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Holes by Louis Sachar Explained

Holes Characters

Stanley Yelnats is the protagonist of the novel. He is bullied at school, is overweight and unhappy with himself. His family was supposedly cursed a long time ago, but despite this, Stanley stays positive and has a kind heart. When he arrives to Camp Green Lake the other boys seem to pressure him into being rude and cruel to others, but he resists them and stays true to his beliefs. He is a true friend as he follows Zero into the desert, even knowing there is no water around them there. When he climbs the mountain, dehydrated and exhausted, his persistence and strength show off:

Hector Zeroni, also known as Zero, is a boy Stanley meets at Camp Green Lake. He has even more trouble fitting in than Stanley. Other boys have no respect for him, counselors call him “stupid”, and nobody wants to be his friend. Regardless, he is an excellent digger, is always quiet and does his job very well. He is good at math, but he does not know how to read. He feels guilty for stealing Clyde Livingston’s shoes—the ones that resulted in Stanley’s false conviction. He feels ashamed, but he cannot confess to Stanley that he was the reason Stanley was brought here. Instead, Zero tries to do nice things for him, like digging his hole when Stanley gets taken to the Warden. Zero’s patience for Camp Green Lake eventually runs out and he puts up a fight before running away:

This episode shows that Zero, even though he is small and quiet, can stand up for himself, protect his interests and punish the people who constantly belittle him. Hitting a counselor in the face with a shovel also requires a lot of grit, which he has plenty of.

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Madame Zeroni was the friend of Elya Yelnats who gifted him a piglet to help him win the heaviest pig contest. She was a Gypsy (in reality just Egyptian) and was known to hold special knowledge and have powers. She was compassionate with Elya’s problems but she tried to stay realistic. In a little harsh yet honest way, in speaking about Myra, she told him:

She understood that Elya loved Myra very much, but she wanted to show him that she was not the right person for him. Madame Zeroni was a wise and practical woman.

In return for Madame Zeroni’s help, she asked him to carry her up the mountain—because she had only one leg and wanted him to sing a song to her. When Elya failed to do so, she cursed his whole family for eternity. In the book she seems like a strong and intelligent woman, even if her advice and requests might sound ridiculous. She was righteous and wanted people to keep their promises. Her curse seems cruel, but fair.

The Warden is the most important decision-maker at Camp Green Lake. She is a tall red-haired woman who wears cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. She seems extremely cruel and cold-hearted. She does not care for boys, their well-being, or the inhumane conditions they work in. The only thing she is interested in is the treasure that was hidden at Camp Green Lake. When Stanley and Zero discover the treasure, she gets ready to sacrifice their lives just to get her hands on the suitcase

This quote helps readers realize that the meaning of her whole life was to dig and look for treasure. It is sad, and the readers end up feeling sorry for her and how miserable she is.

Mr. Sir is a manager at Camp Green Lake. He is rude, and has a very bad outlook of all the boys coming to the camp. When he has an incident with Stanley, he takes him to the Warden, who scratches Mr. Sir with snake-venom nail polish. His face becomes red and swollen. The Warden did it to let Mr. Sir know that he is the one who should control the boys and he should not bother her with such problems. Instead of making sense out of the situation, he gets extremely angry with Stanley and does not give him any water for three straight days at the digging site. His actions are inhumane and ridiculous. If anything, he behaves even more childish than the teenage boys he supervises. His favorite phrase to say is; “this isn’t a Girl Scout camp”— which conveys a lot about his character. He is strict and he lets everybody know how tough it is to be in Camp Green Lake under his supervision.

Miss Katherine/Kissin’ Kate Barlow was a schoolteacher who resided at the town of Green Lake. At first, she is a very sweet and kind young girl:

Holes Summary

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Meet Stanley Yelnats

The story starts off with a chubby shy teenager, Stanley Yelnats IV, being sent to Camp Green Lake. He was accused of stealing a pair of sneakers that belong to Charles Livingston—a famous baseball player. Stanley tells the court that he didn’t steal the shoes, rather they fell on him from the sky, but nobody believes him. They give him a choice: jail or Camp Green Lake. Stanley, who has never been to a camp before, does not hesitate a second and is excited to go.

