Holes Chapter 5 Summary

  • There are six tents at Camp Green Lake (yep, that's right, tents): the campers sleep in tents A through E, and the counselors sleep in tent F. Our buddy Stanley is assigned to tent D, and his counselor is Mr. Pendanski.
  • Mr. Pendanski tells Stanley that Mr. Sir isn't as scary as he seems. The one he needs to worry about is the Warden.
  • Mr. P seems pretty supportive: he knows that Stanley has made mistakes, but he's going to help him turn his life around.
  • Then two more boys arrive. Mr. Pendanski introduces them to Stanley as Alan and Rex, but they say they are actually called Squid and X-Ray. Right.
  • Inside D Tent, there are seven cots. Stanley will be sleeping on the cot formerly used by Lewis (known as Barf Bag – naturally).
  • Four more boys arrive. And guess what? More name games. Mr. Pendanski introduces the first three as Jose, Theodore, and Ricky, but they call themselves Magnet, Armpit, and Zigzag.
  • The last boy is called Zero by both Mr. Pendanski and by the other boys. Mr. P teases the boy, saying his name is Zero because "there's nothing inside his head" (5.33). No response. Hmmm, maybe that's a sore spot?
  • One of the boys jokes that Mr. Pendanski's nickname is "Mom." Fine by Mr. P, who then leaves, telling the boys to make Stanley feel welcome.
  • They all get ready to go take their showers, but Stanley, who is still really thirsty, asks Theodore where he can go to fill his canteen. Oops. Theodore throws Stanley to the ground and tells him not to call him Theodore: his name is Armpit. Duh.