Holes summary (chapter 41- 50)

Zero's condition was improving and Stanley felt much stronger now. They washed their socks because those were the dirtiest. Zero tells Stanley a story about him going to homeless shelters. He tells about how to get in and what happens if they found out he doesn't have a mom. They could get everything they wanted. Zero didn't know it was stealing. That is why he took Clyde Livingston's sneakers.

Zero could dig a hole again and it would be his last hole. They went all the way around the big 'thumb'. Later when Zero slept Stanley couldn't sleep. He was thinking about what his parents thought what happened to him. Maybe they thought that Stanley was dead. At the end Stanley asks Zero if he wants to dig one more hole.

Stanley and Zero headed back to the camp. Stanley fell and they lost 1/3 of their onions. Along the way they gathered them. They kept on walking but couldn't find Mary Lou (the boat). When they found it they knew they were heading the right direction. They reached Camp Green Lake and hid in one of the holes. They waited until it was dark and then they would sneak in. They would get food and water.

Stanley and Zero stay in the hole and then Zero suggests that he would refill the water jars. While Zero was getting water Stanley made the hole wider with a shovel. He kept on digging and then he felt something hard. He tried to dig it out and he could feel a corner of the object. When Stanley took out the object it seemed that it was a suitcase. the Warden came and said thank you to them.

The Warden stays there with the boys, the suitcase which was covered by Yellow Spotted Lizards was held by Zero. There were Yellow Spotted Lizards and everyone kept still.

The lizards are still everywhere and it takes really long. The Warden was still there watching them so they couldn't run away.

It was turning day and the Warden was still standing there. The sun rose and the lizards went down back into the hole to remain in the shadow. After a while there were only a few left. Stanley could pull himself up. There was Stanley's lawyer who came to pick him up. He was found innocent and to bring him home. The Warden says that the suitcase they were holding was hers. She said that Stanley and Zero stole it from her office. Then they could see the name carved into the suitcase: STANLEY YELNATS.

They walked slowly back to the camp. Stanley didn't want to leave Zero behind and begged that he could come with Stanley. Stanley's lawyer wanted to see Zero's files but they were lost in a black hole in cyberspace. Zero still went with Stanley.

There were no yellow spotted lizards before in Camp Green Lake. One afternoon three men came to Sam to ask for onion juice. It would keep the lizards away since they went rattlesnake hunting. As Stanley and Zero drive away from Camp Green Lake Stanley's lawyer tells her that the is a lawyer who works with inventors. Zero tells Stanley's lawyer that he was the one who stole the sneakers.

Everything starts falling in place and Stanley realizes a connection. The great-great-grandson of Elya Yelnats carried the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni up the mountain. Camp Green Lake was turned into a girl scout camp.

Holes summary (chapter 30 - 40)

Stanley felt bad for Zero and was scared because he didn't know what happened to him. He was worrying about Zero and if he could survive he knew that Zero ran away. Since Zero ran away Stanley had to dig Zero's hole since Zero had dug a bit of his hole for a long time.

Stanley steals the truck and runs away to find Zero and go find him. There is also a new guy who came to Camp Green Lake with a nickname: Twitch.

Stanley walked towards the big thumb and thought that Zero might be there. He saw that the holes expanded over a long and far distance. He would run away and then come back, that was Stanley's plan.

As Stanley walked closer towards 'god's thumb' he found a boat. The boat had a name carved onto it. It said: Mary Lou. As Stanley looked under it the only thing he could see was darkness. He heard a noise and shouted, Hey! The voice replied weakly: Hey.

Under the boat was Zero, his face looked like an jack-o'-lantern. Zero offers Stanley some 'Sploosh' which is a jar with spiced peaches. Stanley tells Zero that he should go back to the camp, but he refuses. He looked towards 'god's thumb' and showed Stanley a thumbs up.

Zero and Stanley start walking towards 'god's thumb' and not a long time after they started walking Zero drops to the floor. As he drops to the floor he grabs his stomach. Stanley is asking what is wrong but Zero says it is nothing. Stanley thought it was because of the 'Sploosh'. But it didn't affect Stanley.

