March 2nd marked National Read Across America day and people all across the country celebrated with read-a-thons, library trips, and Dr. Seuss reading parties. I had absolutely no clue that this was happening until I saw a few too many people dressed as Dr. Seuss characters for it to be a coincidence. I love books more than I love most things so obviously I accidentally celebrated anyway.
When I was younger, my family would gather together and my dad would read books to us. It was our family time. We read a lot of different kinds of books and I come back to them from time to time to reminisce. I’ve discovered that every time I read them I get something new from them. On March 2nd I re-read “The Wave” by Todd Strasser. It’s a pretty easy read, only 138 pages with pretty large print.
The back cover of the novel explains the plot pretty clearly. It says, “The Wave is based on an incident that took place in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, in 1969. Ben Ross and his history class are about to learn a lesson they will never forget. As they study World War II, Ben Ross’s students can’t seem to understand how the German people could have followed Hitler and the Nazi’s. So Mr. Ross creates an experimental movement called The Wave. What begins in a single classroom quickly gathers momentum. Before the end of the week, The Wave’s motto, “Strength Through Discipline, Strength Through Community, Strength Through Action,” governs the entire school. Only two students, Laurie Sanders and David Collins, recognize The Wave for what it is and set out to stop I before it’s too late. But is history destined to repeat itself?”
In just a few days, the students at this high school follow almost the exact same path as the Hitler Youth movement. The promise of a better social climate, a football team that finally wins, and a school that runs effectively and efficiently takes over almost the entire student body very quickly. Students who are named “enforcers” (Gestapo?) make sure people are following the tenants of The Wave and begin to vilify any student that decides not to join.
Near the end of the book, Laurie Sanders and the few students on the school newspaper that are not in the movement and are not afraid of being harmed for opposing the movement put out a special issue of the school newspaper. Included in this issue are testimonials from students who are not part of the movement, accounts of the physical attacks initiated by members of The Wave on non-Wave students, and an editor’s note by Laurie who was in Mr. Ross’s original history class and has seen this movement from it’s inception. The members of The Wave immediately refuse to believe that anything printed by someone who opposes the movement must be a lie, they “won’t give The Wave a chance”, all of the news is fake, and they must be stopped. Laurie’s locker is vandalized and she is attacked on her way home for opposing the regime.
I hate to spoil the ending for you, but it’s very powerful and I know that most of the people reading this article won’t actually read the book. At the end of the book, Mr. Ross calls all members of the wave to a rally to meet their “national leader”. To the surprise and shock of the students (who are all wearing their arm bands with the logo for The Wave”, when the film rolls, it isn’t a national leader for their movement they see. It’s Adolf Hitler speaking to the Nazi Youth. According to documentaries made about the events depicted in this novel and testimonies from students who were involved, nobody spoke about what happened for over 3 years.
I was pretty young when my family read this book and I’m almost positive that I didn’t really understand the message it was trying to convey. Now, living in 2017, I get it. I don’t know if I made it clear enough in my description of the plot, but I’m surrounded by these events unfolding today. I’m vilified for not giving the current regime a chance. I’m attacked for not supporting the process being used to “make America great again.” Anything written that opposes our leader is fake news.
We like to pretend that we are beyond what happened in World War II. We think we have evolved past believing in a leader who uses charisma to sway people to overlook their shortcomings and failures. We think we are too smart to let fascism ever happen again. It happened in 1969. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that it is happening again. You can buy this book for $.50 online. I encourage you to read it and process it for yourself. Amazon also sells it in a bundle with “It can’t happen here” by Sinclair Lewis and “1984” by George Orwell for $22.79 if you care to read more about what could happen if we ever stop questioning leaders who vilify anyone who thinks for themselves.
