Holes

Holes

by

Louis Sachar

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Madame Zeroni Character Analysis

In the present, Madame Zeroni is described as a "Gypsy woman;" in reality, Madame Zeroni was Egyptian. In mid-1800s Latvia, she was an elderly woman and was good friends with Elya Yelnats. When Elya approached her, sad that he was going to be unable to marry Myra Menke, Madame Zeroni initially cautioned that Myra wasn't worth the trouble. However, against her better judgment, she gave Elya a runty piglet and instructed him to carry the piglet up the nearby mountain every day. There, the piglet was supposed to drink from the stream as Elya sang a special song to the pig. This was supposed to make the pig bigger than Igor's pig, who was Elya's rival for Myra’s hand. On the final day, Elya was to carry Madame Zeroni up the hill (she has only one foot and couldn't climb herself) and sing her the song while she drank from the stream. Madame Zeroni told Elya that if he failed at any of this, his family would be cursed for eternity. Elya did indeed fail to follow through and began to wonder if the curse was real when he arrived in America. Though he asked people often if they knew of anyone named Zeroni, he never found any relatives of hers. In the present, Zero is Madame Zeroni's great-great-great grandson.

Madame Zeroni Quotes in Holes

The Holes quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Zeroni or refer to Madame Zeroni. 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:
Fate and Destiny Theme Icon
).
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: Stanley Yelnats, Elya Yelnats, Madame Zeroni
Page Number: 7
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: Elya Yelnats, Madame Zeroni
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
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Madame Zeroni Quotes in Holes

The Holes quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Zeroni or refer to Madame Zeroni. 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:
Fate and Destiny Theme Icon
).
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: Stanley Yelnats, Elya Yelnats, Madame Zeroni
Page Number: 7
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: Elya Yelnats, Madame Zeroni
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis: