Holes

“Stanley was not a bad kid. He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. He’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

At the beginning of the book, the author makes it clear that Stanley is innocent of the crime that ends up sending him to Camp Green Lake. This is also the first mention of Stanley being particularly unlucky and how he is always in the wrong place at the wrong time, an idea that surfaces many times in the book.

“Everyone in his family had always liked the fact that ‘Stanley Yelnats’ was spelled the same frontward and backward. So they kept naming their sons Stanley. Stanley was an only child, as was every other Stanley Yelnats before him.”

Stanley Yelnats, the protagonist of the book, is connected with many other Stanley Yelnatses of past generations. His name is an indicator that his family’s past follows him and has a deep history, highlighting the theme of The Connection Between Past and the Present.

“In a way, it made him feel a little better about having to sleep in a cot that had been used by somebody named Barf Bag. Maybe it was a term of respect.”

When Stanley gets his nickname, Caveman, he feels happy that he has earned some semblance of respect to even get a nickname. This makes him feel better because he’s worried that Barf Bag got his name because he puked a lot, something that would make his cot very disgusting.

“Now, as Stanley lay on his cot, he thought it was kind of funny in a way. Nobody had believed him when he said he was innocent. Now, when he said he stole them, nobody believed him either.”

Although Stanley explained how he got Clyde Livingston’s shoes, the judge didn’t believe that he was innocent. When Stanley shares with the boys at Camp Green Lake that he was arrested for stealing famous Clyde Livingston’s shoes, they don’t believe him because the story sounds ridiculous to them.

“Stanley couldn’t help but think that there was something special about the shoes, that they would somehow provide the key to his father’s invention. It was too much of a coincidence to be a mere accident. Stanley had felt like he was holding destiny’s shoes.”

Stanley believes that fate plays a role in his life. He felt like it was destiny that stinky shoes fell from the sky while his dad was trying to invent a way to recycle old shoes. This made him think that the shoes were special. Fate Versus Free Will is a theme that pervades the novel.

“Madame Zeroni warned that if he failed to do this, he and his descendants would be doomed for all of eternity.”

This is the beginning of the curse on the Yelnats family. Even though Madame Zeroni warned Elya Yelnats about what would happen if he didn’t carry her up the mountain, Elya forgets and dooms his family to bad luck.

“Stanley waited for him to drive away, then took another look at his hole. He knew it was nothing to be proud of, but he felt proud nonetheless.”

Stanley is portrayed as a meek character who was bullied a lot when he was in school. Now, however, he feels a sense of pride over the hole he dug. This is important because he has not felt joy over anything since he got to Camp Green Lake.

“He was glad they called him Caveman. It meant they accepted him as a member of the group. He would have been glad even if they’d called him Barf Bag.”

Stanley has low standards for being a part of the group. As a boy who was bullied in school, Stanley is simply happy to be welcomed as a part of the group at Camp Green Lake—even if that welcome is lukewarm. This highlights The Importance of Friendship as one of the novel’s main themes.

“Mr. Pendanski looked from one boy to another. ‘You’re all special in your own way,’ he said. ‘You’ve all got something to offer. You have to think about what you want to do, then do it. Even you, Zero. You’re not completely worthless.’ The smile was now gone from Zero’s face.”

Mr. Pendanski bullies Zero. Although Mr. Pendanski seems to be complimenting all the boys in the group, he insults Zero. We will learn though that Zero is not a zero of a person, but a resilient character capable of learning and deep friendship.

“One thing was certain: They weren’t just digging to ‘build character.’ They were definitely looking for something.”

Stanley realizes that the Warden is lying to the boys about why they have to dig. Camp Green Lake is supposed to be an alternative to jail, yet their digging is not about helping the boys. Instead, Stanley understands that they dig holes to find something that the Warden is looking for.

“Stanley kept his mouth shut most of the time. He didn’t talk too much to any of the boys, afraid that he might say the wrong thing. They called him Caveman and all that, but he couldn’t forget that they were dangerous, too. They were all here for a reason.”

Stanley is afraid of being bullied while he is at Camp Green Lake. Although Stanley knows that he is innocent, he doesn’t know about the other boys. This makes him want to try to be on everyone’s good side because he doesn’t know how dangerous any of them could be. His history of bullying also makes him nervous.

“Later that night, as he lay on his cot, Stanley reconsidered the deal he had made with Zero. Getting a break every day would be a relief, but he knew X-Ray wouldn’t like it.”

Stanley fears X-Ray’s leadership because X-Ray is manipulative. He wants to help Zero learn how to read but knows that X-Ray will give him a hard time about Zero digging his hole for part of the day.

