Hello everyone! Today I will write a summary about the book ”The Wave” by Morton Rue.
The Book ”The Wave” by Morton Rue, is a book based on real events. It tells us about a teacher named Mr. Ross, who is a young history teacher who is looking for ways to teach his students about World War 2. He attempts a little experiment with his class, but soon the experiment gets out of control and ends in some big problems.
He shows them a movie about the Holocaust so they will see the negative effects of dictatorship. All students, especially a girl named Laurie Saunders are deeply disturbed and frightened by the movie. The students ask Mr. Ross why anyone would let the Nazis take power, but he doesn’t know himself.
Mr. Ross figures out an experiment to show his students what life was like under the Nazis. He discusses it with his wife, Christy. The next day, he introduces the students to the concept of “Strength Through Discipline.” He explains that they can make their lives better if they live in a more organized and disciplined way. He gives the class a posture lesson and hast the students stand up and address him as “Mr. Ross” when they are answering questions. Robert is very excited about the new routine even though he is usually a bad student
The next day, Mr. Ross is impressed that the students remembered his lesson about discipline and are still excited about it. He adds the concept of “Strength Through Community.” In his class, everyone is equal and the students are responsible for helping each other. He calls this The Wave and teaches the students a salute that they can use with each other.
On Wednesday, Mr. Ross introduces The Wave’s final motto: “Strength Through Action.” He also tells the students to recruit people outside the class to join The Wave. At lunch, all the students in The Wave sit together rather than breaking into separate groups. Laurie notices that for the first time, Robert is included and treated like an equal part of the group. However, she thinks that The Wave is a little weird. No one agrees with her.
This goes on until a Jewish boy gets beaten up, because of the Wave Movement. Still, all of the Wave Members are so obsessed with this experiment, that they take this to a whole new level. They make everyone join, and are all obsessed with the idea of being a community and all equal.
This got so out of hand, that Laurie, was considered an enemy because she refused to join the wave movement. After being told by his friends, David confronts her and asks her not to write any more articles critical of The Wave. They argue, and David pushes her to the ground. When he realizes that The Wave had made him violent with his girlfriend, he lets go of the movement and agrees with Laurie. They go to Mr. Ross’s house to ask him to stop The Wave. He agrees.
The next day, Mr. Ross informs the students that The Wave is part of a national political movement, and invites them to a rally where they will hear a digital message from the movement’s leader. At the rally, Mr. Ross shows the proud and happy students footage of Hitler. He explains that this is their leader, and they would all have been good Nazis if they had lived in the 1930s. He tells them to think critically and to stand up for themselves rather than agreeing mindlessly to the group. He then shows footage from the concentration camp documentary. The students are stunned and feel guilty about their involvement in The Wave.
This Book was really nice, especially because it taught me a lesson and made me want to question things more than I do and think for myself.