In the book, Holes, written by Louis Sachar, Stanley's father used to sing.
"if only, if only" the woodpecker sighs,.
"The bark on the tree was just a little bit softer.".
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,.
he cries to the moo-oo-oon,.
"if only, if only.".
This is a song that was passed down to him from his "No-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather," Elya. In the beginning of the book, Stanley blames his unluckiness and burdensome life on Elya. This song possesses great importance as it represents the problems faced by Stanley and Zero, produces feelings of melancholy, and proves that the Gypsy's curse is true.
Elya thought he was in love with a woman that lived in Lativia named Sarah Miller. There was one problem though, she had a father that said who ever gave him the largest pig would get to marry his daughter. At first Elya thinks this is insane and that she should be able to choose her own husband. Elya being so strongly in love agrees to bring back the largest pig. Therefore, Elya travels to a one-legged Gypsy and makes a promise that he will carry her as well as his pig up the mountain once everyday for the next 12 days, give them water, and sing the "pig lullaby" to them in order to make his pig the largest one. On the last day Elya is satisfied with his pig's weight. He does not fulfill .
his promise to the one-legged Gypsy causing her to put a curse on him and all of his descendants to possess very burdensome and unfortunate lives. .
Isn't it ironic that the lullaby foreshadows the fortune of Elya and his descendants?.
I think in the first and last verse of the song when it says "if only, if only" Sachar illustrates that even birds and wolves have a hard life and only want life to be easier. Who wouldn't? The woodpecker is confronted with a tough bark in which to peck through, while the wolf waits lonely for food. These obstacles are analogies that represent problems faced by Stanley and Zero during their daily lives.