In the novel "Holes" a boy called Stanley Yelnats is falsely accused of a crime he did not commit

Holes Essay

In the novel “Holes” a boy called Stanley Yelnats is falsely accused of a crime he did not commit, Stanley has to choose between jail and a camp he knows nothing about. He chose to go to Camp Green Lake and regretted his choice the whole time he was there. He did not know what a horrible and dangerous place it was. At camp Green Lake Stanley had to dig hole after hole, day after day. Stanley only made one real friend at camp and that was Zero who he was teaching to read and write. After weeks Stanley’s friend Zero ran from the camp, and then several days later Stanley stole the water truck the counsellors used to supply each boy with water for the day and fled from the camp. He did not in fact get very far at all in the truck because after a few hundred metres he drove it straight into a ditch. Stanley walked for miles before finding his friend Zero curled up under an old boat clutching onto a few jars filled with some form of liquid. Stanley and Zero walked across the barren wasteland, heading towards the big mountain in the distance, Stanley called it big thumb. By the time Stanley and Zero reached the foot of big thumb Zero was to weak to move and Stanley carried what he would find out later was madam Zeroni’s great, great grandson up the mountain. And let him drink from a fountain and give him food in the form of onions. Just as Stanley’s great, great grandfather was supposed to carry madam Zeroni up the mountain. Breaking the curse that madam Zeroni put on the Yelnats family. Eventually after spending several nights on-top of the mountain eating onions the two of them started on their way back to the camp. Stanley asks Zero if he wants to dig one more hole in the hope of finding Kissin Kate Barlow’s treasure. Stanley knew where to find it after he dug up Kate Barlow’s lipstick. When they arrived at the spot Stanley thought the treasure would be Zero went to get two shovels to dig up the treasure. They dug up the treasure and some unwanted guests, yellow spotted lizards the most deadly of creatures one bite and you’ll die a horrible, painful death. Stanley and Zero climbed out of the hole safely. Awaiting them was Stanley’s lawyer. She brought good news Stanley was free along with Zero and they were both rich from the treasure. Stanley’s dad the inventor discovered a cure for foot odour and Zero found his long lost mother.

In the novel the two main characters are Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni also known as Zero. Stanley was given the name caveman by the other boys at Camp Green Lake.

The plot in the novel is how Stanley and Zero survive Camp Green Lake, break the curse and find the treasure of Kissin Kate Barlow and to get away from the torture of the Camp.

In this essay I will write about how Stanley and Zero’s relationship develops through the novel. When the boys run from the Camp and my feelings about the novel and how ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

In the novel the two main characters are Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni also known as Zero. Stanley was given the name caveman by the other boys at Camp Green Lake.

The plot in the novel is how Stanley and Zero survive Camp Green Lake, break the curse and find the treasure of Kissin Kate Barlow and to get away from the torture of the Camp.

In this essay I will write about how Stanley and Zero’s relationship develops through the novel. When the boys run from the Camp and my feelings about the novel and how the story ends.

When Stanley first encounters Zero he thinks he is stupid due to all the boys calling him Zero when Stanley asked where this name originated Mr Pendanski replied “cos he’s got nothing in his head.” Stanley stays clear of Zero in the first few chapters preferring to fraternise with the other boys instead.

When Stanley encounters the other boys at Camp Green Lake he feels weak compared to them and he has no friends and knows no-one. He thinks their all very strange but he feels very threatened in this new and unknown environment. The boys threatened him early on in the novel “YOU’RE FINISHED.”

At The Camp the boys treat Zero as if he is worthless and they don’t care what they say to him and have no regard for any on his feelings. They don’t like him and envy him because he is superior at digging holes and always finishes first “He’ one weird dude.”

Mr Pendanski thinks Zero knows nothing and that he’s good for nothing except digging holes “He’s got nothing in his head.”

In the novel Zero approaches Stanley and asks him to teach him to read and write “I want to learn to read and write.” At first Stanley refused but eventually gave in and offered to teach him to read and write.

When Stanley was seeing the warden for stealing Mr Sir’s sunflower seeds, Zero dug Stanley’s hole for him. “He went over to his hole, and to his surprise it was nearly finished.” No-one took the credit for it but he noticed “Zero’s hole was smaller than all the others,” Stanley knew this was strange because Zero was always the fasted and most efficient digger.

In exchange for Stanley teaching Zero to read, Zero offered to dig a portion of Stanley’s hole “I’ll dig part of your hole every day. I can dig for about an hour, and then you can teach me for an hour.”

When talking to Zero in the wreck room waiting for dinner Stanley asked Zero several questions and after these questions Zero told him “My real name is Hector. Hector Zeroni.”

Zero ran away because “I hate digging holes” Zero said.

He ran because all the counsellors underestimated him and forced him to dig holes. All they thought Zero was good for was digging but Zero was good at maths and other things.

When Zero runs away Stanley feels that he should “What he should do, he thought, was go after Zero.” Stanley also feels guilty for letting Zero go out alone.

Stanley runs away from Camp Green Lake because he feels responsible if anything happened to Zero, and if Stanley did not go after Zero, he would eventually die out there and Stanley would be responsible for not trying to help. When on Big Thumb the boys supported each other by Stanley teaching Zero to read it gave Zero something else to concentrate on apart from the pains in his stomach from drinking the strange liquid in the jars Zero found “Zero sounded it out to himself. Rr-un, run. Run.”

Stanley takes care of Zero by climbing the mountain and carrying him up “Stanley didn’t think he could carry the weight of Zero up the mountain, but soon forgot about the weight.” This team work by Stanley and Zero is important to the plot of the novel because it shows the developing relationship and friendship between the two main characters strengthening the bond between them.

When Stanley and Zero returned to Camp Green Lake it showed their friendship and that they had finally defeated the “villain” in the novel and they were triumphant over the warden. Stanley had got the suitcase that the warden so desperately wanted.

When Stanley is told he can leave Camp Green Lake he immediately states that “I can’t leave Hector.” He also asks if his lawyer can do anything for Zero. Eventually getting his lawyer to look through the files of Zero, when she cannot find them she tells Zero “c’mon Hector your coming with us.”

At the end of the novel Stanley’s and Zero’s parents are together this shows that their relationship has developed so far that even their families are now friends. Their friendship shows that it was not just in camp that the boys were friends but when the two boys were let out of camp their relationship continued to develop making them stick together out of camp as well as in it. After all the two boys went through it made their relationship a truly special one that had connections going back years from when Stanley’s great, great grandfather met Zero’s great, great grandmother. Stanley broke the curse and carried zero up the mountain.

By Alex Paveley 9CG