Holes

Stanley lied in order to spare his mother pain and worry. In the story, we learn that Stanley has been sent away to a camp for "bad boys." At Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility, Mr. Sir...

Elya told Myra to choose Igor because she did not really love him, and she proved self-centered. In the past, there is the story of Elya Yelnats and Myra Menke. Elya is in love with Myra. So is...

While it is possible to give a chronological main-events list for Stanley's experiences in Holes, that would leave out large sequences of important flashbacks. As an example, the Elya, Madame...

Holes has many themes, but the major ones are justice, friendship, and the role of fate/destiny and the effect of the past on present events. Justice is the primary theme in Holes. The novel...

In chapter seven, Stanley Yelnats digs his first hole, which is supposed to measure five feet deep and five feet across. Well before Stanley finishes digging his hole, the other boys finish their...

In Louis Sachar's Holes, Sam, the onion man, fixes the leaky schoolhouse roof after making a deal with Miss Katherine, the school teacher. He will contribute his labor on the roof in exchange for...

Despite being an unruly bunch of young tearaways, the boys of D tent are remarkably well-ordered when it comes to lining up for water. This is all the more remarkable given the searing desert heat...

Mr. Pedanski says that digging holes is supposed to build character. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake for stealing a famous ball player’s shoes. They actually fell on his head. It was an...

After Zero runs away the Warden decides not to notify anyone. Because Zero is a ward of the state, and has no legal guardians, she assumes no one will come looking for him if he dies out in the...

Mr. Pendanski's behavior in regard to Zero is completely contrary to his usual demeanor as the camp counselor. While he treats the other boys with at least some compassion and respect, he seems...

Stanley knows that the gold tube is a lipstick tube because he remembers his mother’s lipstick tubes. Stanley recognizes the tube as a lipstick tube when he remembers that he has seen lipstick...

Stanley is surprised to see his hole mostly dug for him. Stanley was sent to Camp Green Lake juvenile detention center for supposedly stealing an athlete’s shoes. He actually found them (they...

Sam says that onions can cure everything. Sam is known as “the onion man.” He claims that his donkey Mary Lou is fifty years old, and her old age and good health are a result of eating onions....

In the book Holes, we are introduced to Stanley, a young boy sent to a camp after being charged with a crime he didn't commit. The book takes us on an emotional journey of heartache, gypsy curses,...

The Warden in Holes is a truly fearsome individual. A nasty, egomaniacal control freak and bully, she simply will not tolerate any challenge to her authority, however minor. A particularly stark...

Stanley Yelnats, the main character of Holes, experiences all of these types of conflict through the novel. This is just one example of each type of conflict, but there are many other examples in...

After taking the blame for eating Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds, Stanley returns from his uncomfortable visit with the Warden to find that his hole has already been finished for him. He notices that...

Stanley Yelnats, the main character in Holes by Louis Sachar, possesses many character traits. Here are five of them: Stanley has a strong belief that his family is chronically unlucky, and...

One of the boys at Camp Green Lake is nicknamed Zero. In chapter 5, Mr. Pendanski tells Stanley that Zero is called Zero because "there's nothing inside his head." Zero later proves himself to in...

X-Ray tells Stanley to give him the tube because he has been there longest and deserves a day off. As unofficial leader, X-Ray seems to have a lot of power over the group. For example, he chooses...

The Yelnats' family curse was originally placed on their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather" by Madame Zeroni. The curse is a bad luck curse. The Yelnats family consistently...

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 40 of the book. The chapter starts out in the present with Stanley digging up a root. We are not told what the root is, but the flashback that...

I assume you are referring to the scene in which the Warden hits Mr. Sir and scratches him with her nails coated in varnish containing rattlesnake venom. Stanley does not get punished for stealing...

Squid is the nickname of one of the boys who has been sent to Camp Green Lake after being found guilty of committing a felony. He is one of the first two boys Mr. Pendanski introduces to Stanley...

X-Ray got his nickname because he wore glasses. He claims he can see through people. X-Ray wore glasses, which were quite dirty and so thick it seemed to Stanley that he could barely see through...

Stanley learns Zigzag has harbored a grudge and can be violent. All of the boys at Camp Green Lake go by nicknames. The nicknames are generally not flattering. Stanley’s nickname is Caveman....

Stanley and Zero become true friends after Zero runs away from Camp Green Lake. Stanley steals a truck, which he crashes into a hole, and finds Zero, saving his life. Zero shows his friendship by...

In chapter 6 of Holes, Stanley reveals that he was sent to Camp Green Lake because he “stole a pair of sneakers” from Clyde Livingston, a famous baseball player. However, it soon becomes clear that...

Throughout Holes, Stanley’s relationships with the other boys in D Tent become increasingly complex. When he demonstrates resilience by continuing to dig, the others begin to accept him, bestowing...

Stanley Yelnats and the members of his family blame their bad luck and misfortune on their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." According to Stanley's family history, his...

In Louis Sachar's novel Holes, Stanley Yelnats' family explains its consistent bad luck by the curse placed on his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather" by Madam Zeroni for...

Stanley and Zero are engaged in a quest for survival out in the desert. They have very little water with them, and so they must ration their supplies as best they can. The two boys unwittingly hit...

In chapter 30, Zigzag and the other boys begin picking on Stanley because Zero has been digging his holes in exchange for reading lessons. On Zigzag's birthday, he becomes increasingly hard on...

The curse you are referring to is first placed when Elya Yelnats seeks help from Madame Zeroni in order to win the love of an incompetent local girl, Myra Menke. Zeroni tells Elya to carry a piglet...

In Chapter 7 of Louis Sachar's Holes, we learn that Stanley's great-great-grandfather Elya Yelnats was taught to sing a lullaby to the pig the gypsy woman gave him to carry. As a result of a...

In the book Holes by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats is a young man who has been sent off to a sort-of detention facility with dozens of other young men. Part of the punishment for those at the...

In Chapter 33, Stanley has left camp and is walking through the desert, looking for Zero. No one follows Stanley, and he debates turning back but decides to keep going in the hopes of finding his...

Sachar mainly uses a third-person point of view in writing Holes. This means that the narrator of the story isn't part of the action and can tell us everything that's going on, including what's...

Truth be told, there aren't a whole lot of similarities between X-Ray and Stanley. One is Black, the other white; one is short, the other quite tall. One has been at Camp Green Lake for a while...

In chapter 19, Mr. Sir leaves after giving the boys their routine water break, and Stanley returns to his hole to resume digging. Shortly after Mr. Sir's truck pulls away, Stanley hears Magnet ask...

On the face of it, the boys of Camp Green Lake are digging holes as punishment—to give them something to do each day. But Stanley quickly realizes that there's something fishy going on and that...

The heavy rain that falls at the end of Holes has great symbolic significance. Camp Green Lake was only established in the first place due to the original Green Lake having dried up after years of...

Stanley, or Stanley Yelnats IV, to give him his full name, lives in California. As he tells us himself, his great-grandfather—the first Stanley Yelnats—lost his fortune on his way out west from New...

In chapter thirty, tensions peak when Zigzag and the other boys begin bullying Stanley for allowing Zero to dig part of his hole. When things turn physical and Zigzag begins to beat Stanley, Zero...

Stanley Yelnats is the dynamic protagonist of the celebrated novel Holes and is depicted as an insecure, overweight boy who initially lacks self-confidence. He is also an honest, genuine person who...

In Holes, Mr. Pendanski, the counselor in charge of D tent, is often called "Mom" by the boys at the camp. He likely certainly prefers to go by his own name, making sure to explain how to pronounce...