When Stanley asks Zero why he had helped him with his hole, he tells him that he had done so because Stanley had taken the blame for stealing Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds when Magnet was actually the culprit. When the sack of seeds was thrown to Stanley, he missed catching it and the bag fell into his hole, where Mr. Sir later discovered it.

Zero also tells Stanley that he (Stanley) had not stolen Clyde Livingstone’s sneakers. He later confesses (in chapter 41) that he had actually stolen them from the display at a charity function where they were to be auctioned for five thousand dollars—money that would be donated to a charity. Zero admits that a furor arose about the missing shoes and he decided to get rid of them, by placing them “on top of a parked car.” So, digging the hole for Stanley is his way of making up for having had Stanley later found guilty of stealing the shoes and to appease his own guilt.

Another reason why Zero offers to dig Stanley’s hole “for about an hour” is so that Stanley can teach him to read and write for the same amount of time. Zero is illiterate and becomes interested in learning when he sees Stanley reading his mother’s letter and writing back to her.