Character Analysis/ Stanley and Zero

'You know why his name's Zero?' asked Mr.Pendanski while he was introducing kids to Stanley.Even he called him 'Zero'.That's how they first met, Zero and Stanley.He is so naive that he stays quiet when everyone says that he is dumb.He is not only naive, but also the smallest in group D.When the first time I get to know Stanley and Zero, I've never thought that they will be best friends.Maybe because of the huge size difference between them, maybe I found Zero so quiet that I've never thought he will be effective in the book.


The first real conversation between Stanley and Zero is about the Clyde Livingston's shoes.The shoes which were actually stolen by Zero but caused Stanley to visit the camp.This fact is really ironic to me and I always kept asking myself what would Stanley do if he had found out the truth before he made good friends with Zero.How would he react?Would he blame Zero and hate him because he caused Stanley to go to the camp?But I won't be able to find answers to these questions, because our story goes in a different way.

The Deal

At the beginning I always found Zero behind Stanley's shoulder trying to read the letters from his mother.When I put myself in Stanley's place, I thought that that would annoy me a lot.I know that being that curious isn't a good characteristic.But when I learned that Zero doesn't know how to read and write, I felt sorry for him and I understood that I had wrong thoughts.These parts with the letters are actually really important, because Zero wanted Stanley to teach him to read, after Stanley also complained about him reading over his shoulder.Although Stanley said 'I don't know how to teach.' , he decided to teach him after he found out that Zero helped him with the hole on the day that he was at Warden's.Zero also said 'You didn't steal the sneakers.'When I read these conversations again and again, I realized that Zero was trying to confess the truth earlier in the book.


After a while, the relationship between Zero and Stanley was converted from teacher and student to best friends.Stanley and Zero are both altruistic, that's why they always protected themselves against the Warden.That's why Zero ran away and that's way Stanley went after him.


The time that they spent together alone strenghtened their friendship.Stanley carrying Zero and helping him to survive, are the most emotional moments of the book.Zero also told Stanley what happened with Clyde Livingston's shoes and said 'If I had just kept those old smelly sneakers, thein neither of us would be here right now.'


At the end of the book I realized that the frienship between them actually represents the friendship between Elya Yelnats and Madame Zeroni.

Someone also combined their names and found the name Zanley.They made a slideshow playing at the background 'Pink-Who Knew?'


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