They walked further up to 'god's thumb' and along the way Stanley gives Zero words to spell. If Zero has words to spell then he will get distracted. He still had those 'attacks' where he grabs his stomach and folds over. Because of that they couldn't walk all the way in one time. They had to take breaks.

Stanley and Zero still were walking towards 'god's thumb' and Stanley thought that it was weird that they still hadn't found any water. There were tangled patches of weeds and vines. Stanley slipped and fell into a mud puddle. Then he realized that you need water in order to make mud. Stanley dug a hole into the mud and found water and an union.

As Stanley woke up the next morning there was more water in the hole he had dug out. He thought that he could go and take the shovel but he was not sure if he could make it back on time. Zero confesses that he was sorry for stealing Clyde Livingston's sneakers.

Stanley went out to find the shovel. It was easy to follow the trail and he kept on walking. A few moments later het thought that he walked past it. After a time searching for the shovel he could find it lying in some tall weeds.

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Holes Summary part 3 ( chapter 22 - 30 )

Chapter 22 & 23

At the camp, the other boys tease Zero about why he likes to dig so much. Stanley waits until he and Zero are alone to thank him for digging his hole and to ask why Zero helped him.
Zero replies that Stanley did not steal the sunflower seeds, and he did not steal the sneakers either. Stanley offers to teach Zero how to read. Zero smiles a wide-mouthed smile. Stanley is impressed at how smart Zero is both in memorization and in math. In return for the lessons, Zero offers to dig Stanley’s hole for an hour each day. In closing, Zero tells Stanley, “I’m not stupid, I know everybody thinks I am. I just don’t like answering their questions.”
Later, while in bed, Stanley is thinking over the deal he made with Zero, worrying about X-Ray’s disapproval. As he tries to sleep the memory of his experience in the Warden’s cabin drifts around in his head. Suddenly remembering the makeup case, he realizes that the gold tube he had found is the top from a lipstick, and the KB inscribed on it could mean Kate Barlow.

Green Lake was actually a lake over one hundred years ago. Each year Miss Katherine Barlow would pick peaches from the trees that lined the shore, and preserve them in jars with spices. She always won prizes for her recipe at the annual Fourth of July town picnic.
Katherine taught school in a broken down schoolhouse. She was smart and beautiful. The town children loved her, and so did the young men. One man, Charles Walker, who had earned the nickname Trout because of his awful foot odor (he had the same foot fungus that would plague Clyde Livingston generations later), tried to court Miss Barlow. He was rich, but inconsiderate, arrogant and stupid, so Katherine turned him down, much to his chagrin.

Chapter 24 

In the morning Stanley sees Mr. Sir whose face is badly swollen from the Warden’s scratches. When one boy asks Mr. Sir what happened, Mr. Sir grabs him by the throat smashing him into an oatmeal pot. Out on the lake Stanley does not dare talk to the other boys about what happened to Mr. Sir. When Mr. Sir comes to fill the boys’ canteens he runs the water on to the dry ground rather than fill Stanley’s. Mr Sir asks if he wants more water and then he lets the water spill onto the ground again.

Chapter 25 & 26

Sam the onion man rowed his homemade boat across the Green Lake of one hundred years ago with his donkey, Mary Lou. He sold onions that seem to have incredible medicinal powers, curing everything from asthma to baldness.

Sam was a Negro, so he was not allowed to attend Miss Katherine Barlow’s school, but she talked him into making repair after repair on the old schoolhouse so they could spend time together. She paid him with jars of spiced peaches. She read him poetry, some of which he already knew by heart. He told her of his onion fields across the lake where the water runs uphill.

One rainy evening when there was nothing left to repair, Sam kissed Katherine. They were seen by a woman from the town who said, “God will punish you!”

Soon the whole town knew that the schoolteacher had kissed the onion man. Trout Walker led an angry mob into the schoolhouse where they tore things apart and set fire to the books. Katherine escaped and ran to the sheriff. He was drunk and told Katherine that Sam would be hung for kissing a white woman, and that God would punish her. He offered Katherine a deal, “One sweet kiss, and I won’t hang your boyfriend. I’ll just run him out of town.”

