Jennifer R Smith

 

Unfinished Business 

by Jennifer R. Smith

The characters in the book Holes are haunted by the past and have to deal with the consequences of their actions or their ancestors' actions. According to the article “Haunting and History in Louis Sachar’s Holes,” by Kirsten Mollengaard, the central theme of the book is the need to finish unfinished business in the past in order to bring about closure in the present. Mollengaard states that the image of the ghostly Sam pulling his beloved mule Mary Lou along the desert as seen by Stanley on his way to Camp Green Lake, in the movie version, serves as a metaphor for that unfinished business. Sam was a kind and gentle man who helped the people of Green Lake with his onion remedies and his handy skills. He also had a forbidden romance with Katherine, the schoolteacher, who was white while he was Black. When their relationship was discovered by the townspeople, they burned down the schoolhouse and killed Sam in a brutal act of racism and violence. Katherine was devastated and became an outlaw known as Kissin' Kate Barlow, who became a classic western outlaw with the exception that she was a woman who took on a clear male role in order to get her revenge. Sam's spirit lingered in the lake, waiting for justice and closure. Sam, the onion seller, is a key figure in this theme. He has unfinished business with Katherine Barlow, the schoolteacher he falls in love with. He also has the unfinished business of getting justice for his death.

Another way that Sam's spirit reflects the theme of unfinished business is by influencing the fate of Stanley Yelnats and Zero, the main protagonists of the book. Stanley is a descendant of Elya Yelnats, who was cursed by Madame Zeroni, an old woman who was also Black, for breaking a promise to her. Zero is a descendant of Madame Zeroni. Stanley and Zero end up that Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center where they have to dig holes every day in the desert. Zero gets sick from eating the Sploosh he found and must be carried up a mountain by Stanley as they run away from the camp. This symbolically ends the curse of the old woman, because a Yelnats has finally fulfilled the promise of carrying a Zeroni up the mountain. Thus, the finish of the unfinished business of the past brought the two families together. They eventually discover that the warden of the camp is looking for Kissin' Kate Barlow's treasure, which is buried somewhere in the lake. The warden is a descendant of Charles Walker who was the son of the richest man in Green Lake and an unwanted suitor or Katherine. Charles Walker was responsible for the death of Sam due to his jealousy and the racism the dominated the time in which he, Katherine, and Sam lived. Stanley and Zero find the treasure, which turns out to be a suitcase with Stanley’s great grandfather’s name on it. By doing so, Sam’s death is avenged. As a sign of the peace that Katherine and Sam have finally found, rain comes back to Camp Green Lake, and the curse on Stanley's family ends and restores Zero's connection to his ancestor, Madame Zeroni. Again, that motif of unfinished business is finally concluded.

 

Works Cited

Møllegaard, Kirsten. “Haunting and History in Louis Sachar’s Holes.” Western American

Literature, vol. 45, no. 2, 16 Oct. 2012, pp. 138–161, https://doi.org/10.1353/wal.0.0117.

Sachar, Louis. Holes. Scholastic, Inc., 2000.