Themes

Stanley is a big part of the theme because he was sent to Camp Green Lake but he is innocent maybe the author is saying that sometimes you get blamed even if you didn't do something bad. Camp Green Lake is for boys that have done something bad and they dig holes to build character, but maybe its just a way to cover up the truth for the reason they are really digging holes all day.

ZigZag is probably the one most upset with Stanley since he was jealous that nobody dug holes for him like Zero did for Stanley. They were all jealous but ZigZag was the one who took it the hardest I would say. Especially when he saw when Caveman (Stanley) gave his second find, a golden tube, to X-Ray instead of him. But what they didn't know is that Zero and Stanley had a deal that Stanley would teach Zero how to read for an hour and Zero would dig for Stanley for an hour. But still, it wasn't fair to any of the other boys since everyone knew how well Zero dug.



When Stanley finally had a nickname he released he had gotten respect from the the rest of tent D. If you notice that they just give nicknames to those they know or slightly trust but I think for "Mom," it's just a nickname to tease him with. But I think it's just that deep inside, they miss their families too and they need someone to call family away from family.X-Ray is also a big part of the theme because he is like the leader of their group and Stanley tries very hard to please him so he will be accepted into their group. When X-Ray told Stanley to give him anything that he finds it was a part of the theme because X-Ray knows he can get Stanley to do what ever he wants so he is taking advantage of him.I think onions are a part of the theme because they helped Stanley and Zero survive and they cured every single sickness they had.

When Armpit and X-Ray saw that Stanley was just sitting there while Zero was digging his hole, I could see why they had gotten angry. The had gotten angry because as part of American history, some people treated African Americans rudely. They had put most of it to a stop so it doesn't usually happen like it used to. For example, there were only a few jobs for African Americans or restaurants they could go to or even bathrooms and schools! I think that part of the book runs along the lines of how Sam was killed just because he kissed Katherine and that it wasn't fair that just because of that he got killed since everyone knows now that killing because two people love each other is wrong. But what Armpit and X-Ray did **not** know was that Zero was in exchange for digging Stanley's hole for an hour would be for Stanley to teach Zero how to read and write.

I think Mr.Sir felt angry with Stanley because it was because of Caveman that he got scratched by the Warden's snake venom nail polish. Though he probably wanted revenge on Stanley by giving him no water. But that is a very rude thing to do to something Stanley never did. But Mr.Sir didn't care and Mr.Sir probably knew that he didn't steal the seeds. But he was the only one that took the blame so Mr.Sir felt he was the only one to blame.

The Warden must feel a bit obsessed and slightly crazy from digging all those years hen she was little and living all her life to dig along with her family even on Christmas! I feel like Ms.Walker, the warden, should have at least some sympathy from desperately trying to find Kissin' Kate Barlow's money even though she could have left Green-lake. But it was still wrong of her to force those boys to dig for her. Even though she still knew she had a choice.

Another theme we found is that Kate Barlow's peaches always taste very sweet and delicious. When Zero and Stanley found "sploosh" under a boat they ate it and it tasted like sweet spiced peaches.