother’s love song encouraging her child to use the past to move boldly into the future.
 

Persia1

مدیر تالار زبان انگلیسی
مدیر تالار
SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS

Onions

Sam’s onions are a symbol of everything good. Significantly, they grow where the “water runs uphill.” Whenever the narrative flashes back to a tale about the onions there is healing and good will. In addition to being a positive force in the past, the onions become key to Stanley and Zero’s survival in the present. They provide sustenance, cure Zero’s food poisoning, and keep Stanley and Zero alive among the yellow-spotted lizards until the lawyer and the Attorney General arrive to free them.

Holes

The holes symbolize the negative aspects of Camp Green Lake. They are referred to as graves several times in the novel. In the holes lurk rattlesnakes, scorpions and deadly yellow-spotted lizards. The boys who dig them resent the holes as the emblem of their punishment, and spit in them. Stanley finds that the holes lead right up to the Warden’s cabin. A hole is Stanley’s undoing when he tries to take the water truck to rescue Zero. Metaphorically, all the holes must be filled in for the story to resolve itself into a happy ending.

Landscape

A motif, or idea that recurs throughout Holes, is how the landscape affects the characters at Camp Green Lake. The longer the characters are out on the lakebed, the more prone to violence they become. After prolonged digging in the unrelenting heat, the Warden jabs Armpit with a pitchfork and Zigzag strikes Stanley with a shovel (see Ch. 17). The tough, harsh surroundings become a metaphor for the personality traits of the characters. Conversely, when Stanley is away from the desert, in the cool, green shadow of “God’s thumb,” he is relaxed and happy. The relative abundance on the mountain nurtures the generosity of spirit that Stanley and Zero share.

IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY
Title/Author - Holes by Louis Sachar
Setting - Camp Green Lake juvenile detention center in Texas in the late 1990’s; with flashbacks to Green Lake one hundred years ago and to Latvia in the mid-1800’s
Major Characters - Stanley Yelnats and Hector “Zero” Zeroni, two inmates at Camp Green Lake
Conflict - Stanley struggles to survive and eventually prevail over the severe people and conditions at Camp Green Lake, and in the process breaks the family curse.
Themes - the impact of fate and history on everyday life; the power of friendship; compassion for victims of social injustice
Mood - hardship and confusion
Point of View - omniscient narrator
Symbolism - Onions symbolize good things; holes symbolize negatives
Motif - The landscape acts as a metaphor for the personality traits of the characters.
Names - The desired perception of the characters is achieved by having dual names.
 

Persia1

مدیر تالار زبان انگلیسی
مدیر تالار
STUDY QUESTIONS - MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ
1. On what did Stanley’s family blame their bad luck?
A. laziness
B. a curse
C. poverty
2. How did Stanley’s great-grandfather lose his fortune?
A. gambling
B. he was robbed
C. in the stock market
3. Why did Elya Yelnats go to America?
A. to find fortune
B. to visit relatives
C. to escape heartbreak
4. What was the first “interesting” item Stanley found?
A. a fossil
B. a gold tube
C. sunflower seeds
5. What did Stanley give to X-Ray?
A. a shovel
B. sunflower seeds
C. a gold tube
6. Who was the leader of the boys from Group D?
A. Stanley
B. X-Ray
C. Armpit
7. Who stole Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds?
A. Magnet
B. X-Ray
C. Squid

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8. Which word best describes how Mr. Pendanski treats Zero?
A. compassion
B. indifference
C. ridicule
9. Who punished Stanley by depriving him of water?
A. Mr. Sir
B. Mr. Pendanski
C. the Warden
10. Who was not allowed to attend classes at the schoolhouse in Green Lake?
A. Kate Barlow
B. Trout Walker
C. Sam
11. Why did the people of Green Lake turn against Sam?
A. He was a murderer.
B. He was black.
C. He smelled of onions.
12. According to the story, who punished the people of Green Lake?
A. Trout Walker
B. Kate Barlow
C. God
13. Where did Stanley and Zero head after their escape from Camp Green Lake?
A. Devil’s Peak
B. God’s thumb
C. Cold Mountain
14. What did Stanley and Zero find on the mountain?
A. peaches
B. onions
C. treasure
15. What did Camp Green Lake ultimately become?
A. a lake
B. a resort
C. a Girl Scout Camp
ANSWER KEY
1.) b
2.) b
3.) c
4.) a
5.) c
6.) b
7.) a
8.) c
9.) a
10.) c
11.) b
12.) c
13.) b
14.) b
15.) c
 
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