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Miss Katherine/Kissin' Kate Barlow
Elya is referred to as Stanley's “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.” He's responsible for cursing the Yelnats family after he broke a promise to his friend Madame Zeroni. Elya is described as being a kind, if somewhat idealistic, teen; he's far more interested in spending time with Madame Zeroni than he is in mud wrestling, which is held up as the sport of desirable bachelors. At age fifteen in mid-1800s Latvia, Elya fell in love with a girl named Myra. To win her hand, Madame Zeroni told Elya to carry a runty piglet up a mountain every day. There, the piglet was to drink from a stream and Elya was to sing it a special song. On the day of Myra's birthday, Elya was then supposed to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain. However, Elya neglected to carry the pig up the hill on the last day and because of this, the pig weighed exactly the same as Igor Barkov's pig. In his disappointment at losing his love's hand, Elya boarded a ship bound for America and broke his promise to Madame Zeroni. Elya was insistent that the curse was nonsense; he was sad only because he felt bad for breaking his promise, as he knew how much she wanted to drink from the stream. Though he never admits that the curse might be real, he does tell his wife, Sarah Miller, about the curse after lightning strikes his barn for a third time.
Elya Yelnats Quotes in Holes
The Holes quotes below are all either spoken by Elya Yelnats or refer to Elya Yelnats. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1, Chapter 3
Quotes
Stanley was not a bad kid. He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. He'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!
He smiled. It was a family joke. Whenever anything went wrong, they always blamed Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.
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All of them had something else in common. Despite their awful luck, they always remained hopeful. As Stanley's father liked to say, "I learn from failure."
But perhaps that was part of the curse as well. If Stanley and his father weren't always hopeful, then it wouldn't hurt so much every time their hopes were crushed.
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Part 1, Chapter 7
Quotes
He wasn't afraid of the curse. He thought that was a lot of nonsense. He felt bad because he knew Madame Zeroni had wanted to drink from the stream before she died.
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Elya Yelnats Quotes in Holes
The Holes quotes below are all either spoken by Elya Yelnats or refer to Elya Yelnats. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1, Chapter 3
Quotes
Stanley was not a bad kid. He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. He'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!
He smiled. It was a family joke. Whenever anything went wrong, they always blamed Stanley's no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
All of them had something else in common. Despite their awful luck, they always remained hopeful. As Stanley's father liked to say, "I learn from failure."
But perhaps that was part of the curse as well. If Stanley and his father weren't always hopeful, then it wouldn't hurt so much every time their hopes were crushed.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1, Chapter 7
Quotes
He wasn't afraid of the curse. He thought that was a lot of nonsense. He felt bad because he knew Madame Zeroni had wanted to drink from the stream before she died.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
