For your final blog post, please write 2 - 4 paragraphs on any topic that interests you about the book. You may discuss the ending, comment on any characters, throw out ideas about any late-in-the-novel plot twists. Please remember to respond to at least one other person.
This post must be completed no later than Thursday, 3/20, at 3 pm.
I guess I don’t get what the big deal was, the experiment was successful. Everyone is a lot less susceptible to that kind of manipulation and more important they do no longer want someone to minutiae them. Yes their was one fight about and the wave, but it was the 1960 and fights were very common. I think people were not worried about what could have happened, a really or protest at worst. People were so scared of the wave and what is was similar too, that they didn’t realize the good it had caused and the fact that nobody got hurt.
ReplyDeleteIt was scary but good for everyone, it same as any Immune system, you only what to fight what you see before and the Wave was just a vaccination.
i guess your right it was succesful. but what would have happened if ross wouldnt have stopped it?
DeleteTo my opinion, if Mr. Ross hadn't have stopped the wave as he did like just saying "it's over go back to your normal lives" would have caused the crowd to go crazy and protest for bringing it back.
DeleteThis book is terrifying. These kids are the same age as us they thought everything was good but it all fell apart. And the scary thing is we would probably do the same thing. You’re probably thinking “no I won’t.” but that’s what they thought and it happened. They were no different then us.
ReplyDeleteAll of this happened in less then a week. People we so willing to do it follow orders do exactly as they seemed to want it. Is that how people are? Do we want to be ruled? And the way that Robert was crying at the end was so wrong he realized he had made a terrible mistake.
I agree. I also think that the excitement of something new really caught other student's eyes so the had to get a taste of what the wave was like. With everyone talking good things about the wave it made others want to join.
DeleteWhat's even scarier is that it was kids our age that made up the Nazi party. It's because teens our age are easily impressionable because we are trying to figure life out for ourselves. Although we want to think that no one could tell us what to think or act, we will often times follow a leader.
DeleteI believe that there are more people that lack leadership than that actually feel like they can lead. So I don't think they are so willing to just follow orders, I think they just lack the ability to find their own way. I feel at this point in our lives we know more about the Nazis then they did so it wouldn't be as easy for us to just go with what a dictator figure is saying.
DeleteDuring the book the wave I thought it was very interesting to see what kids stayed with the alliance of the wave and the students who started to see something wrong about the wave.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book Laurie was a fan of the wave when Mr. Ross first changed his teaching ways. Later on in the book Laurie’s parents both start to see that the wave is something that shouldn’t be happening in school. After all one kid was beaten up for not joining the special group. Laurie soon after realizes that things are good for you when you’re only in the wave, but when you’re out of the wave like how she resigned. People will not stop nagging you about it. Why wouldn’t you want to be apart of something so great that others seem to love so much.
When things really started to pop off is when David was going to confront Laurie about writing the things she did on “The Grapevine”. Writing bad things about the wave is against the code it breaks the rule of the community and discipline. Brian urged David to make Laurie stop talking bad things about something that’s so great. In reality Laurie is the only non crazy person and actually sees the harm that the wave is causing. David soon realizes that the wave is being taken to seriously when he hurts his Ex girlfriend Laurie the one person he loves so much.
This book is very interesting because it really showed that something like what Adolf Hitler had created can be created again at anytime. Something like the wave or the Nazi’s can become ones life and can take over the minds of oblivious people without them even knowing it.
I agree.
DeleteThe ending chapters of The Wave really surprised me. My prediction was that someone was going to get physically hurt by The Wave. (Not Wave members that used the Wave as an excuse to beat up some kid). When all of The Wave members realized what they became the psychological toll on what had happened was more damaging than a couple bumps and bruises. To have gone through something that dramatic to not being able to speak about it ever again must haunt every student that took part in this movement.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s most frightening to me is this could have happened to any school. More than likely each one of us would have joined this movement just like those high schoolers did. You might say you’d never partake in such practices, but that’s also what every member of the The Wave said. No one can blame the students however, after all getting the sense that you are apart of something is a great feeling. So to have an entire school submerged into something of this calibre in only a week, makes me wonder how far it would have gone in simply a month. Or maybe Laurie would be correct in her guess by saying the students would get bored with this whole “fad”. All we can do is remember history to prevent it from happening again.
