Hector Zeroni, who is called ‘Zero’ by his fellow, has a very shy character when facing others who do not like him. However, his cleverness and honesty are clearly portrayed throughout his adventure with Stanley, the protagonist of Holes, when both of them are reliant on each other in a very hostile environment.
In many people’s eye, Zero is an extremely shy person who neither speaks nor thinks much. When Mr. Pendanski, the instructor of the camp which Zero is forced to get into because of staling a pair of new shows , asks Zero what he wants to do with his life. Zero simply answers that he likes to dig holes. For other characters, the answer seems to show how stupid Zero is, but the writer is actually telling us that Zero is very shy and patient, as seen from his short conversations with other people, who Zero knows that they are not true friends. Also, when Zero is questioned why he helps Stanley to dig holes, he speaks nothing (p.137) until Mr. Pendanski criticizes Stanley that teaching shovels to read is better than teaching Zero when Zero divulges what he has learnt the day before. This again reveals that Zero will remain quiet when facing people who are unfriendly to him.
Nevertheless, shyness is not the true character of Zero. Although he has his quiet side because he is an orphan and has not got any friends for years, he has a completely different character when he is staying with Stanley, who is his true friend.
The writer leaves clue for Zero for being a very clever person, with very good arithmetic and memory skills. For instance, he can learn simple English words very quickly using phonics. Therefore, he can quickly learn how to spell many one-syllable words correctly. The writer tries to depict Zero’s cleverness by his abnormal speed of learning new words.
In addition, his cleverness is also revealed by his astonishing memory skills. He has successfully counted how many onions Zero and Stanley have previously eaten when they are in the big, hot mountain which is called Big Thumb. Zero’s health is quite poor at the time. However, despite his poor health conditions and the hostile environment, Zero can still memorize and calculate the number of onions they have both eaten. This shows how clever Zero is in spite of being an illiterate and having a poor health.
In addition, Zero is also very honest to his friends. For example, when Zero and Stanley are in Big Thumb, Zero honestly confesses to stealing the pair of shoes which leads to the imprisonment of Stanley instead. Although it can be very dangerous for Zero to tell Stanley that it is him who sends Stanley to the hostile camp, he still honestly tells the truth. This clearly shows the honesty of Zero.
Moreover, Zero is honest to Stanley in telling him his own family background, even though it is very bad. He has never got any parental care and cannot even live in an orphanage. However, he also honestly divulges his background to Stanley. This reinforces that Zero is very honest.
In conclusion, Zero is a very lovable person. He does not show his real personality to others as he has deeply influenced by his past history. Overall, Zero is lovable and should be respected by all of us here today.