The Wave

by

Todd Strasser

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Wave makes teaching easy.

Robert Billings Character Analysis

Widely regarded as the “creepy” class loser amongst the seniors at Gordon High, Robert Billings is a painfully introverted young man who is growing up in the shadow of his beloved, successful older brother, a popular Gordon alum. As The Wave movement takes hold of the school, Robert comes out of his shell for the first time ever—and Ben Ross and the others students alike are surprised and even charmed by the changes in Robert’s personality as he becomes more outgoing and confident. When Robert is made a monitor, however, the power goes to his head—and he becomes one of the most regimented, even dangerous members of The Wave movement. When Ben Ross puts the movement to a stop, Robert is devastated and sits in the auditorium weeping alone long after the other students have cleared out and decided to try to “forget” about how intensely The Wave took hold of their school.

Robert Billings Quotes in The Wave

The The Wave quotes below are all either spoken by Robert Billings or refer to Robert Billings. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Groupthink and Coercion Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

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?

Related Characters: Laurie Saunders, Ben Ross, Robert Billings
Related Symbols: The Wave
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Wave LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Wave PDF

Robert Billings Quotes in The Wave

The The Wave quotes below are all either spoken by Robert Billings or refer to Robert Billings. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Groupthink and Coercion Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

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?

Related Characters: Laurie Saunders, Ben Ross, Robert Billings
Related Symbols: The Wave
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis: