Laurie Saunders Character Analysis

“How could the Germans sit back while the Nazis slaughtered people all around them and say they didn’t know about it? How could they do that?” […]

“All I can tell you,” Ben said, “is that the Nazis were highly organized and feared. The behavior of the rest of the German population is a mystery—why they didn’t try to stop it, how they could say they didn’t know. We just don’t know the answers.”

Eric’s hand was up again. […] “I would never let such a small minority of people rule the majority.”

“Yeah,” said Brad. “I wouldn’t let a couple of Nazis scare me into pretending I didn’t see or hear anything.”

After Ben Ross shows his senior history students a film about the Holocaust, their reactions range from disinterested to deeply disturbed. Laurie Saunders is the most perturbed member of the class, unable to understand how the Nazis could “slaughter” Jews, Roma, and homosexual and disabled individuals in their death camps—and how ordinary Germans could stand by while the atrocities occurred. This exchange between Laurie, Ross, and two other members of the class, Brad and Eric, sets up many of the fundamental thematic questions that The Wave will investigate. The bystander phenomenon as well as the dangers of groupthink are at the heart of the classroom experiment that Ross will soon devise to give his students a “taste” of life in Nazi Germany—and though Eric and Brad claim they would never let a “small minority” rule them or “scare them into” doing certain things, both boys will soon become dedicated members of a movement that thrives on conformity, coercion, and intimidation. Ross’s students claim to be baffled by the social and moral breakdowns that allowed the Nazis to take control of Germany, but ultimately, the novel will show just how susceptible even these well-informed and seemingly autonomous students are to the dangers of groupthink, blind allegiance, and historical amnesia.

“Hey,” David said defensively. “I didn’t say I wasn’t bothered by it. I just said it’s over now. Forget about it. It happened once and the world learned its lesson. It’ll never happen again.”

“I hope not,” Laurie said, picking up her tray.

After viewing the film about the Holocaust in Mr. Ross’s history class, Laurie Saunders is confused and emotional—but her jock boyfriend David Collins barely feels anything at all. When Laurie calls him out on his flat, glib reaction to the film, David insists he’s not unbothered, but simply unconvinced that the dangers of World War II-era Germany are things he needs to worry about in his day-to-day life. This apathy towards the lessons of history is one of The Wave’s central themes and biggest concerns. David—and many of his peers—see history as a fixed, unchangeable thing, and regard the lessons of the past as lessons learned. However, as The Wave will soon show, it’s frighteningly easy to forget the important lessons the past has to offer—and David and his peers will soon fall prey to a small-scale repetition of one of history’s most dangerous moments.

“My mother says [The Wave] sounds like brainwashing to her,” Laurie said.

“What?”

“She says Mr. Ross is manipulating us.”

“She’s crazy,” David said. “How could she know? And besides, what do you care what your mother says? You know she worries about everything.”

Today I found out that three of my friends joined after some other seniors talked to them. I saw that senior from Mr. Ross’s class in the hall and he asked if I had joined yet. I told him I didn’t intend to. He said if I didn’t join soon it would be too late.

All I want to know is: Too late for what?

“That guy’s a real detri­ment to the team. I wish Schiller would throw him off.”

“Because he isn’t in The Wave?” Laurie asked.

“Yeah,” David replied. “If he really wanted the best for the team he’d join The Wave instead of giving Brian such a hard time. He’s a one-man team, Laurie. He’s just on a big ego trip and he’s not helping anyone.”

“You mean I can’t go up into the stands unless I give The Wave salute?” Laurie asked.

[…] Brad shrugged. “I know. Look, what’s the big deal. Just give me the salute and you can go up.”

[…] “You mean everyone in the stands gave you the salute?”

“Well, yeah. In this part of the stands.”

“Well, I want to go up and I don’t want to give The Wave salute,” Laurie said angrily.

[…] Brad blushed. “Look, Laurie,” he said in a low voice. “Just do the stupid salute already.”

But Laurie was adamant. “No, this is ridiculous. Even you know it’s ridiculous.”

“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.”

David instantly recoiled in shock at what he had done. Laurie lay still on the ground and he was filled with fear as he dropped to his knees and put his arms around her. [...] David could not believe it. He felt almost as if he were coming out of a trance. 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!

[Ross] recalled those students in his own history classes who had condemned the Jews for not taking the Nazi threat seriously, for not fleeing […] when rumors of the concentration camps and gas chambers first filtered back to them. Of course, Ross thought, how could any rational person believe such a thing? And who could have believed that a nice bunch of high school students […] could have become a fascist group called The Wave?

“You weren’t dumb, David. You were idealistic. I mean, there were good things about The Wave. It couldn’t be all bad, or no one would have joined in the first place. It’s just that they don’t see what’s bad about it. They think it makes everyone equal, but they don’t understand that it robs you of your right to be independent.”