KEY+PASSAGES+FROM+THE+NOVEL

Key Passages from THE WAVE

Mr. Ross: “Remember, in The Wave you are all equals. No one is more important or more popular than anyone else and no one is to be excluded from the group. Community means equality within the group.” “Now your first action as a team will be to actively recruit new members. To become a member of The Wave, each new student must demonstrated knowledge of our rules and pledge strict obedience to them.” (p. 66)

(re the posters plastered everywhere, The Wave rally, and the expansion of the movement;) …Except the crazy thing was, [Ross] had never given those orders. Somehow they’d simply evolved in the students’ imaginations, and once there, they automatically assumed he’d given them. It was as if The Wave had taken on a life of its own and now he and his students were literally riding it. (p. 90)

(in conversation with Laurie and the football stands:) Brad blushed. “Look, Laurie,” he said in a low voice. “Just do the stupid salute already.”

Several members of the newspaper were not there, and when Laurie asked those present why, they seemed reluctant to answer at first. Then Carl said, “I have a feeling a few of our comrades would prefer not to incur the wrath of The Wave.” (p. 102)

[The Grapevine’s editorial, by Laurie] condemned The Wave as a dangerous and mindless movement that suppressed freedom of speech and thought and ran against everything the country was founded on. She pointed out that The Wave had already begun to do more harm than good…and warned that unless it was stopped it would do much worse. (p. 104)

Laurie shook her head. “Amy, I’m serious. The Wave is hurting people. And everyone’s going along with it like a flock of sheep. I can’t believe that after reading this you’d still be part of it. Don’t you see what The Wave is? It’s everybody forgetting who they are. It’s like //Night of the Living Dead// or something. Why do you want to be part of it?” “Because it means that nobody is better than anyone else for once, “ Amy said. “Because ever since we became friends all I’ve ever done is try to compete with you and keep up with you. But now I don’t feel like I have to have a boyfriend on the football team like you. And if I don’t want to, I don’t have to get the same grades you get, Laurie. For the first time in three years I feel like I don’t have to keep up with Laurie Saunders and people will still like me.” (p. 106)

Amy: ”Come on, Laurie, the only reason you’re against The Wave is because it means you’re not a princess anymore.” (p. 106)

His heart was pounding rapidly and his head hurt even more. [Ross] swallowed the three aspirins and avoided looking at himself in the mirror. Was he afraid of who he might see? A high school history teacher who had accidentally slipped into the role of a dictator? (p.109)

“That was an accident,” [David] insisted. “Some guys just used The Wave as an excuse for beating that kid up. Don’t you see? The Wave is still for the good of the whole. Why can’t you see that, Laurie? It could be a whole new system. We could make it work.” (p. 118) //(why Germans continued to cling to the Nazi party even when they may have begun to hear or see things happening that were NOT good.)//

Overcome with anger, David grabbed her other arm. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why couldn’t she see how good The Wave could be? “We can stop you, and we will!” he shouted at her. (p.119) •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• What had possessed him these last days that could cause him to do something so stupid? There he’d been, denying that The Wave could hurt anyone, and at the same time he’d hurt Laurie, his own girlfriend, in the name of The Wave! (p.120) //(people can get wrapped up into the “mob” mentality and end up doing things that they, as individuals, would never do.)//

The students in The Wave had made him more than a leader than [Ross] had ever wished to be. But it was also true that he had not resisted. In fact, he had to admit that before the experiment had gone bad, he had enjoyed these fleeting moments of power. A crowded room full of students obeying his commands, the Wave symbol he'd created posted all over the school, even a bodyguard. He had read that power could be seductive, and now he had experienced it…The members of The Wave were not the only ones who had to learn the lesson power taught. Their teacher did, as well. (p. 122)