Holes Essay

Question -

What factors cause Stanley Yelnats to change in the novel 'Holes'?

In the novel ‘Holes’, by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats is wrongfully accused of stealing baseball sneakers. His family believe they are unlucky with a family curse. Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake juvenile detention facility, to improve his character. This was something of a relief to Stanley as he had no friends at home and was bullied at school. At the camp conditions are torturous. He endures searing heat and lack of water while having to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet across everyday. He puts up with the harsh treatment but manages to keep his cool. He displays bravery and strength of character towards the boys and the cruel “staff”. Due to this, he ends up getting stronger emotionally and physically; in this essay I will describe the events which make him change.

At the beginning of the novel Stanley is bullied by Derrick Dunne, who is half his size. Even his teachers make nasty comments without even realising it. His father is a failed inventor and Stanley’s great grand father had his fortune stolen from him and then Stanley is accused of stealing shoes when he didn’t. So the Yelnats family curse may not be as farfetched as we initially thought.

Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake. He suffers from blistered fingers, unbearable heat and significant lack of water. At first Stanley thinks there is a lake surrounded by luscious greenery but his expectations are crushed when he arrives in a dry and hot environment; hell on earth. No lake, and definitely no green. This shows how naïve Stanley is at the beginning of the story.

However, everything changes when Stanley arrives at the camp. Initially Stanley is threatened by the other boys who are violent towards him, especially Armpit, who is meant to guide Stanley around the camp but threw him to the ground when he failed to refer to him as Armpit. Mr Sir, the head of the “councilors”, said he wouldn’t even waste a bullet on him. When Stanley start his first hole he is weak. His “soft fleshy hands” can’t cope with the pressure of the shovel. He begins to think that his shovel is defective, then he realises that he is defective. Then he realises that he is defective. When he finishes his first hole he knows that it is nothing to be proud of but is proud none the less.

Later on in the book the other boys show that they respect Stanley by giving him the nickname “Caveman”. Further on, in chapter 12, Stanley shows that he is not afraid of Mr Pendnaski by mocking him in front of the rest of the boys. Later Stanley finds a gold lipstick tube which, instead of giving it to the warden and getting a day off from digging, he gives to X-ray. By doing this he gains further respect from the boys, X-ray being the most respected of the group. As well as that Stanley shows that he can be can excellent friend by teaching Zero- the quietest of the group- how to read and write.

By the 45th hole, Stanley is stronger both mentally and physically. His body is now coping with the work. He no longer suffers from blistered fingers or lack of water. Now that his best friend Zero has run away, Stanley feels responsible as Zero was digging part of his hole. He isn’t worried Zero is dead, but that he is alive; crawling through the desert, dying of thirst. Stanley again shows his growing confidence by stealing Mr. Sir’s water truck to go in search of his lost friend. Although he drives the truck into a hole and the canteen is empty, Stanley still goes off in search of his friend.

By the end of the novel Stanley is a ‘hero’. He finds Zero and carries his up a mountain, fulfilling the wish of Zero’s great-great-great grandmother, Madame Zeorni. The boys survive on antique spiced peaches and onions. This shows how he has changed from being timid and passive to being someone people can look up to.

I enjoyed the book very much. It was interesting how fate and coincidence were used in the book: for example, Zero turning out to be Hector Zeroni and how the onions helped the boys to be immune to the killer desert lizards. Stanley’s family curse was lifted; he changed from being a weak boy, bullied and defective, to a brave hero; also making a life-long friend in Zero.

My Comment

Written by the same fourth-year pupil who wrote about his holiday. This is a Critical Essay based on a character question. It would be worth a credit grade or a pass for Intermediate 1.