Katherine jerked herself free and ran out to find Sam. She and Sam tried to escape in Sam’s rowboat, leaving Mary Lou behind. Trout Walker came after them in his motorboat, smashed into Sam’s boat, shot Sam, and brought Katherine back to the shore where she found Mary Lou shot in the head.

That is when it stopped raining forever at Green Lake. “You make the decision: Whom did God punish?”

A few days later Miss Katherine Barlow went back and shot the sheriff, then kissed him leaving a red lipstick print. She would be the fearsome Kissin’ Kate Barlow for the next twenty years.

Chapter 27 & 28

For days Mr. Sir has been pouring Stanley’s water onto the ground, so Stanley now conserves his water as he digs. It helps that Zero digs part of Stanley’s hole, but the other boys are angry about this and do not understand that Stanley is “saving his energy” to teach Zero how to read. When Mr. Sir comes with the water truck again, he fills Stanley’s canteen and then takes it to the far side of the truck and does something unseen before returning it to Stanley. Later while digging, Stanley pours his canteen out without drinking, afraid of what Mr. Sir might have put in it.
Stanley finishes teaching the quick-learning Zero how to write the letters of the alphabet. He teaches Zero how to write his name. Zero tells Stanley that his real name is Hector Zeroni.

Kate Barlow, who had become a little crazy, returned to Green Lake after twenty years. The lake had almost completely dried up. All that remained of the town was a small cabin near two oak trees. Kate lived in the cabin remembering and sometimes imagining Sam’s presence. She wished she were dead.

After a few months, Trout Walker came and kicked down her door. He had with him a gun and a red-haired woman who had married him for his money, which had “dried up with the lake.” They brutally demanded that Kate lead them to where she had buried her treasure. Kate walked outside barefoot, leaving her turquoise-studded boots inside, and zigzagged around the vast wasteland leading Trout and his wife nowhere. She was bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard and told Trout and his screeching wife to go ahead and dig. “Kate Barlow died laughing.”

Chapter 29 & 30

It becomes even hotter at Camp Green Lake because of the humidity from the thunderstorms in the distant mountains. To Stanley it appears that lightning is coming out of a huge, distant rock formation that resembles a fist with the thumb sticking up, “as if it were the thumb of God.”

As Stanley digs he ponders “God’s thumb” thinking he must be near where his great-grandfather was robbed. He wonders if the lipstick tube he found was really Kate Barlow’s. It comes time for Zero to dig part of Stanley’s hole and the other boys sarcastically taunt Stanley about having a slave. When Mr. Pendanski arrives with the water truck the boys force Stanley to the front of the line accusing him of being better than they are. The taunting leads to a pushing fight with Zigzag, though Stanley does not push back. Mr. Pendanski intervenes encouraging Stanley to hit Zigzag and “teach the bully a lesson.” Stanley feigns a punch and Zigzag proceeds to beat Stanley up. Zero pulls Zigzag off and has him in a life threatening choke hold. Mr. Pendanski fires his gun into the air. The gunfire brings the Warden and the other counselors out. The boys tell the Warden that Zero has been digging part of Stanley’s holes. Stanley tries to explain, but the Warden turns the situation against Zero by quizzing him on phonics. Mr. Pendanski comments that Zero is “so stupid, he doesn’t even know he’s stupid.” Zero then refuses to dig any more holes. Mr. Pendanski continues to berate Zero. Having had enough, Zero smacks a shovel into Mr. Pendanski’s face. The counselors draw their guns as Zero slowly walks away until he disappears in the distance. Expecting Zero to return, the Warden posts guards at the showers and wreck room for the remainder of the day and night. She orders the six boys remaining to dig all seven holes.

