A retelling of: Holes By: Louis Sachar

Setting Green Lake, Texas Late 20 th Century With flashback to the late 19 th Century Brief flashbacks to Latvia Mid to late 19 th Century

The Characters: Stanley Yelnats – Protagonist Zero (Hector Zeroni) – Not much of an education, but is smart and knows it X-Ray – The unofficial head of the group of boys Katherine Barlow – Teacher of the one-room schoolhouse at Camp Green Lake 110 years prior Squid – Taunts Stanley Magnet – earned his nickname for his ability to steal Armpit – X-Ray’s closest companion

Characters Continued: Zigzag – Very violent kid at camp Warden – She is the ultimate symbol of cruel authority Mr. Pendanski – In charge of tent D Mr. Sir – One of the counselors at Camp Green Lake

Major Conflict Stanley must struggle against the harsh conditions and people at Camp green Lake in order to assert his independence and eventually free himself and his family from the curse that has been placed upon them.

The power of fate to determine events The benefits of friendship The destructive nature of cruelty The importance of history in everyday life

Foreshadowing: The Character Theme Relationship Every time that a piece of history is revealed, it foreshadows what will happen in the present day Camp Green Lake. For instance, the revelation that the murder of Sam leads to Kate Barlow killing the sheriff because she must react to her personal loss is followed by Zero striking Mr. Pendanski because he cannot handle further taunting and cruelty from Mr. Pendanski.

Themes The Power of Fate… The Benefits of Friendship… Stanley always believes that he is unlucky and in the wrong place at the wrong time. The events in the book seem to be the result of fate’s reunification of members of the Yelnats and Zeroni families for the mutual benefit of both parties. Stanley and Zero’s mutual friendship lead to their survival and eventual wealth. The benefits of forming solid friendships are clearly shown in Holes.

Themes Destructive Nature of Cruelty… Importance of History in Everyday Life… Cruelty is something that one person can cause in another and a cycle of violence and cruelty is shown to pass through many decades and several generations at Green Lake Three stories from separate times in history are combined in Holes to create one story and to create a theme of the importance of history.

Finally, the TONE: The narrator of Holes seems reliable but often interjects dark humor or irony into the narration. Many statements are made which require the reader to make his or her own inferences about the subject matter. At times the narrator breaks with the omniscient narration to address the reader directly and pose questions about the events in the book.