“If he didn’t talk about it, maybe it would go away.”

Stanley doesn’t want to talk to the other boys about how the Warden scratched Mr. Sir’s face with poisonous nail polish. He knows if he tells, Mr. Sir will dislike him even more and that would have consequences for Stanley. Stanley also doesn’t trust that the boys won’t get him into even more trouble after the sunflower seed incident.

“That all happened one hundred and ten years ago. Since then, not one drop of rain has fallen on Green Lake. You make the decision: Whom did God punish?”

The author asks the reader if God punished Sam and Kate for being an interracial couple or if God punished the town of Green Lake for killing Sam. When Sam is murdered for being in love with Kate, the town is punished with drought. This is why Green Lake is dried up when the boys are trying to dig holes in it. The novel implies that there are far-reaching consequences for actions, not just for the people who commit those actions but also for future generations.

“‘Go ahead and kill me, Trout,’ said Kate. ‘But I sure hope you like to dig. ’Cause you’re going to be digging for a long time. It’s a big vast wasteland out there. You, and your children, and their children, can dig for the next hundred years and you’ll never find it.’”

Kate is cursing Trout Walker and his future family to always look for her treasure at Green Lake. Later, the novel reveals that the Warden is Trout’s daughter and that she grew up having to dig holes searching for the treasure, highlighting The Connection Between Past and Present.

“His only hope was that Zero had found God’s thumb on his own. It wasn’t impossible. His great-grandfather had found it. For some reason his great-grandfather had felt the urge to climb to the top of that mountain. Maybe Zero would feel the same urge.”

Stanley has a sense that he and Zero are connected somehow, emphasizing the theme of Fate Versus Free Will. If this is true, Zero would feel the same need to go to find the mountain that looks like God’s thumb since that is what saved Stanley’s great-grandfather from dying many years ago. Stanley’s instinct about their connection will be proven right.

“He couldn’t blame his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather this time. This time it was his own fault, one hundred percent. He had probably just done the stupidest thing he had ever done in his short and miserable life.”

Stanley takes ownership of his life and choices. Previously, it was a running joke in his family to blame the curse caused by Elya Yelnats, but now Stanley knows that he is in charge of his destiny. This is Stanley’s narrative arc in the novel: He begins as a victim—of bullying and fate—and then embraces agency.

“It never did. It was like chasing the moon.”

Stanley and Zero are trying to make it to Big Thumb (the thumb-shaped mountain), but it seems to never be getting closer. This simile shows how the task of making it to the mountain never felt easy, like chasing God himself. The novel implies that resilience is necessary to achieve rewards.

“For him, at least, it would be over. For his parents, the pain would never end.”

Even though Stanley thinks about how easier life would be if he were dead, he knows that his parents would be devastated. He and his parents love each other, and Stanley knows he could never purposely do anything to make them sad. This illustrates his fundamental goodness.

“His strength came from somewhere deep inside himself and also seemed to come from the outside as well. After focusing on Big Thumb for so long, it was as if the rock had absorbed his energy and now acted like a kind of giant magnet pulling him toward it.”

While Stanley is carrying Zero up the thumb mountain, he feels a deep surge of energy. This energy comes from the fact that he is carrying Madame Zeroni’s great-great-grandson, Zero. The act that feels destined yet is also a result of Stanley’s agency and choice.

“Zero’s ‘confession’ seemed to bring him some relief. The muscles in his face relaxed. As he drifted into sleep, Stanley softly sang him the song that had been in his family for generations.”

Zero confesses that he took Stanley’s shoes and that everything that happened was his fault, but because Zero is very sick when he says this, it doesn’t make sense to Stanley. The interconnectedness between them points to a fate-like force.

“It occurred to him that he couldn’t remember the last time he felt happiness…. He liked himself now.”

Stanley hadn’t been happy for a long time, but being on top of the mountain with Zero makes him happy. Before he went to Camp Green Lake, Stanley was bullied a lot and didn’t live himself at all. Now, however, he feels joy again and likes who he is.

“‘You did it,’ Zero said, taking it from him. ‘We did it,’ said Stanley.”

Stanley isn’t taking all the credit for finding Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s treasure. Instead, he makes sure Zero knows that they did it together and are a team. This highlights The Importance of Friendship, which has helped Stanley and Zero grow as characters throughout the novel.

“Stanley looked, too. There, in big black letters, was STANLEY YELNATS.”

Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s treasure actually belonged to the first Stanley Yelnats who was robbed by her and survived by going to the mountain shaped like a thumb. Fate brought the current Stanley Yelnats back to Green Lake to retrieve what rightfully belonged to his family.