Rough Draft of barely a Book Review
Author: Billy Lau // Category:8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.
A character in the novel ,Holes, that really interests me is X-Ray. X-Ray is another juvenile at Green Lake Camp. He is the leader of his tent and he likes to boss everyone around. Everyone listens to what X-Ray has to say, even though he is small and is black.
The Warden wants kids to dig holes, because she is looking for something valuable. X-Ray can barely see without his glasses, so he can not find anything valuable in his holes. He tells Stanley to give him whatever he finds, so X-Ray can take the day off. Stanley only agrees because he wants X-Ray to like him. X-Ray has his ways of staying at the head because he has many friends. Therefore, Stanley uses this and does nice things for X-Ray. In return, X-Ray stands up for Stanley whenever he gets picked on.
A character in the novel ,Holes, that really interests me is X-Ray. X-Ray is another juvenile at Green Lake Camp. He is the leader of his tent and he likes to boss everyone around. Everyone listens to what X-Ray has to say, even though he is small and is black.
"X-Ray was always at the front of the line. Then came Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, and Zero. Stanley got behind Zero." pg 50During water break time, X-Ray has to make sure that everyone is in the correct order. He puts himself in front of everyone and Stanley last after Zero. However, this novel has barely any racism in it, because everyone looks the same color after they have dug their hole. X- Ray leads tent D, even though Mr. Pendanski is the real head of the tent. X-Ray is also the name giver for most people; he names Stanley, Caveman, and everyone starts calling him that from then on.
The Warden wants kids to dig holes, because she is looking for something valuable. X-Ray can barely see without his glasses, so he can not find anything valuable in his holes. He tells Stanley to give him whatever he finds, so X-Ray can take the day off. Stanley only agrees because he wants X-Ray to like him. X-Ray has his ways of staying at the head because he has many friends. Therefore, Stanley uses this and does nice things for X-Ray. In return, X-Ray stands up for Stanley whenever he gets picked on.
"Be cool, " said X-Ray. He put his hand on Stanley's shoulder. "You don't want to mess with the cave man," he warned. "The Caveman's cool," said Armpit. pg 44However, one day Stanley becomes friends with Zero, and X-Ray does not like that. Sometimes, X-Ray is jealous of Stanley, because X-Ray wants more attention to him than to Stanley. X-Ray has no way of controlling this. In the end, I predict that X-Ray will stop helping Stanley. I think the whole group will like Stanley more than X-Ray, and turn their back against him.
I think that you should analyze this character a little bit more in depth. For example, where do you think this high level of self confidence comes from inside X-ray even if he doesn't appear to be the toughest guy around? Do the other characters in the book really like him, or are they just afraid of him?
I would suggest going beyond the physical aspect of equality. For example you say that everyone looks the same after digging a hole, think about what this means about how people are viewed at the camp as opposed to society. Obviously a large part of this book is about breaking stereotypes about others (I am going mostly off of the movie). Try expanding on things like this, there is probably a purpose for when the author writes things that are similar.