Sosnowski 1 Spencer Sosnowski Mrs.

Bach AP English IV 8 September 2012 Holes: Stanleys Quest In the first chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster explains that in literature, a quest in a story has five key parts, which are (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there (Foster 3). He then goes on to assert that The real reason for a quest is always selfknowledge (Foster 3). In Holes by Louis Sachar, the main character, Stanley, journeys to a mountain far across a dried up lake. All five characteristics of a quest are present, provided you know where to look. The quester, as Foster calls him, is the character in the story that goes on a quest. In the case of Holes, the quester is Stanley Yelnats, a teenage boy. Stanley was wrongfully convicted of stealing a pair of shoes that belonged to someone famous, and was sent to a place called Camp Green Lake. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake, only a dry desert that extends for miles in every direction. Once he gets there, he meets other boys his age that had also allegedly committed crimes. At Camp Green Lake, each boy is to dig one hole each day which must be five feet deep, and five feet across in every direction (Sachar 13). Stanley makes a friend at Camp Green Lake who goes by the name of Zero. One day Zero gets angry and hits an adult at the camp in the face with a shovel. Zero runs off into the desert, and no one chases him because they assume he will have to come back for water.

Sosnowski 2 After several days of Zero being gone, Stanley worries Zero is dead, but What worried him the mostwas the fear that it wasnt too late. What if Zero was still alive, desperately crawling across the dirt searching for water? (Sachar 146). Stanley decides to go and try to find Zero. Once he does, he and Zero set out for the only place they can place any hope ina mountain in the distance that looks like the thumb of God. Stanleys great-great grandfather had told of finding refuge there, and they hoped he meant water. This represents the second and third elements of the quest: A place to go (Gods Thumb) and a stated reason to go there (refuge from the camp and water). Of course, Stanley and Zero do not have an easy time getting there. The challenges and trials en route Foster mentions manifest themselves in the form of lack of water, Zeros sickness, and the fearsome yellow-spotted lizards. Stanley and Zero find hundred-year old jars of peaches that quench their thirst, but they have an adverse side-effect on Zeros health. Zero has constant stomach pain, and as they near Gods Thumb Stanley has to carry Zero because Zero is too weak to carry on. The yellow-spotted lizards are deadly, and in addition to their other challenges Stanley and Zero have to avoid the lizards which are common in the desert, and against which they have no defense. The final element of the quest as stated by Foster is a real reason to go to wherever the quester is headed. Foster also states that this reason is always self-knowledge. Stanley is a prime subject for this obtainment of self-knowledge, according to Foster, who says your average sixteen-to-seventeen-year-old kid is likely to have a long way to go in the self-knowledge department (Foster 3). Louis Sachar does not fail to capitalize on this advantage. While resting one night on Gods Thumb, Stanley comes to a realization that for the first time he could remember, he was happy. More than that, he realizes why: because he is friends with Zero, and

Sosnowski 3 he is now more comfortable with himself than he has been in his entire life. The desperate journey undertaken by Stanley and Zero turned out to be an experience that changed Stanleys life for the better. Because of this quest, Stanley has a newfound love for, and confidence in, himself. That is what the quest is all about.

Sosnowski 4 Works Cited Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. New York: Harper, 2003. Print. Sachar, Louis. Holes. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1998. Print.