When Stanley arrives, he encounters a great disappointment. Camp Green Lake is not really a camp in a traditional sense; it is more of a work camp where boys his age are forced to dig holes all day long. If someone finds something that might be of interest to the Warden, they can rest for the rest of the day. Although, nobody is certain what exactly the purpose of digging is and what they are looking for. They have counselors watching over them and bringing water to the digging site. Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski warn Stanley that there is nowhere to run as there is not a drop of water for the 100 miles around them. Also, they tell him about the yellow-spotted lizards — dangerous creatures that can bite a person to death, and, get ready, the holes are full of them. Maybe jail, after all, was a better option.

Elya Yelnats and His Pig

As Stanley starts digging his hole, which is extremely difficult for him considering his heavy weight, the author jumps back in time to talk about Stanley’s great-great-grandfather, Elya.

The events take place in Latvia. A young fellow then, Elya Yelnats falls in love with a local beauty, Myra Menke. Her father wants her to marry a pig farmer, Igor, who claims to have the heaviest pig. Elya is desperate because he dearly loves Myra and wants to marry her himself. He seeks for help from his friend, Madame Zeroni. She gives Elya a little pig and tells him that he has to carry the pig up the mountain every day. There, the pig will drink from a stream while Elya sings to it. This will help his pig become big and fat, just like Myra’s father wants. Elya is tremendously happy and grateful with her advice. In return, Madame Zeroni asks him to carry her up that same mountain and sing to her. Despite the weird conditions, Elya accepts them, grabs the pig, and diligently cares for it. Although when the day comes to weigh contestants’ pigs, Elya realizes that Myra had forgotten him and does not love him. Heartbroken, he rashly gets on a boat to America and forgets all about his promise to Madame Zeroni.

Nothing but bad luck came to the Yelnats family since that time. Stanley’s father never becomes a successful inventor, and poor Stanley gets prosecuted as a result of a mere coincidence.

“Happy” Campers

Meanwhile at Camp Green Lake Stanley tries to fit in. The conditions are harsh: limited water supplies, showers that do not last more than five minutes, two changes of clothes and endless digging. Stanley meets all the boys from his tent: X-Ray, Squid, Magnet, Armpit, Zigzag, and Zero. X-Ray has been there the longest. Once, when Stanley finds a golden tube initialed “KB” he gives it to X-Ray so he can rest for the remainder of the day. The Warden orders the boys to dig deeper in the area where X-Ray supposedly found the tube. Stanley realizes that the Warden is looking for something very special.

Zero, a short African American boy who digs the fastest, confesses to Stanley that he cannot read. Stanley claims to not know how to teach anything like that and refuses to help him. Meanwhile, during one of the digging shifts, Magnet steals a bag of sunflower seeds from Mr. Sir, who constantly eats them. While the boys pass around the bag and munch on the seeds, Stanley drops the bag in his hole. He takes the blame for it and is taken to the Warden, who instead punishes Mr. Sir for disturbing her. When Stanley comes back, he finds his hole completely dug. Zero did it for him. The two boys come to an agreement: Stanley will teach Zero how to read if Zero helps Stanley dig his holes.

Kate Barlow and the Onion Man

Another flashback in the story takes readers to the town of Green Lake, 110 years ago. There, Kate Barlow is introduced as a sweet and kind schoolteacher. She falls in love with Sam, an African American man, who sells onions and various home remedies, jams and ointments all made of onions. Kate and Sam fall in love, but they are judged by nearly everyone in town for their inter-racial relationship. The town ends up having a riot, and in a racial clash Sam is shot dead. His killer was Charles Walker, Kate’s admirer who got very mad when she turned him down. Kate makes revenge her mission: she kills everyone who gets in her way and kisses them with her red lipstick after murdering them. That is how she acquires her nickname, Kissin’ Kate.

She becomes a murderous outlaw and continues for another 20 years. When she finally returns to Green Lake, Charles Walker and his wife Linda catch her. They demand the location of the place where she hid all the treasure she acquired on her quests, but a yellow-spotted lizard bites her. While she sits dying, Katherine tells them to start digging. So, yes, you guessed it right, the Warden searches for Kate’s treasure. The “KB” golden tube is only the beginning!

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