Zero, one of the main characters in “Holes”, is the one always being bullied by the other boys in the camp in the book. “ Why he doesn’t fight back?” You may wonder. Perhaps it’s because he has been without family since a very small age. I would now talk about the characteristics of this poor boy in the book.
Zero is a quiet boy at the beginning of the story, he talks a little: It doesn’t mean that he is stupid or shy, he just doesn’t want to talk or answer the others’ questions. When Mr. Pendanski teases Zero and says that he is stupid, and also when Squid asks Zero whether he is a mole or a worm, Zero says nothing instead of answering them or fighting back. Besides, even Zero helps Stanley to dig the hole when Stanley is taken to see the Warden since Mr. Sir thinks that he steals the sunflower seeds, Zero just digs his own hole quietly without deciding to tell Stanley. Therefore, we can see that he is quite quiet and always keeps silent.
Also, Zero is quite intelligent even the others, like Mr. Pendanski and the boys in the camp, think that he is stupid. When Stanley teaches Zero how to read and write, Zero can learn the alphabet and the words quickly although he hasn’t learnt them before. Moreover, he can count and recite all the twenty-six letters in the alphabet even though he never learns how to do maths. He is good at calculating. Also, when Stanley and Zero walk back to the Camp Green Lake, Zero remembers the routes and knows that they should turn right if they want to go back. He is intelligent and smart.
Besides, he is very studious since he never goes to school and learn how to read and write. First, he hopes to learn the alphabet so much that he is willing to dig the holes for Stanley every day, although it is a hard work and he doesn’t like digging holes. This shows that he really wants to learn. Besides, when he is painful and weak due to hunger and thirst at the dry lake, he still wants to spell words. We can see that he both wants and likes to learn very much and he is studious.
All in all, I like this character very much since he is studious and intelligent. Although he is quiet at the beginning, he becomes brave at the middle and the end of the story, he decides to escape from the Camp Green Lake. He also helps Stanley to dig the hole to find the treasure and he tells Stanley the truth. Therefore, I hope that you can understand Zero more and I hope that Zero can live happily with Stanley forever in the book.