Holes chapters 11_15 summary

Chapter 11

Stanley resumes digging but is interrupted by X-Ray (pig latin for Rex, his real name) who tell Stanley to give any interesting finds to him. Since X-Ray is the leader of the group and Stanley needs his approval, Stanley agrees.

As he continues to dig, Stanley wonders how X-Ray, who is the smallest boy except for Zero, became the leader. He realizes that he himself is the biggest of the boys and is glad that they have shown their acceptance by giving him a nickname. Stanley eased the pain of digging by imagining over and over again that he had become good friends with the boys from Group D and that they came to school and beat up Stanley’s tormentor, Derrick Dunne. Notes: Stanley knows that the boys at Camp Green Lake are capable of violence as evidenced by the condition of the wreck room (see Ch. 9). He therefore complies with X-Rays request to turn over anything “interesting” Stanley might find while digging. Stanley wants to be accepted, but he realizes that these boys are tougher than even his old nemesis Derrick, and uses the imagined fight to redirect his pain.

Chapter 15

X-Ray is driven back to the camp and Mr. Pendanski is instructed to return with three wheelbarrows. Calling the remaining boys by their nicknames, the Warden pairs them up, one to continue digging and one to sift through the excavated dirt and load it into a wheelbarrow. She offers the day off and a double shower to anyone who finds something. The canteens are continuously refilled. The Warden stays and watches the dig nervously. Finally, she calls it a day and leaves.

Zigzag explains to Stanley that there are tiny hidden cameras all over the camp Stanley realizes that that is how the Warden knew his nickname, and that is why X-Ray snubbed him that morning. He also realizes they are not digging to “build character” but to find something specific. He knows they are digging in the wrong place and memorizes the location of the hole where he had actually found the gold tube the day before. Notes: The Warden has absolute power and bestows privileges at her own discretion. She has the boys team up and provides them with water and the promise of rewards because she believes they will find what she is after. The novel now becomes a puzzle as the reader wonders what the significance the initialed gold tube has and how the knowledge of the true location of its burial will affect Stanley.