I agree that it is scary how this could easily happen to anyone, and though you think you wouldn't do anything like that, you really wouldn't know till you experience it personally and are in that situation.
DeleteI strongly disliked the wave. I disliked the massive drop off at the end of the book. However, I do believe the experiment was an overall success; because the students did learn on how the minority became extremely powerful. Although they acted like Nazis under Mr. Cross's control.
ReplyDeleteDominance isn't something we should fear. We should fear ABSOLUTE dominance; when one person has total power. With that much power, the lower people on the totem pole become almost become brain washed and lose all rights to think for themselves. I don't believe that Mr. Cross was looking for absolute power, that's why he realized he needed to stop things before they got out of control.
I agree with you that the experiment was a success. It was such a success that Mr . Ross could taste the power he had just taken from the kids. What Christy Ross said to Ben it sums it all up perfect "It looks like you have become a guinea pig in your own experiment". Fortunately his problem was not letting the power go but figuring how to end the experiment without it being a failure.
DeleteThe wave ending was very satisfying. The author did a good job of keeping the reader entertained by not giving away the ending until the end! One thing the book makes clear is that when people are in a situation such as joining a group like the wave they don't get to ride the fence in their decision. To collaborate with the wave you must join the wave, you can’t just be friends. The Wave was a form of brainwash for some of the characters including Robert Billings who seemed to get hit the worst. In his situation he now didn't have to be below all of his peers. With the wave he was equal and with that he followed without question. Another that was blinded was David. In the midst of trying to complete the wave’s goals he found himself willing to hurt people close to him to get it.
ReplyDeleteThe Wave shows just how easy it can be tricked to follow a group or a leader mindlessly. Its all good, nothing is bad. Why would you not join the wave? The answer to that would be to be individualistic. It is surprising how many people are willing to give up their individualism for the wave. Perhaps people do not realize they are giving up their voice. People are very willing to be lead and have choices made for them. And that is why the idea of the wave is very dangerous.
I wasn’t very fond of the way The Wave ended. I think it would have been interesting to see how it affected the school after it had been stopped. Nonetheless the book still left a good message, and also left one thinking.
ReplyDeleteI think the book was thought-provoking in the sense of how this could actually happen to anyone, at any school. I would like to think it wouldn’t happen to our school, and that we would actually think for ourselves, but that’s exactly what the characters in The Wave thought. I definitely think one of the main reasons for the wave getting so big was because most kids would conform to what their peers were doing.
This book helped me realize that even when mankind wants to do right, they could still fall into something wrong. People are so blind to what they do, that something like the Holocaust could happen without anyone realizing what they have done. This book left a good message of being weary of what you do, and to not follow what everyone else is doing.
The book as a whole is sort has the beginning when you come to a regular school then to a history class showing the documentary of Hitlers Nazism. then the teacher Mr. Ross decides to do an experiment to see if his act of dictatorship really lasted for all his students to learn a lesson. It lasted, went to far then ended with Mr. Ross showing the whole school what they turned into therefore making them realize what they were doing is wrong and that it was the kind of fascist group Hitler had in mind.
ReplyDeleteIt sort of reminds me of the movie Animal Farm when the pigs were performing the act of communism, then ended with a happy ending the communist pigs were gone and no longer leading.
Both the last chapter and the quotation "Yes you would of made good Nazis" within the last chapter has meaning to the book because the group thought what Hitler did was never going to happen again. Then they realized it did happen to them without them thinking about it for a second. Books like these have pretty good plots and morals to it.
The wave was an interesting book. Not really what I had expected it to be. I kind of got the sense that some situations were over dramatized. I know it was rough on Laurie the way that David through her down. Yet the way the suspense was built up to that point made it seem like something really bad would happen. I honestly think this was uneventful.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did like was that the book was easy to read. I was able to focus and stay in tune with what was going on. I didn’t have to stop and re-read everything I just read.
I feel like Mr. Ross not only taught his students a lesson, but also himself. He had obviously taken the experiment too far, but he also learned what it was like to have power. I pitty Robert for feeling like he was truly apart of something then being shut down. But if it was that easy for him to just join the wave, i’m sure he would be able to do it again with another group of friends.
All in all the book was not what I had expected it to be. I didn’t really think it was all that great of a book. But I am still glad I read it.
