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Holes
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Stanley says it had to be destiny that the shoes fell on him, yet he wonders if he is delirious. How far should he trust a feeling this good?
The tension Stanley knows he has no reason to be happy and wonders if he is delirious, but the happiness is real to him, and it carries him from liking himself to the idea of digging one more hole.
Notice what Stanley feels, what he doubts about it, and what it leads him to ask.
Zero grows strong enough to help dig the hole deeper, and says it is the last he will ever dig. The boys eat onions and work out how many they have eaten. Two nights later Stanley lies awake, too happy to sleep, and wonders if he is delirious. He thinks of destiny, of escaping as a fugitive and of money, and at the end he wakes Zero to ask if he wants to dig one more hole.
Start with the line "He knew he had no reason to be happy." Ask what kind of happiness this is.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the deep hole, the onion count, the sleepless night, Stanley's thoughts and the question to Zero.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: one for a feeling that a person cannot remember, and one saying what else made their life hard.
Debate Take sides: how far should Stanley trust a feeling this good? Each side uses at least one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why the author lets Stanley doubt his happiness before he asks the last question.
Easier Read the night scene aloud together and talk through discussion questions 2 and 4 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to find one more place where Stanley argues with himself, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Stanley wonders if his happiness is like the warmth a person feels right before freezing to death. What does that comparison tell us about him?Character
What it asks It asks what it shows about Stanley that he meets a good feeling with a worry.
He is careful: he does not take a good feeling at face value.
He knew he had no reason to be happy.
He wondered if perhaps he was experiencing something like that.
He is used to bad news, so a good feeling looks suspicious to him.
Before that he’d been unhappy at school, where he had no friends
No one liked him
A strong answer Stanley says he has no reason to be happy and compares the feeling to the warmth before freezing. That can show care, since he tests the feeling before trusting it, or the habit of a boy who has been unhappy for so long that happiness looks suspicious. A strong answer picks one and uses one of his lines.
2. Before, Stanley did not especially like himself. Now he does. What might have changed for him?Theme
What it asks It asks what has changed in Stanley's life to change how he sees himself.
He has done hard things: he carried Zero up the hill and has stayed alive.
He remembered when he had first carried Zero up the hill
He liked himself now.
He has a friend: before, no one liked him, and now Zero lies sleeping beside him.
Before that he’d been unhappy at school, where he had no friends
He looked over at Zero sleeping near him.
A strong answer At school Stanley had no friends and no one liked him, and the truth was he did not like himself. Now he has carried Zero up a mountain and lies beside a friend, and he likes himself. A strong answer says which change matters more, what he did or whom he has, and uses lines from the chapter.
3. Stanley is glad Zero left the shoes on the parked car, though that is part of why they are both at the camp. Is that a fair way to feel?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh gladness about good that came out of a hard path against what that path cost.
It is fair: he has found something here that he did not have before.
he thought there was no place he would rather be
He liked himself now.
It is too easy: the camp made his life miserable, and a hard road is ahead.
It wasn’t just being sent to Camp Green Lake that had made his life miserable.
It would mean living the rest of his life as a fugitive.
A strong answer Stanley says there is no place he would rather be, so the gladness is real to him. But the camp made his life miserable and he is thinking about living as a fugitive, so the gladness may be too easy. A strong answer takes a side, uses lines from both, and says what the other side gets right.
4. A flower petal moves on Zero's face as he sleeps, and Stanley decides not to put it back. What mood does the author build with that small scene?Tone
What it asks It asks what feeling a tiny, quiet moment creates after so much hardship.
It is peaceful: the petal moves with each breath, and nothing else is happening.
Zero breathed in, and the petal was drawn up almost touching his nose.
It stayed on Zero’s face for an amazingly long time before fluttering off to the side.
It is tender and a little sad: Stanley knows the moment cannot be set up again.
Stanley considered placing it back in front of Zero’s nose, but it wouldn’t be the same.
It reminded Stanley of something out of a cartoon.
A strong answer The petal rises and falls with Zero's breath and stays on his face for an amazingly long time, so the scene is quiet and peaceful. Stanley thinks of putting it back but knows it would not be the same, which gives the scene a tender, passing feeling. A strong answer names the mood and says what in the wording builds it.
5. Zero says, “That’s the last hole I will ever dig.” Stanley ends the chapter asking if he wants to dig one more. Why might the author end here?Author's choice
What it asks It asks what the final question does by echoing Zero's earlier words, and what it says about Stanley's choice.
It is a wry twist: the last hole is followed at once by a request for one more.
“That’s the last hole I will ever dig,” he declared, throwing down the shovel.
“You want to dig one more hole?” Stanley asked him.
It is the end of Stanley's argument with himself, and he decides to ask.
You’re crazy! he told himself.
Or maybe it was destiny.
A strong answer Zero declares he will never dig another hole, and the chapter ends with Stanley asking if he wants to dig one more. That is a wry turn. It is also the end of Stanley's argument with himself, since he has told himself he is crazy and then thought, or maybe it was destiny. A strong answer says what the ending leaves the reader wondering, and does not guess what the hole is for.
1. Zero says Big Thumb must have a hole filled with water. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how Zero reasons about where the water comes from.
What it asks It asks the student to judge whether Zero's idea is good reasoning or a guess.
It is good reasoning: he starts from a fact about water and asks where else it could come from.
Where else could the water be coming from?
Water doesn’t run uphill.
It is a guess: he names a hole nobody has seen, and Stanley is not sure.
It must have a hole in it
“You think?”
A strong answer Zero starts from a fact: water does not run uphill, so it has to come from somewhere. His answer, a hole in Big Thumb filled with water, is a guess nobody has seen, and Stanley says only You think? A strong answer says how much is reasoning and how much is a guess, with two pieces of evidence.
2. The boys work out how many onions they have eaten. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how life on the mountain has changed them.
What it asks It asks what the onions and the days have done to the boys' senses and their sense of time.
They have gotten used to the onions: the taste and smell no longer bother Stanley.
Now he didn’t smell a thing.
he no longer noticed a particularly strong taste
They have lost track of time: even Zero does not know how long they have been here.
I don’t even know how long we’ve been here.
I’d say about a week
A strong answer Stanley no longer notices the strong taste or even the smell, so the onions have become part of life. Zero does not know how long they have been there, and Stanley can only say about a week. A strong answer says what these changes show, using one piece of evidence for each.
3. Stanley thinks through escaping and living as a fugitive. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what it would cost him and how he would get by.
What it asks It asks the student to weigh what Stanley would give up against the plan he has in mind.
It would cost him his old life: he could not go home, and he would need a new name.
It would mean living the rest of his life as a fugitive.
But he couldn’t go visit them, in case the police were watching the apartment.
He has a plan for getting by: food, water and a way past the camp.
They could fill the sack with onions, and the three jars with water.
Maybe sneak into the kitchen and get some food.
A strong answer Stanley sees that he would live as a fugitive and could not visit home, since the police might be watching. He also has a practical plan: fill the sack with onions and the jars with water, and get food from the kitchen. A strong answer uses one piece of evidence for the cost and one for the plan, and notices that Stanley calls his own thinking crazy.