Holes — Chapter 13

About This Passage

This passage is the chapter's quiet mystery — a boy digging in the dirt pulls out a gold tube with a heart and two initials. Copying it teaches a reader to notice how carefully Stanley handles the find: he 'used a few drops of his precious water' to clean it, which tells you how valuable water has become, and he studies the letters 'K B' even though he does not yet know what they mean. Nothing in the scene announces itself as important, but the letters will matter later, and Sachar plants them here with deliberate quietness.

Narration Prompt

Retell Chapter 13 in your own words, starting with Stanley losing track of days and holes, the first cloud appearing in the sky, Stanley noticing something shiny in the dirt, the gold tube with the heart and the letters K B, his decision about what to do with it, the advice he gives X-Ray about the timing, and his new spot in the water line at the end.

Discussion Questions

1. The chapter opens with Stanley saying the third hole was the hardest, and so was the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth. Examine what this way of listing tells you about Stanley's state of mind, and consider why the narrator breaks off the list with three dots (an ellipsis) instead of finishing the sentence.
2. Stanley sees something shiny in the dirt but almost decides not to climb out because he has promised to give anything he finds to X-Ray. Interrogate what eventually makes him climb out anyway, and consider what it says about a person that curiosity pulled him out of the hole even when reason told him there was nothing to gain.

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide