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Published in the year 1998, Holes, the fifth novel written by the eminent author Louis Sachar, is regarded as the most loved one by children. Holes earned a lot of accolades that include getting nominated for twenty different awards, such as the National Book Award (1998) and a Newbery Medal (1999).
The School Library Journal elected the book as the sixth-best children’s chapter book of all time in 2012. Further, scholar Laura Nicosia wrote that the book had been classified as “realistic, a tall tale, a folk tale, a fairy tale, a children's story, a postmodern novel, a detective fiction, and a historical legend” at different times.
The book uses an interesting way to portray the past and its postmodern, complex narrative style.
Now, let’s delve deep into the world of Stanley Yelnats, starting with a brief introduction to his creator, Louis Sachar.
Born in the year 1954, Louis Sachar has many popular award-winning and popular children's books under his belt. Sachar graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in the year 1976 and worked at a nearby elementary school during his college days.
The time Sachar spent in the elementary school helping around the classroom and on the playground helped him understand children better. Soon after he left college, he started writing stories about the kids he met during his time at the elementary school and published his first creation, Sideways Stories from Wayside School in 1978.
He pursued a career in law along with his writing career till 1989 when his books sold enough to establish him as a full-time author. His books are also adored by children as they connect with them and successfully shed light on the challenges they face.
The 1998 book Holes is one of the most popular creations of the writer. A movie on the book, produced by Walt Disney, was released in 2003.
So, without further ado, let’s give you a crucial insight into the story ‘Holes.’
The story revolves around Stanley Yelnats, an overweight teenage boy from a poor family, who depends on his father, who is keen on inventing a cure for bad foot odor. Adding on to the miseries, the family is considered cursed as Stanley's great-great-grandfather did not honor a promise made to an old woman with supernatural powers. Consequently, Stanley gets detained in a juvenile camp for a crime he never committed.
The Warden at the camp made Stanley and the other boys dig massive holes in the dirt every day. With time, Stanley understands that the Warden is actually making them dig holes in search of something. The story continues with Stanley digging holes, as the narrator goes on to reveal the reasons Stanley’s family is cursed and to disclose what the Warden has been looking for with three intertwined stories.
The story takes you back to when Stanley's great-grandfather Elya Yelnats took a piglet from his friend Madame Zeroni to woo his love, Myra. Madame Zeroni lets him take the piglet with a promise that once the pig grows big, he will take her to drink water from the spring on the mountain, failing which his family will face severe consequences.
With a sudden turn of events, Elya gets frustrated with Myra's choices and moves to America, forgetting what he promised Madame Zeroni. He remembers the promise he made only when he boarded the ship to America and was halfway through his journey. As a consequence, the curse remains and continues affecting his entire family.
The novel then moves on to the story of Kissin’ Kate Barlow, a local teacher, who falls in love with Sam, an onion seller. The problem arises when she is found kissing Sam. The event results in a huge uproar among the locals of Green Lake-town, following which Sam gets arrested, and the schoolhouse gets burnt down by a violent mob.
Kate and Sam take an attempt to escape the lake only to be caught by Trout, who was earlier rejected by Kate. Trout kills Sam and forcefully rescues Kate, after which there was no rain in the town.
Consequently, Kate takes on the dark path and becomes an outlaw who leaves a lipstick kiss on her victims. Kate robbed Stanley’s great-grandfather and left him in the middle of a desert. However, his grandfather was rescued later, but by then, the family had lost everything.
The novel then moves twenty years forward when Kate comes back to Green Lake and gets intercepted by Trout and his, who are desperate for money. During their scuffle, Kate gets bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard and dies, leaving behind no information about the whereabouts of her loot.
Connecting all the stories together, the novel is brought back to the present-day events at Camp Green Lake, where the Warden is in search of something. As the digging continues, Stanley discovers a tube of lipstick that once belonged to Kate Barlow, which excites the Warden. In the meantime, Stanley becomes friends with Zero, who is a descendant of Madame Zeroni. He and Zero made an agreement that Stanley would teach Zero how to read, and Zero would dig a part of Stanley's hole.
The agreement does not go down well with others, and during a fight, Zero takes the side of Stanley and refuses to work anymore. He makes an aggressive move, hits the counselor, and runs away, following which the Warden lets him die in the desert. Stanley finds Zero and decides to climb the mountain that looks like a thumb instead of returning to the camp. Stanley carries Zero, as he is too weak to walk, and gives him water from the stream at the top, thus breaking the curse of Madame Zeroni.
Following a series of events and the Warden's death, the book comes to an end with a glimpse into the lives of Zero and Stanley a year and a half later. Stanley's dad finally succeeds in making the foot deodorizer and has a Super Bowl ad. As the story ends, Zero meets his mother, who abandoned him when he was young.
Hope this Holes book summary gives you an understanding of the story about Stanley Yelnats. Moving on, we will explore the various themes used in the novel.
Also Read: Great expectations summary
Various themes have been used in Holes. For those who haven't read the novel, here's an insight into the various themes the novel is based on:
Fate has taken center stage in Louis Sachar's Holes. From the beginning of the story, Stanley feels he has no luck and is always at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, fate unified Yelnats and Zeroni families, which benefitted both. Further, the shoes hitting Stanley on the head were not predictable, and fate played a crucial role in shaping the lives of these Holes characters.
The story emphasizes friendship and shows how the friendship between the two Holes characters, Stanley and Zero, helped in mutual survival and wealth. Despite the adversities, Stanley felt secure in Zero's presence, and it made him happy. Other characters like X-Ray do not value friendship and are only around when they can drive some benefits out of the friendship.
Camp Green Lake is shown as a place where nothing right happens. The place is the witness to the turn of events in the life of Sam and Kate that makes Kate choose the wrong way to run her life. Some other cruel events in the place include Stanley and the other boys getting tortured at the Camp, and Zero, a calm boy, getting pushed beyond his limits when Mr. Pendanski taunts him. The story shows a lot of cruelty in and around Camp Green Lake.
The book connects many events together to create a story. It is not easy to understand the life of Stanley Yelnats and the curse that follows his family if you don't know the ground on which the story is based. The author uses a lot of events from the past to help readers understand each chapter and end it on a happy note. Another notable event is Stanley’s methods to save Zero, and the fact that Stanley knew about the ‘God’s Thumb.’ Also, the story of Stanley and Zero would have been the same as Sam and Kate if they had not eaten onions on their way up to the mountain. It helped them escape the bite of yellow-spotted lizards.
Endnote:
“You have only one life, make the most of it.”
The quote from the book ‘Holes' sums up the entire story of Stanley Yelnats. From a life that begins with a curse to a sudden turn of events and a happy ending, the book has it all to keep readers glued to it. Despite some controversies, the book has been able to garner the attention of all across the globe and has been used by many schools to teach students the value of friendship and the consequences of their choices. So, if you are yet to read it, grab a copy today and get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions with the Holes of Stanley Yelnats.
Happy reading, Mates!
Ans: The book is called Holes because it is based on the story of the protagonist Stanley who is detained at a camp for teenagers and is forced to dig a hole every day, five feet deep and five feet wide.
Ans: The novel is full of irony. The novel is about a Green Camp Lake that does not have a lake, and there has been no rain in the place for the last 110 years. The central character Stanley was named after his great-grandfather, who was cursed because he stole his pig, thus creating the irony of misnaming.
Ans: The main themes in Holes are:
You will understand how these themes are used once you go through the novel.
Ans: The curse of Madame Zeroni in Holes is for Elya Yelnats, who, on failing to fulfill his promise of carrying Zeroni to the top of the mountain to drink from the spring, will be doomed, and his family will face consequences.
Ans: The moral lessons we learn from Holes are:
Go through the novel to understand how beautifully these lessons have been portrayed in the novel.
Ans: The onions in the novel have been used to symbolize a positive and healing factor. The character of Sam is portrayed as someone who loves onions and uses them to make medicines to cure sick people.
Ans: Zero, Zig-Zag, Armpit, Squid, X-Ray, and Magnet are the nicknames of Pendanski Prisoners in the novel Holes. The prisoners are instructed to dig holes every day in the desert and can get rewarded with a day off if they find something interesting in the hole.
Ans: Louis Sachar got inspired by the oppressive heat of Texas summers when he attempted yard work. The rest of the novel revolves around the concept of a juvenile detention center where boys are made to do the worst things the author could ever imagine, digging holes in the Texas desert.
Ans: The novel represents these things in literature:
You can look at the summary to understand how the book justifies these concepts.
Ans: The literary elements in Holes are:
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