Holes: What we lack in our lives

How are digging holes similar to living your daily life? Most days, we dig up nothing special and live an ordinary day, just like Stanley and the others. Once in a while, we could find something interesting, like the fossil Stanley found in the sand. On even rarer occasions, we would hit the jackpot and find the treasure Stanley found in the end. That is why the word “Holes” serves as a major symbol throughout the story.

At the beginning of the story, we learn that Stanley holds a negative attitude against himself, for what his life consists of was simple: misery. He was an outsider, overweight, constantly bullied, weak and slow. He was like stuck in a huge, empty “hole” in his life, desperately trying to climb out. When he arrived at the detention camp, he was told to dig holes everyday, which he did without complaint. However, when he denounced the group of the leading boys and became close friends with Zero, another unfortunate boy, he began to transform from the clumsy, quiet Stanley to the tough “Caveman”. He taught Zero how to read and write, which helped build up his confidence and savor the joy of having a genuine friend, which he’d never had before. These feelings helped him fill up the hole of his life, and even gave him the courage to face the supervisors and escape the camp.

The timeline of the story seems to be weaving throughout ancient history, the past and the present. In the ancient times, Stanley’s ancestor broke his promise with a gypsy woman and got his family cursed. In a way, he left his descendants a hole, a broken promise waiting to be fulfilled. In the past, n the infamous bandit Kissin’ Kate Barlow robbed Stanley’s great-grandfather of a valuable suitcase, which was also buried in a hole somewhere in the desert, waiting to be discovered. In the present, when Stanley got arrested and was sent to the camp, he wasn’t aware that a wealth of treasures hidden in the holes was awaiting him. The story shows us that history is actually more connected than we think. The three timelines are three different threads woven through a “hole” that closes the time and space between them and allows the threads to join one another. The connection was also the reason why Stanley and Zero were able to survive once they escaped into the “thumbs of God” mountains—for it was exactly the place where Stanley’s great grandfather found refuge after he was robbed by the bandit, where he found the chance of survival in the midst of the desolate desert.

Another “hole” can be found at the end of the story, when the two got out of the camp and had a party with their family. Actually, it was more like a pun. Zero and Stanley were once again reunited with their families, which made their families “whole.” It was a clever pun, for only those who paid a lot of attention to the story would notice it.

Stanley was able to quickly adjust to the treacherous environment and handle the difficulties awaiting him, and I deeply admire his courage and his determination to save both his friend and himself. The symbol of “holes” can also be seen in our lives, where they represent all the failures and challenges we experience everyday. No matter how many times you are struck down by these troublesome issues in life, we should always stand up from where we have fallen and try again. After reading this book, I finally realize that what I did in the past was wrong. Like Stanley, I faced a lot of “holes” in my life, but I did not have to his courage stand up for myself, always afraid of confrontation, but now I know better: how to deal with the “holes” is all up to us. We can simply choose to sidestep and avoid trouble altogether, or we can use our courage and try to fill the “holes” by confronting the problems so that we can make our lives “whole.”