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Essay / The Idea of Justice in Holes by Louis Sachar
'Holes' is a novel written by Louis Sachar that focuses on the story of Stanley Yelnats and the parallel storylines of Kate Barlow and Madame Zeroni. The main story, as well as the subplots, show a strong theme of justice and injustice. This essay will explore how the idea of justice is represented in this novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first type of justice represented in “Holes” is social justice and injustice. Social justice is equality for all, so social injustice is the opposite. When the sheriff said, “It’s illegal for a black man to kiss a white woman.” Regarding Sam being black, colloquialism was used when "nigger" was pronounced. This shows a social injustice since this word is socially unacceptable and very racist nowadays, but back then it was common slang. The townspeople often call Sam "the onion picker", which represents a social injustice in that the townspeople only know him as a simple onion picker, not even as a person, and through repetition, Sachar made that clear. “We are all equal before God” is the dialogue spoken by Kate Barlow to the sheriff and shows social justice as she defends a minority in a very discriminatory time. Sachar represented social injustice in “Holes” through the parallel storyline of Sam and Kate. Justice is depicted a second time in "Holes" through moral injustice whenever Zero is bullied or considered worthless. Moral injustice is based on a belief system rather than legal punishment. When Mr. Pendanski says, “Zero is too stupid to learn to read.” Repetition is used as Zero has been called stupid many times before and after, this technique is used to make Zero seem incredibly stupid. When he says "'you know why his name is Zero?...because there's nothing in his head'", Mr. Pendanski uses a metaphor to compare the name Zero to the concept of nothing, which which implies that Zero is not intelligent. This is immoral because Zero is continually targeted for being "stupid" despite never having the chance to receive a good education. "It was air-conditioned in his cabin" is a part of the narration in "Holes" that refers to the director's cabin. This represents a moral injustice since the inmates at Camp Greenlake are exposed to the sun all day while they work and then are deprived of air conditioning when they return to their cabins while the warden does nothing all day except watch. sit in his cool cabin. The final type of justice represented in “Holes” is cosmic justice. Cosmic justice is the idea that everyone is punished by a higher power for everything they do wrong, much like karma. “Madame Zeroni warned that if he did not do so, he and his descendants would be condemned for eternity.” Is a narration that shows cosmic justice in that Madam Zeroni warned Elya that she would place a curse on his family if he didn't keep his end of the bargain. Elya ends up forgetting her promise to Madame Zeroni and the curse continues, resulting in Elya being nicknamed "the great-great-grandfather-rotten-pig-stealer-not-good-dirty-rotten" by Stanley. It's a dialogue that shows cosmic justice because, in the end, Elya became known for stealing a pig and placing a curse on her family and nothing more. After the murder of Sam the Onion Man, "not a drop of rain fell on Camp Greenlake", it's a..