Holes

Holes by Louis Sachar is a novel that follows Stanley Yelnats and the many challenges he faces after he is wrongly sent to a juvenile correctional facility. The importance of familial love is highlighted within the story Holes. When Stanley’s mother says, “You don’t need a lawyer” his mother had said, “Just tell the truth” the reassuring tone used shows that Stanley’s mother and everyone else has a strong sense of family values and they will always support Stanley. “Uh, paper. I was going to write a letter to my mother.” The explanatory tone that Stanley uses when he says this shows that Stanley does not want his parents to worry. It also gives an example of the strong bond they share “Stanley’s father name was also named Stanley. Stanley’s father full name is Stanley Yelnats III. Our Stanley is Stanley Yelnats IV. The repetition of the names shows the family pride that the Yelnats have. “The law will punish Sam and God will punish you,” said in a sinister tone tells us of the evil that lurks within Katherine’s and Sam’s community The sinister and threatening tone used in the quote, “It’s almost time for me to paint my nails again” tells us that at that moment the Warden holds the authority “Go ahead and kill me Trout,” said Kate “But I sure as hope that you like to dig cause you’re gonna be digging for a long time.” The use of language gives the reader the feeling that even though good is weaker bad will not prevail. “Zero had deep gashes in his hands” the this quote’s vivid description gives us a good idea of Zero’s bravery “If you spend your whole life living in a hole the only way to go is up,” the metaphor used in this quote, shows us quite effectively of the courage that Zero has despite his circumstances. A lot of people don't believe in curses. Many people do not believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you, it does not make a difference whether you believe in it or not. This is a statement from the narrator which implies that regardless of whether Stanley's family or the reader believes in curses, the bad luck that they are the recipients of is undeniable. And, just as the lizard's bite is deadly, so is the supposed curse that Stanley's family is under His muscles and hands weren't the only parts of his body that had toughened over the past several weeks. His heart had hardened as well. This statement describes Stanley's development at Camp Green Lake. Although Stanley is used to being picked on, he exhibits no sympathy for Zero when Zero reveals that he cannot read. Instead of trying to help Zero, Stanley instead decides to reserve his energy for himself. This is not purely Stanley's fault, the tough people that he is surrounded by have influenced him and now he is becoming like them "If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs, "The bark on the tree was just a little bit softer." While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, He cries to the moo-oo-oon, "If only, if only." This is not so much an important quote as it is a recurring quote in the book. Although slightly changed by each person, these are the basic lyrics to the song that Madame Zeroni taught Elya Yelnats and that was subsequently passed down through generations until it reached Stanley and Zero. The lyrics of the song show that even wolves and birds wish that life was easier. It is a fitting song to be sung by the Yelnats and Zeroni families, two families that have had bad luck and hard lives