Stanley believes that he has been unjustly accused of stealing the sneakers because of his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." When Stanley's great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats (who never really stole a pig) was 15 years old and living in Latvia, he fell in love with a girl named Myra Menke and wanted to marry her. A pig farmer named Igor also wanted to marry Myra and offered Myra's father a pig for her hand in marriage. Because Elya had nothing to offer for Myra's hand in marriage, he went to visit an Egyptian woman named Madame Zeroni, who couldn't walk. She gave Elya a piglet and specific instructions to follow. If Elya didn't follow the instructions, Madame Zeroni would put a curse on him and all of his descendents. Elya had to take the piglet up the mountain to drink from a stream, and, while the piglet was drinking, he was to sing a lullaby. On the last day, he was to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain, let her drink from the stream, and sing the lullaby to her. Elya did not take the pig up the mountain the last day, nor did he carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain. Instead, he left Latvia on a ship for the United States of America and from that day on, experienced bad luck as a result of Madame Zeroni's curse. From then on, the Yelnats family believed they were cursed with bad luck. Stanley was not really surprised when he was arrested; he believed it was just more bad luck.
Camp Green Lake is a juvenile correctional camp for boys. It is situated in the middle of a desert — there is no lake — and it is inhabited by yellow-spotted lizards. When he arrives at the camp, Stanley meets Mr. Sir, the guard, and is told that his punishment, which is the same for all the boys, is to dig a hole each day that is five feet deep and five feet in circumference. Mr. Sir tells him that digging the holes will build character and that he is not at a Girl Scout Camp. Mr. Sir also tells Stanley to give any objects that he finds while digging to Mr. Sir and, if the Warden (Ms. Walker) thinks it is worth anything, Stanley will get the day off.
