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Transcript

The Wave by Todd Stasser

Step 5

Step 4

Themes

Organisation

Bullying

Dissent

Major Themes

Organisation to make the students deliver properly

Organisation at the expense of individual freedom (peer pressure)

Organisation to make everybody count

Is the combination of collectivism and individualism possible?

At the beginning of the novel Brad teases Robert.

The Wave makes sure people cannot bully each other. Robert and Brads become friends.

However, the bullying is only redirected: new objects of harassment are those who are not memebers of The Wave.

The importance of family

Although the students agree that they would never have allowed the Holocaust to happen, they lack critical thinking:

they are excited about The Wave and its discouragement of individual (free) thinking (Mr Robert says the movement will only work if everybody follow it blindly)

The Wave includes "losers" like Robert, but it excludes "thinkers" like Laurie.

Families are torn apart because of The Wave:

Laurie and her mother

Mr and Mrs Ross

Laurie and David

The collective at the expense of family

The needs of the individual vs. the needs of the needs of the community

Leadership

some studnets believe that they have to put aside their individual needs to embrace the collective, e.g., David believes that The Wave will help the football team - won´t work.

But, both the individual and the community benefit when the other students invite Robert to sit at their lunch table..

Peer Pressure

The students quickly accept Mr Ross as their leader - they need a leader?

We may have to accept the fact that people will always be passive and accept a leader easily, but instead of trying to change human nature, have people think critically about their leaders before accepting them.

Two different kinds of peer pressure:

Negative:

The stereotypical which builds on intimidation. (Brad tries to make Laurie salute to enter the football game; Laurie and David avoids Robert at lunch even though they think its wrong when other student pick on him).

Positive:

The school new paper tries to inspire students to speak out about The Wave.

The Wave inspires students to be nice to Robert.

  • Organisation
  • Dissent
  • The needs of the individual vs. the need of the community
  • Bullying
  • Peer pressure
  • The importance of family
  • Leadership

The Wave, published in 1981

  • Based on a true story:
  • In 1967, Ron Jones, a teacher at Cubberly High School, tried an innovative method to teach his students about Fascism.
  • He introduced them to "The Third Wave", a movement based on discipline and community.
  • Many of Mr Jones' ideas are the same as those Strasser presents in The Wave, e.g., the slogans, "Strenght Through Discipline" and "Strength Through Community".
  • No violence was committed in "The Third Wave", but the novel's time frame is accurate: within a week 200-300 students had embraced The Wave and showed up for the rally where Mr Jones got them to salute and shout slogans before he revealed the truth about the experiment.
  • The Third Wave didn´t get much media attention at the time it happened.
  • Ron Jones first went public with the story in a collection of short stories he wrote in 1976, No Substitute for Madness!
  • At first Jones didn´t like the Strasser's novel because in that version love is what stops The Wave (the romance between the protagonists):
  • "Love didn´t stop the The Wave and it sure didn´t stop the Holocaust!"
  • However, he started to appreciate Strasser's version because of its impact around the world: it has encouraged Holocaust survivors and former Nazis to open up and share their experiences.

Todd Strasser, 1950-

  • Born in New York City and raised on Long Island
  • Struggled with English in school!
  • Wrote Angel Dust Blue in 1978 - his first novel
  • Up to 1990 he balanced his writing with managing a cookie company
  • Pseudonym: Morton Rhue
  • Novelist for children and young adults
  • The Wave became an international bestseller and won several awards

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