Holes Summary part 2 ( chapter 16 - 21 )

Chapter 16
All the boys are exhausted at the end of the day except X-Ray. The next day, accompanied by the Warden, the boys continue digging and wheelbarrowing. As he works, Stanley thinks about the gold tube and tries to figure out what the initials KB might be. The Warden becomes impatient and threatens to make Mr. Sir dig if he does not make the boys work faster. Mr. Sir reminds the boys they are not in the Girl Scouts. Group D works later than any other group.
That evening, while considering telling the Warden the truth, Stanley receives a letter from his mother. The other boys start to tease him but X-Ray calls them off. When the boys leave Stanley reads the letter. His mother writes that she is proud Stanley is doing well at camp and that the family may be evicted because of the foul sneaker smell from his father’s experiments. She quips about the old lady who lived in a shoe. Once again, Zero is looking over Stanley’s shoulder.
Stanley tries to explain his mother’s joke but Zero appears to have no knowledge of nursery rhymes.

Chapter 17
The boys continue to dig around the hole where X-Ray had “found” the gold tube for the next week and a half. The Warden becomes impatient and irritable to the point of jabbing Armpit with a pitchfork, drawing blood.
The boys are also irritable. Zigzag strikes Stanley in the head with his shovel accusing Stanley of adding dirt where Zigzag has to dug. Stanley’s large gash is bleeding. Mr. Sir tapes a piece of his sunflower seed sack over it and tells Stanley to keep digging. Stanley removes “his” dirt from on top of Zigzag’s dirt.

Chapter 18
The next day the boys are back to the routine of digging their holes in a different part of the lake. Stanley is relived that the task is once again finite and he does not have the Warden or the other boys swing shovels close by. He is stronger now and can almost keep pace with the other boys’ digging.

Back in the camp Stanley showers and begins to write another encouraging, though not factual, letter to his mother. Again, Zero is over his shoulder. At first Stanley did not care. He has bought into the idea that Zero is worthless. When he tells Zero not to read over his shoulder Zero tells Stanley that he does not know how to read. Stanley is cold toward Zero and refuses Zero’s request that Stanley teach him to read. Stanley feels he needs to “save his energy for the people who counted.” He sealed his letter with his tongue that is now always thirsty.

Chapter 19
In the middle of the night Stanley hears Squid crying. When he speaks to Squid about it Squid threatens to break Stanley’s jaw. Out on the lake Mr. Sir comes and fills the boys’ canteens. After he leaves, Magnet calls to the other boys because he has stolen Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds. The boys toss the sack around to share. When it comes to Stanley the seeds spill out into his hole. The boys see Mr. Sir returning as Stanley tries to bury the seeds. Mr. Sir goes from hole to hole and sees the seeds at the bottom of Stanley’s hole.
Stanley confesses that he stole the seeds from Mr. Sir’s truck and ate them all himself. The other boys go along with the story. Mr. Sir and Stanley get into the truck to go speak with the Warden. Amazingly, Stanley actually feels good in the comfortable truck, out of the sun, with the wind on his face.

Chapter 20
Stanley walks toward the Warden’s cabin, enjoying the shade of the two oak trees but feeling like a condemned man. There are holes all the way up to the cabin.
Stanley confesses to the Warden about the sunflower seeds. Mr. Sir says he thinks Stanley is trying to cover for one of the other boys. The Warden sends Stanley into her dressing room to fetch a makeup case. From among the lipstick and other contents she takes out a bottle of red nail polish that is mixed with rattlesnake venom. She explains that it is harmless when dry, but toxic when wet. She paints her nails and slaps Mr. Sir leaving burning red streaks where his face is scratched. Mr. Sir lay screaming on the floor as Stanley left. The Warden sneered that it was unfortunate for Stanley that Mr. Sir would not die.

Chapter 21
As Stanley walks back to his hole he thinks about his great grandfather, the pig-stealer’s son, who had spent seventeen days lost in the desert after being robbed by Kissin’ Kate Barlow. He was rescued, claiming he had “found refuge on God’s thumb,” was sent to a hospital, and married one of the nurses. Stanley’s thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a rattlesnake. Stanley backs away and runs. When he reaches the spot where Group D is digging he sees that Zero has nearly finished his hole for him.