I sort of liked the book they made it overly dramatic leading up to the stupid ending.
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ReplyDeleteThe Wave ended just like I thought it would. Ben pieced toghether everything in the full attention of the Wave, they were shocked and speechless, and everything was over in a matter of seconds. However, the ending was too abrupt in my opinion. The last part where Ben takes Robert to get something to eat leaves me wondering how the other students adjusted back into normal life after the experiment.
ReplyDeleteFive minutes after a Google search unearthed some interesting information concerning the real story behind the novel. Apparently, the story was based upon a social experiment conducted by a history teacher named Ron Jones at the Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California in 1967. Like the fictional character Ben, Jones was struggling with how he could show his students how the nazis gained the capacity to kill millions of jews. He created a fascist community within the classroom called "The Third Wave" (spin-off of the Third Reich?) The events that followed were nearly identical to the events in the novel.
novel.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave
I agree, the ending was too short. It closed the story with the impression that after the meeting, everyone just shrugged and went on with their life. I would have liked to know the opinions of the students who weren't in Mr. Ross' class and who didn't have a history unit on the Nazis.
DeleteThe ending of the wave not quite what I expected. I had thought the consequences of the wave would be more sever. It is fascinating how quickly the power stacks up and it can be considered scary how quickly the students follow an order, but I had expected the orders to get far out of hand before the experiment had to end. A kid getting beat up could have had to do with the wave, but people get beat up at school anyway. I was expecting a more harsh reaction to those who hadn't joined the wave, such as extreme threats and punishable vandalism. The ending seemed to have a more positive tone where everyone learned a valuable lesson, rather than a scarring experience. I think it was mainly scarring to Brain, who was affected on a more personal level by the wave than the others.
ReplyDeleteThe end of The Wave was surprising to me. I wish the book had a better ending because it was extremely stupid to end this intense story the way he did. I honestly don't even think the situation got intense until Laurie and David found out the kid that got bullied was Jewish. I feel like although this situation got out of control I feel like it was more interesting than a disgraceful event.
ReplyDeleteWhen Laurie and David broke up it was very sudden. It is like everyone in that school suddenly turned into another person when Mr.Ross turned into the dictator. I feel like it was a good idea to the students because it made their lives easier. Mr. Ross is also getting sucked into the system which I think is sick. If he can't control himself how can he control his students? Once the student understood the situation they set themselves up with it kind of hit them like a wave.
Although it didn't get as intense as The Holocaust it had similar features too it. I think Mr. Ross was a weak public figure because he couldn't separate his stimulation and reality. Letting other students join The Wave other than the class was the first look at weakness. He doesn't have self control. The only way he did have self control is when the situation got out of hand. People started to ask what he was doing and why. I don't even think he knew what he was doing, because The Wave changed him. It changed everyone, and that's why I think nobody speaks of it. The trance was real and it obviously sends shivers down their spines when the thought of them actually being brainwashed goes through their minds. History repeated itself in a not so tragic way. Just a life changing way.
I politely disagree with your response. I think the way the book ended taught the kids a very valuable lesson. It taught them that even through a massive organized group like The Wave, you can't have complete power. After all if you can't obtain power as an individual, how can you be strong when you lose the group you're in. Prime example; Robert Billings.
ReplyDeleteAfter finishing the book, The Wave, I’ve learned a lot of different things, particularly in the final 6 chapters where everyone except Laurie seemed to have joined the Wave. After David broke up with Laurie because she didn’t believe in what everyone else did, I knew just how powerful The Wave truly was. I did not predict that what happened at the end would happen but it all made sense afterwards. Even though the ending didn’t have that much spark at the end I do believe that it taught the children a valuable lesson. It taught them and it taught me that if you need a group to be a strong role in society, how can you ever succeed on your own? Mr. Ross may have let the experiment last a bit too long but since he waited so long, it made the impact of the lesson that much stronger. I enjoyed this book because it was about kids just like us and just how easy it is to manipulate a group of kids to do something they said they would never do.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you completely Will. He did take it too far, but in the end everything ended up working out.
DeleteI hate to be that guy, but I completely saw that ending in terms of putting Hitler on the monitors coming. I mean they forshadowed that he was going to show them something that would turn them all away from The Wave. There was but one unsavory secret that The Wave held, and that was its origins in Nazi culture.
