Holes Essay
How does Stanley Yelnats relationship with his family differ from the other boys at Camp Green Lake? “She’ll worry if I don’t.” –Stanley Yelnats to Squid.
This is one of the many sentences that set Stanley’s relationship with his mother apart from the others. Their relationship is strong and they care about each other very much. A wonderful example of the differences between Stanley’s relationship and the other boy’s relationships is the letter that Stanley writes to his parents. He lies to protect them. Another great example is that some of the boys made fun of Stanley because of his dedication to his parents. One perfect case is that the boys don’t really talk about their families so this demonstrates that things probably aren’t very good at home.
Stanley writes letters to his mum and dad so they won’t worry about him. But Stanley doesn’t tell the truth. “Dear Mom and Dad, camp is hard but challenging. We've been running obstacle courses, and have to swim long distances on the lake. Tomorrow we learn (…) to rock climb. I know that sounds scary, but don't worry…” Stanley lies to them so they don’t have to be concerned about him and what he is actually doing, which is digging a hole every day. This shows that he cares about his parents and is willing to make them feel like they don’t have to go to sleep anxious about him.
The other boys at Camp Green Lake are tougher and less sympathetic compared to Stanley and even Zero. They have never mentioned their families before which goes to show that they don’t really care about their families or they are just putting on a tough act in front of everyone. "What's in the box?" asked Squid. Stanley had forgotten he had brought it. "Uh, paper. I was going to write a letter to my mother." "Your mother?" laughed Squid. "She'll worry if I don't." Squid scowled." When Squid scowled at Stanley’s response it implies that Stanley is much softer than the other boys and has a stronger connection to his family than Squid and the rest of the boys.
We don’t really see any of the boys at Camp Green Lake interact with their families. But their attitudes to and relationships with their family members are