Holes by Louis Sachar

Thesis Statement

Louis Sachar succeeded in resolving racial issues within his story without a didactic anti-racist objective or blunted ideological content.

Introduction

Stanley Yelnats, Holes' protagonist, is a boy placed in a young men's penitentiary with a group of boys from all types of racial backgrounds- a context perfectly deployed for the exploration of 'racial issues'. The anti-climax however is when Stanley confesses that there were no racial problems in the camp, since despite the boys from Group D being black, white or Mexican, 'on the lake they were all the same reddish brown color- the color of dirt.'

Analysis

Stanley Yelnats, a boy who has bad luck due to a curse placed on his great- great-grandfather, is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, for a crime he did not commit. Stanley and the other boys at the camp are forced to dig large holes in the dirt every day. Stanley eventually realizes that they are digging these holes because the Warden is searching for something. As Stanley continues to dig holes and meet the other boys at the camp, the narrator intertwines three separate stories to reveal why Stanley's family has a curse and what the Warden is looking for (Louis, pp 1-233).

When he was a boy, Stanley's great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats, received a pig from Madame Zeroni, a gypsy, in exchange for a promise. Elya's promise was that after the pig grew strong he would carry Madame Zeroni, who only had one leg, up a mountain and sing her a song that she had taught him. After becoming disillusioned with the girl he thought he loved, however, Elya hops a boat to America, forgetting his promise to Madame Zeroni. Elya marries and has a child in America and always thinks about Madame Zeroni, who he believes has cursed him because of his failure to fulfill his promise. He knows that Madame Zeroni's son lives in America, but Elya never finds him (Louis, pp 1-233).

One hundred and ten years before Stanley arrives at Camp Green Lake, the town of Green Lake is a beautiful place where peach trees bloom throughout the spring. In this Texas town, the schoolteacher, Katherine Barlow, falls in love with Sam, the onion seller. Sam sells onions to eat and to use for medicinal purposes. While Katherine and Sam are alive, racism is institutionalized in the United States and it is against the ...