Holes By Louis Sachar: Character Analysis

Introduction

‘Hole’ is a novel written by Louis Sachar and has already won Newbery Medal. The plot of the novel is about the life of multiple characters and a leading character with whom the whole story of the novel is linked. Story is written in main two parts referring as flashback and current or present situation.

Characters in the Story

The major characters in the novel are Stanley Yelnats and Zero (Hector Zeroni). Present characters are Stanley Yelnats, Mrs. Bell, Stanley Yelnats III, BarfBag, Alan, Theodore, Jos¾, Ricky, Twitch, Attorney General, Ms. Morengo, Clyde “Sweet Feet” Livingston and Mr. Sir. Other past characters are Elya Yelnats, Madame Zeroni, Stanley Yelnats II, Kate Barlow, Myra Menke, Igor Barkov, Charles “Trout” Walker, Sam, the Onion Man, Mary Lou and Sheriff.

Brief Overview to Story

The storyline is the story occurred in past along the present storyline. Stanley is an unfortunate young boy because his family had been cursed for many ages before his great-great grandfather had not kept his promise. Stanley’s father was a failure inventor and after inventing something using waste tennis ball. Financially Stanley’s family was poor and believes that it is the result of the curse that his family has been bearing for ages. On the other side there is another story of Kate Barlow who is an intelligent lady and teaches in one class room school. She used to love Sam the onion boy who a black guy. The town’s people were racist and did not like Kate in love with a black man to whom Kate love because he was a nice man. One day Sam was killed after Kate kisses him and the death of Sam makes Kate furious that she decides to take revenge of Sam’s death. Stanley’s great-great grandfather Stanley I, who had not kept his promise, migrate to America and earn money but he was robbed by Kate Barlow and after that Stanley’s family consistently facing financial crises. In present situation Stanley’s was falsely accused of theft and trialed. At the end of the trial he was asked to choose either going jail or Green Lake Camp. Since Stanley has always thought it as some kind of summer camp he chooses going Green Lake Camp. Having reached the camp it was revealed on him that the Green Lake Camp is not in any way like summer camp and on the contrary it is rather a digging camp. Here Stanley somehow adjusted and began to part in the digging. He also makes friends here like Zero (Hector Zeroni). One day Stanley finds that the warden is after something as she was keenly interested in digging. Stanley with his friend Zero finds the treasure which later known as his grandfather’s lost treasure and he becomes legal owner of the treasure. All of sudden Stanley’s fate turns in to his favor and his father finds the formula for removing feet stink and Clyde Sweet Feet become its primary endorser. Zero has confesses that he stole the shoes I actual, just because he lived by himself and was compel steal to survive. The sudden change in fate stems from the reality that Zero was actually Hector Zeroni, and was the great-great grandson of Madame Zeroni. The promise was eventually been kept. A Yelnats lifted a Zeroni up to the mountain, carrying the curse and changing his family’s fate.

Comparison of Stanley Yelnats IV and Kate Barlow’s Lives

Kate Barlow was a humble, kind and intelligent lady. Nobody has thought that this kind lady will turn to become revengeful person and will cause the destruction and unhappiness of someone life. Kate Barlow was a teacher and teaches in a one-room school in Green Lake one hundred and ten years before it was made Camp Green Lake. She was in love with a guy Sam; he sells onions in the town. Kate loves him because he was compassionate, brave, and elegant. Sam was a black man and the people of town were racist and did not like when they know that she loves Sam. Though Kate was a white herself yet she was not racist and believes in good and nobility. Kate was very lucky here to find a true love in her life and it was her the luckiest moments when she knows that she is in love with Sam. But the death of Sam was revealed as disastrous for her and it was the most unlucky moment of her life because the death of Sam turns her life into another direction. Death of Sam makes her revengeful and later she lived a pathetic life. She later on robs Stanley’s great-great grandfather and thus Kate Barlow and Stanley Yelnats’s family get connected into chain of life.

Stanley Yelnats, who was an ugly as he was three times heavier than other normal boys and poor young boy, was great-great grandson of Stanley I who was robbed by Kate Barlow. Stanley’s family had been poor and suffering from financial crises since his great-great grandfather was robbed by Kate Barlow. Stanley’s family has another tragedy in their life as his family was cursed due to miscommitment of his great-great grandfather with Madame Zeroni. The great-great grandfather of Stanley was in love with Elya Yelnats and wishes to marry her but her father had conditioned her marriage with the big pig. To him, he will allow the marriage of his daughter with the man who brings the biggest pig. Madame Zeroni helped the great-great grandfather of Stanley on the condition to take her up on the mountain to drink stream water. Her condition to take her up on the mountain was so intense that she would curse him and his generation if he had not taken her up for helping him. Due to some reason he could not manage to bring her up on the mountain and they migrated to America. Here he was robbed by Kate Barlow and after that he thinks that he got Madame Zeroni’s curse. Due to this event Stanley and his family always think in the same manner and believe that they are unlucky and cursed. However, being accused of theft which was false and he had not committed the crime was fiercely unlucky of him because he was punished for the crime which he had never committed. At the end of the trial when he was asked to choose to go either to jail or Green Lake Camp, he chose to go to Green Lake Camp because he had always dreamed of summer camps and thought it one of them. But it was very unfortunate of him when he reaches at the camp and sees that there was neither a lake nor it was green and that his decision of coming here was wrong. Apparently feels himself unlucky because there was so much hardworking involve in the camp. Boys were here to dig for building their characters. He had not realized that destiny intends to change his life and make him lucky. He began to digging here and one day he realized that the warden is after some treasure. He eventually finds the treasure and got released from camp as a result of being proved that he is innocent. The treasure that he found later came to know that it was the same value which Kate Barlow has robbed from his great-great grandfather and buried it here. Fortune was so much in his favor that his father’s formula also works and it was successful.