Author's note: This piece " The Big Change" was a character analysis on Stanley from the book " Holes". In this piece I was trying to incorporate good solid word choice.
Sometimes things don’t always
go the way you want them. This is the
case in the book Holes written by
Louis Sachar. Stanley Yelnats is a teenage boy who is unhappy with his
life. He thought he didn’t belong and
was tired of getting picked on. Things
get worse when he is blamed for a crime that he did not commit.
Stanley was blamed for stealing
a famous baseball players shoes. The punishment
was jail or go to a juvenile camp. He
chose camp. This is when his life began
to change for the better. The first change happened when he met
Zero. At first, Stanley was mean to Zero
because all the other kids treated him badly.
After getting to know Zero, he realized other kids faced challenges of
their own. He realized he was not the
only one. This gave him confidence. He didn’t care anymore what the other boys
thought he was going to be friends with Zero.
Another change that resulted
from camp was he went from heavier set and out of shape to more athletic. This happened after spending countless hours
digging holes. He was told he had to do
this as a character building exercise that was brought upon by the
government.
Stanley knew there was
something more to the digging, this leads to the third change. Stanley never
had much money but that changed when he found a buried treasure. He decided to take the treasures at night. He
spent the money on a new home for his family and other much needed necessities.
When I think of this story
and I think of how Stanley changed for the better, it reminds of Josh Hamilton. Josh Hamilton now is one of the best players
in baseball but this came after many difficult challenges. Hamilton got involved in partying, drugs and alcohol. This ruined his reputation and negatively affected
his early baseball career. With the
support of many family members and friends, Hamilton went to
rehabilitation. Through this he regained
the confidence to live healthy life and purse his career in baseball.
Although there are times in
your life where it may seem like there’s no way out. You can always make a
change. Just as Stanley and josh did, there are many different paths you can
take deciding whether you are successful or not.