Holes Summary part 1 ( chapter 1 - 15 )

Chapter 1 - 4
The first four chapters set the scene of Camp Green Lake as a menacing place. Even before Stanley arrives at the camp it is clear that life will be hard for him there. The threats at Camp Green Lake are twofold; they come from humans and nature. Humans such as the Warden and the guard on the bus who has a gun are a clear symbol of harsh authority. The natural environment around Green Lake, the hot sun, the dry air, and many poisonous animals, are also fierce and dangerous. Stanley gets introduced to Mr Sir. which also seems a bit 'scary' to him. Mr Sir explains all about Camp Green Lake and gets him to look around. Mr Sir asked some questions: Do you see an Electric fence? Or any such thing around the camp? Mr Sir explained why there were no such things at camp green lake.

Chapter 5 - 9
The story of Elya and Madame Zeroni has many elements of a classic fairy - tale, making the novel resemble a fable. A classic fable is a brief story told to illustrate a moral point. Holes is far more lengthy than a fable and there are many morals that result from the narration, but many of the characteristics are similar. Madame Zeroni's instructions of how to take care of the pig have the ring of a magic spell, complete with water that runs uphill. Elya had to carry a pig up the mountain and sing a song to it. Each time he did this he would become stronger and stronger. The pig would get fatter and then he would have a girls heart named Sarah. Stanley got introduced to the boys in hut / tent D. Their nicknames were : Armpit, Zigzag, X - Ray, Squid , Caveman (Stanley) and Zero.

Chapter 10 - 14
These chapters show us the ways that groups of people establish and maintain power. X - Ray becomes the group's leader because he has a system of rewards for those who support him. Once Stanley has done X - Ray a favor, X - Ray rewards him by moving him ahead in the water line and coming to his defense when Squid taunts him about receiving a letter from his mother. The Warden also has a system to keep herself in control of the whole group. Like X - Ray's system, she uses punishments to keep order but unlike X - Ray, she is officially recognized as the head of the camp. The Warden rewards tent D with extra water and when Mr Pendanski comes with the water truck X - Ray pretended that he found something and Mr Pendanski said that the Warden might like it what he found.

Chapter 15
The Warden sends X - Ray back to camp to take the day off. She orders Zero to dig X - Ray's hole and Stanley to shift. All of the boys are promised a double shower and the day off if they find anything. Stanley wonders how the Warden knew he was called Caveman and Zigzag tells that the Warden has small hidden cameras and microphones all around the camp. Stanley realizes that the Warden has the boys digging in order to find something. He makes a mental note of the location of the hole that he found that gold tube in. When Stanley found the golden tube he thought it was a bullet and he noticed that in the tube there was KB engraved in it.

My opinion about these chapters:
These chapters were really fun to read. Once you started reading you just can't stop reading. The book is always ongoing which means that there is always action in it and each chapter ends with something which makes you want to wonder what is in the next chapter. Each chapter is full and rich of details which makes us, the readers understand it better. It is fun to read and it has much characters and it is written from one perspective. These chapters show us how the life can be if your the great - great - dirty - rotten - pig - stealing - grandson.

Blog views

So I just wanted to check the stats of my blog and found out this:

I had page views from all over the world (well not really).
These were the stats:

Entry                         Pageviews
---------------------------------------
Indonesia                    150
United States              101
Singapore                     31
Germany                        6
Poland                            5
France                            2
Netherlands                    1

I was really amazed by this I never thought this would happen but it did!
I'll just talk about the pageviews by Browsers and then pageviews by Operating Systems.

Pageviews by Browsers

Entry                              Pageviews
--------------------------------------------
Safari                              116 (39%)
Chrome                           101 (34%)
Firefox                            56 (18%)
Internet Explorer            12 (4%)
Mobile                            5 (1%)
Mobile Safari                 4 (1%)
Opera                              1 ( < 1%)
PhantomJS                     1 ( < 1%)

Pageviews by Operating Systems

Entry                              Pageviews
---------------------------------------------
Macintosh                        203 (68%)
Windows                         57 (19%)
Android                           18 (6%)
Iphone                             17 (5%)
Unknown                        1 ( < 1%)

I'm really happy to see some improvement on my blog.
By the time you are reading this the stats mabye have gone up.
Thank you to everyone.
See you in the next post