Holes
Louis Sachar
TEACHERS’ GUIDE
In Brief
Holes is the story of Stanley, who tries to set right both past and present wrongs and learns how
much courage it takes to act fairly in an unfair world.
Details
When a pair of stolen sneakers falls from the sky on to serially
unlucky Stanley Yelnats, he finds himself at the harshest
correctional facility in Texas. Every day at Camp Green Lake, each
boy is forced to dig a man-size hole in the scorching desert. The
guards are bigger bullies than the inmates, quick to deny the
prisoners their tiny ration of water, and to draw their guns at the
first sign of trouble. The regime is supposed to be characterbuilding, but Stanley soon discovers that there is more to the
camp than hard labour. The boys are searching for something,
and whatever it is, it means more to the Warden than any of their
lives. What they find is a series of connections — between a
century-old injustice, a family curse, and a few of the camp’s
inhabitants — which transforms a story of hardship and
friendship into a modern-day fairy tale.
About Louis Sachar
Louis Sachar lives in Austin, Texas. He was born on 20 March 1954, in East Meadow, New York. In
1976, he went to the University of California, where he studied economics. While at university he
became a teacher's aide to gain extra credit; it turned out to be his favourite class and inspired him
to write children's books. After graduation he worked in a sweater warehouse in Connecticut and
wrote at night. He was fired from that job and moved on to law school. In his first week of
study, Sideways Stories from Wayside was published. After completing his studies in 1980 he
became a part-time lawyer but was compelled to concentrate on his writing full-time.
First published in the USA in 1998, Holes has won major American literary prizes, including the
Newberry Medal and the National Book Award. In 2004, a film adaptation was released, starring
Sigourney Weaver as the Warden, and Jon Voight as Mr Sir.
www.bloomsbury.com/louissachar
Holes - Discussion
1. ‘If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a
good boy’ (page 5). Might there be any truth in this? How does the regime in Camp Green Lake
affect each of the prisoners in Group D? Are there other situations in the novel where hardship plays
a part in a character’s development — such as Elya’s attempts to woo Myra on pages 28—35, or the
Warden remembering digging holes as a child on page 206. How do these compare with the regime
at Camp Green Lake?
2. ‘He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why anyone would want to be called Armpit’ (page 20).
Why do the boys have nicknames? Why do they refuse to answer to anything else? And what do you
think of Pendanski’s insistence on using ‘the names society will recognize them by’?
3. ‘If it makes you feel better to call me Mom, Theodore, go ahead and call me Mom’, (page 19).
Why do you think the boys call Pendanski ‘Mom’? How would you describe Mr Pendanski? Did some
of his actions surprise you? What do you think motivates him? Why does he give Zero such a hard
time? How did you feel when Zero hit him with the shovel?
4. How does Stanley differ from an archetypal hero? What is the effect of having a fat, bullied kid as
the hero of a book like Holes? How does he change as the story progresses?
5. ‘“The Caveman’s cool,” said Armpit’ (page 44). Were you surprised that the boys treated Stanley
well from the outset? Why do you think he wasn’t bullied the way he had been at school? Aside
from Zero, does Stanley’s relationship with any of the boys stand out in any way?
6. ‘Stanley played the scene over and over again in his mind, each time watching another boy from
Group D beat up Derrick Dunne’ (page 54). What do you think about Stanley’s fantasy? Does it make
you sympathise with Stanley any less, or even more? How do you think Stanley would react to
Derrick Dunne if he met him after the end of the story?
7. ‘This was the one place in the camp where the boys could enjoy themselves, and what’d they do?
They wrecked it’ (page 46). What does the state of the ‘wreck room’ say about the camp and its
inmates? Why do you think the room has been vandalised?
8. ‘It was a little surprising, he thought, that X-Ray was the leader of the group’ (page 53). Does it
seem strange to you that X-Ray is the leader? How do you imagine the group’s dynamic was
established?
9. ‘All of them had something else in common. Despite their awful luck, they always remained
hopeful’ (page 9). What part does hope play in the novel? It seems to be an endearing quality in the
Yelnats family, but are there also characters for whom hope is detrimental, or even damaging?
Which characters seem to have given up hope altogether, and what do you think of them?
10. ‘For a second, he thought he saw a flash of defiance in Zero’s eyes’ (page 96). Why do you think
Zero often looks angry, dislikes answering questions, and says he likes digging holes? All of these
things get him into trouble and make his situation worse. Is there a kind of bitterness in his
awkwardness? Or is his defiance a quality you admire?
11. When Stanley drops the sack of sunflower seeds on pages 85—7, he doesn’t hesitate to tell Mr
Sir that he stole them himself. What would you have done in his position? How does his silence
compare with the other boys’ telling the Warden about Stanley and Zero’s arrangement on pages
136—7?
12. ‘You’re not in the Girl Scouts any more.’ How would you describe Mr Sir? Is there anything that
made you like him — his sense of humour, for instance, or his unexpected kindness to Zigzag on
page 131? Why do you think he works at Camp Green Lake? How would you act if you were doing
his job? After the Warden scratches him on page 91, he treats Stanley differently — presumably just
as the Warden had planned. What do you think of the Warden’s tactics and Mr Sir’s response?
Would anyone have done the same in Mr Sir’s position?
13. ‘What scared Stanley the most about dying wasn’t his actual death … for him, at least, it would
be over. For his parents the pain would never end’ (page 163). Did this passage strike you in any
way? How characteristic are Stanley’s thoughts here? Were there times when you worried that the
novel might not have a happy ending?
14. ‘Stanley was thankful that there were no racial problems. X-Ray, Armpit, and Zero were black.
He, Squid and Zigzag were white. Magnet was Hispanic’ (page 84). Did this information make any
difference to your reading of the story? Did it help you to picture them in a way you hadn’t been
able to before? Why do you think the author has chosen this way of grouping them, rather than
mentioning race individually when he describes each character? And why do you think he waited so
long to do so? Did you have any ideas before page 84 of the boys’ races? If so, on what were they
based? What part does the issue of race play in the novel? Could the story of Stanley and Zero be
read at an allegorical level?
15. ‘Same old story, ain’t it, Armpit … the white boy sits around while the black boy does all the
work’ (page 117). Might there be some truth in X-Ray’s words? If not, why do you think he says
them? Why are the boys so annoyed by Zero’s digging Stanley’s hole? Do you think Stanley should
have let Zero dig part of his hole? If Stanley really did need the extra strength, why is he so angry
with himself on page 141?
16. ‘I’ll make you a deal. One sweet kiss, and I won’t hang your boyfriend. I’ll just run him out of
town’ (page 114). What do you think of Katherine Barlow’s reaction to the drunken sheriff? Why
doesn’t she kiss him, if it will save Sam’s life? What would you have done in her position?
17. Stanley’s sentence is so severe because he was thought to have stolen the equivalent of ‘five
thousand dollars … that would provide food and shelter for the homeless’ (page 25). Do you think
the punishment would have been fair if Stanley had stolen the shoes? Zero’s crime was, in a sense,
the opposite: he stole a new pair of sneakers because he was homeless. Yet Zero’s punishment is
much the same as Stanley’s. Why do you think this is? How has the law (and the spirit of the law)
changed in the 110 years since Sam was killed on the lake?
18. Compare Kissin’ Kate Barlow with the Warden. How do they differ, and what do they have in
common? For whom are we expected to feel more sympathy? Whose crimes seems worse to you?
Louis Sachar has said that he had intended the Warden to be Kate Barlow’s granddaughter, but that
he wrote it differently because of how much he liked Kate. Are you glad he changed his mind? How
would the story have been different if he hadn’t?
19. The author has also said that it wasn’t a problem making the different strands tie together at the
end, but that it was difficult to lay the strands out. What can you say about the way episodes from
the past cut into the present? Could they have been ordered in any other way? What might the
effects of a different order have been?
20. What part does fairness play in Holes? Can you think of any characters who get away with bad
deeds, or who never receive the reward they deserve? How did you feel about the story’s
unresolved injustices? Could the novel be said to be too fair?
21. ‘It would be boring to go through all the tedious details of all the changes in their lives … you
have to fill in the holes yourself’ (pages 230—1). What has happened in the year and a half after
Stanley and Hector left Camp Green Lake? Why has the author chosen not to describe any of these
events? Are there any parts you wish he had written? How might he have dealt with them?
22. ‘He tried to convince himself it wasn’t impossible’ (page 143). Could any of the novel’s action be
said to be unrealistic? Some descriptions of the book have described it as ‘magical realism’. How fair
a representation is this of the reality which Holes presents?
23. ‘Stanley’s mother insists that there never was a curse’ (page 229). Why might Mrs Yelnats refuse
to believe in the curse, even after all that has happened? Could she be right: could all the
coincidences in the story be just that? Do you believe that things can turn out as fairly in a world
where curses may not exist — in real life, for instance?
24. Madame Zeroni specifically curses Elya’s descendants, but there is a more lasting sense in Holes
that fortune crosses generations, particularly in the connection between the Warden and the
Walkers, and in the drought that afflicts the lake (‘You make the decision: Whom did God punish?’
on page 115). Does this seem fair to you? What are the effects of the way the stories are weaved
together across generations? Is there any way a novel could contain a similar scope and depth in just
one generation of characters?
25. The sentence structure in Holes tends to be short and simple; the chapters too are shorter than
in many novels. Why has the author chosen to write in this way? What effect does it have? Could
you try to imitate the book’s style in your own writing?
26. Louis Sachar has also said, ‘mainly my books are written to make reading enjoyable … I think any
other kind of message or moral that I might teach is secondary to first just enjoying the book.’ Do
you think Holes is a story children should read? If so, why?
27. Holes could be described as, potentially, a great ensemble piece. If you’re taking part in a group
discussion now, who around you do you think would be most suited to which character’s role, and
why? Which character would you most like to play?
Further Reading
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Resources
Louis Sachar’s official website
http://www.louissachar.co.uk/
Other Books by Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats’ Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake
The Boy Who Lost His Face
Dogs Don't Tell Jokes
There's a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom
Small Steps
The Cardturner
Pig City
Someday Angeline
Fuzzy Mud (coming August 2015)
The Marvin Redpost Series
Kidnapped at Birth?
Why Pick on Me?
Is He A Girl?
Alone in His Teacher's House
Class President
A Flying Birthday Cake?
Super Fast Out of Control!
A Magic Crystal?
The Wayside School Series
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger
Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School
More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School