The central symbol in The Wave is, aptly, The Wave movement that seizes hold of Gordon High School. It symbolizes the human tendency to conform to group norms, even when those norms are horrifying. The Wave is created almost on a whim by history teacher Ben Ross in an attempt to get his high school students to grasp the gravity of the atrocities of the Holocaust—and to explain the impossible question of how ordinary Germans could have participated in or turned a blind eye to the evil mission of the Nazi party. When Ross creates The Wave, he attempts to instill the ideals of strength through discipline, strength through community, and strength through action in his students to show them how simple mottos and pursuit of a common goal can transform behavior and opinion. However, Ross also creates a hierarchy of student spies, guards, and enforcers who quickly become carried away with their roles. As Wave members don armbands, harass non-Wave members, and even begin discriminating against Jewish members of the Gordon student body, Ross realizes that the experiment has gone off the rails—and is mirroring life in Nazi Germany far more closely than he ever intended. The Wave experiment, then, becomes a symbol for the perils of groupthink, the destructive force of blind compliance, and the dark streak within human nature which allows “ordinary” individuals to commit horrible, unthinkable acts under the influence of pressure to conform. Just likes waves in the ocean move forward and gather strength, speed, and volume until they break, so too does the “wave” of fascist behavior at Gordon High swell and crash.
The Wave Quotes in The Wave
He had told his wife how surprisingly enthusiastic his students had been that afternoon, but he had not told her that he too had gotten caught up in it. It would almost be embarrassing to admit that he could get swept up in such a simple game. But yet on reflection he knew that he had. The fierce exchange of questions and answers, the quest for perfect discipline—it had been infectious […] Interesting, he thought as he got into bed.
“This will be our symbol. A wave is a pattern of change. It has movement, direction, and impact. From now on, our community, our movement will be known as The Wave.” He paused and looked at the class standing at stiff attention, accepting everything he told them. “And this will be our salute,” he said, cupping his right hand in the shape of a wave, then tapping it against his left shoulder and holding it upright. “Class, give the salute,” he ordered.
The class gave the salute.
“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.”
“When we first began The Wave a few days ago I felt that some of you were actually competing to give the right answers and to be better members than others. From now on I want this to end. […] You must conceive of yourselves as a team, a team of which you are all members. 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.”
Ben noticed a marked improvement in preparation for class and in class participation, but he also noticed that there was less thinking behind the preparation. His students could glibly spit back answers as if by rote, but there was no analysis, no questioning on their part.
Ben stepped out into the hall and started down toward the principal’s office. On the way more than a dozen students paused to give him The Wave salute. He returned them and continued quickly, wondering what [Principal] Owens was going to say. In one sense, if Owens was going to tell him that there had been complaints and that he should stop the experiment, Ross knew he would feel some relief.
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.”
“I created this experiment, and they went along. If I stop now they’ll all be left hanging. They’d be confused, and they wouldn’t have learned anything.
“Well, let them be confused,” Christy said.
[…] “I can’t do that!” he shouted at his wife. “I’m their teacher. I was responsible for getting them into this. I admit that maybe I did let this go too long. But they’ve come too far to just drop it now. I have to push them until they get the point. I might be teaching these kids the most important lesson of their lives!”
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.”
Ben began to realize how much more serious this “little experiment” was than he’d ever imagined. It was frightening how easily they would put their faith in your hands, how easily they would let you decide for them. If people were destined to be led, Ben thought, this was something he must make sure they learned: to question thoroughly, never to put your faith in anyone’s hands blindly. Otherwise…
“You thought you were so special!” Ross told them. “Better than everyone else outside of this room. You traded your freedom for what you said was equality. But you turned your equality into superiority over non-Wave members. You accepted the group’s will over your own convictions, no matter who you had to hurt to do it. [..].] You all would have made good Nazis,” Ben told them. […] You say it could never happen again, but look how close you came.”
Ben moved closer to the front of the stage and spoke in a lower voice. “If history repeats itself, you will all want to deny what happened to you in The Wave. But, if our experiment has been successful, […] you will have learned that we are all responsible for our own actions, and that you must always question what you do rather than blindly follow a leader, and that for the rest of your lives, you will never, ever allow a group’s will to usurp your individual rights.”
The Wave Symbol Timeline in The Wave
