In Louis Sachar’s book Holes, the protagonist Stanley Yelnats is sent to a correctional camp after being wrongly convicted for stealing donated sneakers. Stanley is born under a curse and is bullied because he is overweight and poor, giving the audience a misguided first impression of him as an unsuspecting hero. But throughout the course of the book, it shows that the protagonist unexpectedly develops into a hero who saves one of his best friends from turning into “buzzard food,” and unknowingly breaks the family curse. During Stanley’s ordeal stay at Camp Green Lake, he not only changes mentally to display heroic traits like altruism, perseverance and bravery he has also changed physically to be a stronger, healthier individual.
Sachar effectively portrays the protagonist to have altruism. Although Stanley’s first day “digging for character” is “hot and sore,” the reader is shown altruism from Stanley as he pulls through to remember to use his
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For example, Stanley continues to carry Zero up “Big Thumb” to seek refuge even though he is exhausted and in need of food and water. Helping Zero after he collapses from sickness, possibly caused by the consumption of ‘sploosh’ (old spiced peach jam). “He thought only about each step, not the impossible task that lay before him,” (page 170), which further displays his ultimate perseverance. Stanley also shows this character trait whilst digging, keeping in mind Stanley is obese, “he glanced helplessly at his shovel. It wasn’t defective. He was defective,” despite this he continues to have determination to finish digging his hole in the heat. Stanley faces challenges, to others which might have seemed insurmountable but he uses perseverance; therefore clearly states that he is an inspirational character . It is also evident that he shows bravery throughout the novel to overcome these