FREE ONLINE NOTES FOR HOLES BY LOUIS SACHAR

CHAPTER 40

Summary

There is a brief flashback to the story of a little girl who was cured of near fatal “stomach sickness” by eating Sam the onion man’s onions.

Stanley and Zero spend the next two days sleeping and eating onions. The water they are drinking is muddy so Stanley decides to go down the mountain and look for the shovel. Zero, still weak, stays behind. Stanley walks an unusually long distance down the mountain, following his trail from two days before. When he decides that he has gone too far, because it would have been impossible to carry Zero uphill that distance, he sees the shovel and sack of jars a little farther down the mountain.

Notes

Two themes are addressed in this chapter. The story of the medicinal powers of SamÂ’s onions foreshadows ZeroÂ’s recovery and shows the impact of fate and history. Retracing the incredible distance that Stanley carried Zero demonstrates the power of friendship.

CHAPTER 41

Summary

Zero is getting better. Stanley, to his own surprise, never got sick from the sploosh. The boys are living on onions, and their water hole, though murky, it quite large.

Zero explains his childhood to Stanley, how he went to the same homeless shelter as Clyde Livingston once in a while. It was there that he saw the sneakers and took them for his own. He did not realize he was stealing; he just needed shoes. When everyone made a fuss Zero took the shoes off and left them on a parked car. He was later arrested for trying to steal a new pair of sneakers from a shoe store. “If I had just kept those old smelly sneakers, then neither of us would be here right now.”

Notes

The conclusion to ZeroÂ’s story about stealing Clyde LivingstonÂ’s shoes demonstrates that it was beyond coincidence that a Yelnats and a Zeroni were brought together. Had the series of events that led to each of their arrests not occurred, they could not have enacted the scene that was supposed to have taken place generations before. (See Notes Ch. 37-39)

CHAPTER 42

Summary

Zero recovers and digs their water hole deeper, lining it with rocks. They now have clear water and eat about twenty onions a day. Stanley feels happy on the mountain with Zero. He was never a happy child before, but now he has a new sense of himself and he likes it. He remembers thinking that the sneakers that fell from the overpass were destinyÂ’s shoes and believes that destiny brought him and Zero to the mountain.

Stanley thinks through some crazy alternatives to returning to Camp Green Lake. Finally, he decides that it is his destiny to dig up Kate BarlowÂ’s treasure. He asks Zero if he wants to dig one more hole.

Notes

Stanley has completely changed. He is no longer the weak, fat, picked on, unhappy boy introduced in Chapter 3. He is strong, happy, and likes who he has become. He even has a real friend. True to the novelÂ’s predominant theme, Stanley feels he has found his destiny.

CHAPTER 43

Summary

Stanley and Zero pack water and onions and make plans for their return to Camp Green Lake where they will try to find the treasure, and then escape up the dirt road. Zero tells Stanley more about his childhood and how his mother sang a version of the same song that Stanley had sung. Stanley thinks about his parents and wonders what they might have been told.

They head down the mountain and Stanley takes a tumble. He is all right and they are able to recover the jars of water and the onions that had dropped. Stubbornly, they each refuse to take the first drink until their throats are raspy and they have to.

Zero spots the Mary Lou and continues with stories of his childhood as they walk. He tells of how he stayed in a park where his mother told him to wait, but she didnÂ’t return for over a month. After passing the Mary Lou, Zero directs their path to Camp Green Lake. Soon they hear the sounds of the camp. They hide in holes near the one Stanley had found the lipstick tube in.

Notes

Stanley and Zero have taken their situation into their own hands, temporarily undermining fate. It is their friendship that has brought them this far. Perhaps their friendship has even broken the curse on Green Lake as suggested by the appearance of clouds in this chapter and the next.