DeleteThankfully you won't be reading this since the assignment if LONG over and I don't do my work on time. The only one that will be reading this is none other than Mrs. Thompson... Your reading this right now aren't you?
The mere fact that this fad got so big in something as simple as what turned into a school experiment just shows how far it could go if people tried to do this not experimenting. So many people got caught up in being part of something that they came to believe that anyone not in it was less than them. I’m going to refer to what I said last post about power that if you don’t know how to handle it, it will become some people’s worst nightmare. I think if there were more people like Laurie when hitless was around millions would not have been killed. If more people stood up for what is right in the world it would be a much better place. However in their defense they believed The Wave was a positive thing which it is in some sense however people get too carried away with power.
ReplyDeleteWhen David pushed Laurie to the ground is when I truly realized that this experiment had all these kids really into it. When you’re willing to hurt someone you love is when you should take a step back and examine what’s really going on which David did and kudos to him for that. Im just relieved the teacher was not AS caught up in the whole thing as all the students. I think at the point they were at he was capable of getting them to do whatever he pleased with happiness because after all, it was in the name of the wave! This book is a true eye opener about the power of power, however that doesn’t mean its always necessarily bad. Leadership and absolute power can lead to things greater than any of us imagined. That’s what I think anyway!!
After finishing the book, I was a little disappointed. The way Mrs. Thompson explained the book to us it seemed like the teacher had murdered someone or something. No one talked about what happened in the school for years and still don’t talk about it. I mean I can see why people got mad at the whole situation just because The Wave caused the school to bully kids who weren’t involved and ended up beating up a kid over it. The Wave really took hold of almost every student in the school. They couldn’t realize what they were doing and what was getting into them.
ReplyDeleteLaurie was the only one who knew what The Wave was doing to everyone else, so she decided to take a stand and write about it in the The Grapevine. Her article took the school by storm and everyone turned against her, even David her boyfriend. He ended up pushing her to the ground, then he finally realized what The Wave was doing to him.
Even with all the events occurring the whole situation was not was bad as I had expected. I thought it was going to be a lot worse. Honestly I got my hopes up about the whole book and in the end I was kinda let down. Maybe I don’t fully understand how serious the situation really was.
When Mr. Ross shows Hitler and said that this was your leader. I think he was making a comparison with himself.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning Hitler did not simply demand them to kill all the Jews, he began subtly, slowly isolating people and slowly adding orders and commands, so by the time he started to take people no one would stand up and fight. He had people grasping the fact that what he was doing was right because Jews were evil. This is almost exactly what Mr. Ross did.
At the beginning Mr. Ross began saying that it was an experiment. Allowing a lot of flexibility with what he could do. But he still had to subtly tell them to only do one thing at a time. Once he realizes that his students want to keep going he began to create a group, The Wave members believed they were better than everyone else because they believed in equality. The students wanted everyone to see life their way so they began to bully kid to make them believe that they are right and everyone else was wrong. By the end, Ben had complete control over all of the students and had the control to be able to take over the world.
Mr. Ross's way of ending The Wave was not just shocking the students, it was also proof on how easily anyone could become another Hitler with little misdirected thought.
Though I overall did enjoy this book, I was extremely disappointed with the ending. The hype I was brought prior to opening the cover was unsustained as the book ended in more of a trickle than that of a bang or even a little as a pop. I suppose the sad event mentioned would have been “Robert leaning against one of the television sets, tears running down his face.” I anticipated tragedy (just as many other readers I might assume) and frankly I was expecting something along the lines of someone dying rather than that pitiful ending. As I mentioned in my last post however, I realize that is but a bit outlandish since I already knew it was based on true events.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand though they could of easily gone with and ending maybe a bit out of non-fiction. I personally would have extended the book by a page or two and bring that tragedy into reality by having Robert possibly stab Mr. Ross when he tries to comfort him. Robert has the motivation since Mr. Ross ended the only thing that ever made him part of a group and an equal to others. One could say that he ended the best thing in Robert’s life, so with a bit of a dialogue between them during that scene, and maybe some foreshadowing of this before hand, I think the ending could be about five to ten times better. Then again, I suppose maybe it ends in its normal boring ending since they actually want to take pride in that non-fiction title.
Forgot to specify that Mr. Ross would die in my ending.
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