The first Stanley was the son of Elya Yelnats and Sarah Miller. He made his fortune in the stock market on the east coast in the mid-late 1800s, went west with a valuable suitcase, but was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow. She left him in the desert, where he survived for 17 days on "God's Thumb"—although, when he came out of his delirium in the hospital, he had no idea what that even means. He married his nurse and remained in Texas, where the Yelnats family lives to the present day.
The First Stanley Yelnats Quotes in Holes
The Holes quotes below are all either spoken by The First Stanley Yelnats or refer to The First Stanley 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:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Random House edition of Holes published in 1998.
Part 2, Chapter 47
Quotes
"It's got his name on it," said Zero.
Stanley's lawyer pushed past the tall man to have a look.
"See," Zero showed her. "Stanley Yelnats."
Stanley looked, too. There, in big black letters, was STANLEY YELNATS.
Related Characters:
Zero/Hector Zeroni (speaker), The Warden, Mr. Sir, Mr. Pendanski, The First Stanley Yelnats, Ms. Morengo, The Attorney General
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The First Stanley Yelnats Character Timeline in Holes
The timeline below shows where the character The First Stanley Yelnats appears in Holes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 3
...Yelnats has been a failure—Stanley is the fourth Stanley Yelnats—and this is technically true, as the first Stanley made a fortune in the stock market. However, the bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow robbed him...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 7
...Elya to sing her the "pig lullaby." She loved it and a year later, when the first Stanley Yelnats was born, Sarah made the song rhyme in English and sang it to her...
(full context)
Part 1, Chapter 21
...doesn't want to be out in the lake with Mr. Sir alone. He thinks about the first Stanley , who was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow and left in the desert. Stanley reasons...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 29
...formation that Stanley thinks looks like a fist making a thumbs-up sign. He thinks of the first Stanley , who said he survived on God's Thumb in the desert. Nobody knows how he...
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 30
...Thumb in the distance. He realizes that he's probably close to where Kate Barlow robbed the first Stanley .
(full context)
Part 2, Chapter 31
...considers walking out to look. He hopes that Zero somehow found God's Thumb, just as the first Stanley did. He hopes there's still water there. When Stanley returns to his tent after digging,...
(full context)
Part 3, Chapter 50
...several low-quality gems and a stack of old stock certificates and deeds of trust from the first Stanley . Stanley and Hector each got a little less than a million dollars. Stanley bought...
(full context)