How does the character of Stanley Yelnats change in "Holes"?

Authors Avatar

How does the character of Stanley Yelnats develop within the novel?

Throughout this essay I am going to show how Stanley’s character develops within the novel.

‘Holes’ is about a boy called Stanley who is sent to a Young Offender’s Institute, wrongly accused of stealing a pair of trainers.  During his stay lots of things happen like making new friends, running away and even  finding some treasure.  Also digging lots of holes!

At the beginning of the novel, we find out early on that Stanley is overweight, because it is mentioned that ,

“He was overweight and the kids at middle school often teased him about his size.”

Because of this, he is very sensitive and self-conscious.  Later on in the book, however, the reader discovers that Stanley has lots a lot of weight by the time he has found Zero under the boat.  We know this because Louis Sachar writes,

“A couple of months ago, he would never have been able to fit through.  He’d lost a lot of weight.”

Join now!

This shows that his experiences digging holes and eating smaller meals from cans have made him thinner and fitter.  His fitness has improved throughout the novel.

Stanley and his father have always been very discouraged with luck, sometimes so much that they became,

“so discouraged that they actually started to believe in the curse.”

Stanley relies on the curse as an explanation for all of his bad luck.  The curse has apparently been in the family for generations, set because his great-great grandfather stole a pig from a gypsy.  It seemed to be lifted when Stanley carried Zero up ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Avatar

There is a clear understanding of the character. However the analysis is not carried out in enough depth. Further analysis of structure is required to show how links can be made within the text. 3 Stars