Character Analysis: The Wave

Words: 696
Pages: 3
Open Document
Destruction Caused By Power: How The Wave Ended Up Being Ben Ross’s Downfall The Nazi Party (aka the National Socialist German Workers’ Party) is infamous for its extreme nationalism, fascist ideologies, and mass genocides. This tragic regime in Germany lead to a disunified country, fear, and a nation left in ruins. Even if their heinous ways are frowned upon, children still learn about Nazis to understand and learn about the dangers of totalitarian dictatorships and the consequences of being a blind follower. In the novel, The Wave by Todd Strasser a teacher decides to put a twist on this classic lesson. Ben Ross invents an experiment in which students are apart of their own mini-organization in his classroom. However, Ross’s experiment …show more content…
Regardless of Ross’s good intentions of creating The Wave and convincing students of the idealistic and utopian ideals it will bring, The Wave brought more harm than good to Gordon High. It endangered all of the students because it started physical fights, bullying, threats, arguments, and racism all throughout the school. All of this drama leads to parents thinking poorly of Ross, causing a mass group of parents complaining to the principal. For instance, in the novel Principal Owens states, “I don’t care about your experiment. I’ve got teachers complaining, I’ve got parents calling me every five minutes wanting to know what the he**’s going on here, what the h*** we are we doing with their kids” (Strasser 122).This quote shows that a lot of adults are upset over what occurred in Gordon High. All of the complaining has lead his boss to have an antagonistic judgement of Ross’s character. So, this experiment ruined Ben Ross’s reputation with his co-workers, student’s parents and his boss. A good reputation is important since it determines the people who will support you in a time of need, provides motivation, inspires others, and makes you marketable for jobs. Ross has lost all of this because of The …show more content…
Although it is true that Ben Ross has learned that teens are easily influenced and to be careful in his future lesson plans he should have known these things already by being a high school teacher. For instance, Brian states, “I’ll do anything...Eat my Wheaties, join the Wave, do my homework. Anything to stop that guy” (Strasser 45). This quote shows how teens are followers. Even though Ross has learned this as a consequence of the Wave he should know teens will do anything to get what they want he should have predicted this would have gotten out of hand before he even started it. As a teacher he has witnessed fashion trends, fads, and he has been a teengaer himself. Ben Ross should have prepared for the worse. Furthermore, a lesson on how easily teens are easily influenced doesn’t outweigh the fact that he is in danger of losing his job and his ruined
Show More

Related Documents: Character Analysis: The Wave

The Fifth Wave Character Analysis

about the time we’re here, but what we do with the time.” Cassie Sullivan, a 16 year old fictional character in the book, The Fifth Wave comes alive to readers as you turn every page. Cassie is a relatable, audacious, humorous, and sympathetic character that comes alive because of her ability to make you question the thoughts and decisions you make in real, everyday life. In the novel the Fifth Wave, Cassie and the entire human species is visited by inhospitable aliens. Billions are killed in the…

Words 482 - Pages 2

Essay on Slashers: Horror Film and Audience Expectations

Developments Genres are based on the ideas of repetition and difference. Within the genre, the repetition is the common conventions audience expectations of character, story, structure, context and instructions associated with the genre. For the slasher genre, regardless of cycle, the repetition is... * The killer * The final girl * The initial scare * The pot event * The body count * The knife * The isolated setting * The ineffectual parents * Subjective…

Words 1787 - Pages 8

Essay On The Open Boat

In Stephen Cranes’ “The Open Boat”, four men are left navigating the sea after their ship sinks off of the coast of Florida. The story details their efforts to reach landfall through a troubling sea and their own mental hardships. Through analysis of the characters and of literary elements, the evidence of a relationship between man and nature will be interpreted, and how their place in the universe is miniscule and how the men must learn to love themselves. The Captain The captain is a proud man whom…

Words 1086 - Pages 5

The Wave Analysis Essay

The Wave Analysis Essay “Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them” (Jean-Paul Sartre). The Wave, a movie set in modern Germany is based on an experiment conducted in Cubberley high school, in North California in order to educate students on fascism during the holocaust; we have learned a lot about the psychological manner of humans from this experiment. A similar experiment to the one conducted in The Wave was The Stanford Prison Experiment. In this paper…

Words 2488 - Pages 10

Kapferer Brand Identity Prism of Grain Waves Essay

Kapferer Brand Identity Prism of Grain Waves [pic] 1. Introduction 2 2. Brand Identity Prism of Grain Waves 2 2.1 Physique 3 2.2 Personality 5 2.3 Culture 6 2.4 Relationship 7 2.5 Reflection 8 2.6 Self image 8 3. Conclusion and Recommendation 9 Reference List 10 Appendices 11 1. Introduction Before Grain Waves launched in 2008, there had never been a wholegrain chip in Australia, the market was saturated with more traditional potato or corn based snacks. Market…

Words 1945 - Pages 8

Separation In Bobby Ann Mason's Shiloh

walls of water—watches as the shoreline blends into the horizon as if it was nonexistent due to the vitriolic currents of the storm, tossing the boat like a child throwing a ragdoll. Eventually, the wounded ship meets its match and descends under the waves to add to the museum of the deep ocean. The downfall of the boat is similar to the relationship between Leroy and Norma’s falling out in Bobby Ann Mason’s “Shiloh”. Mason enlightens that relationships are fragile while experiencing separation through…

Words 1395 - Pages 6

English Coursework Essay examples

ed.) it’s strongly feministic and satirical fiction about the protagonist, a wife and working-mother in the 1970’s shows the significant text in relation to the position of women in the second wave of feminism in the Twentieth Century. Weldon deliberately uses third person narrative voice through the character of Martha as it allows this free indirect style to effectively draw the reader’s attention. The sense of anecdote makes the reader sympathise with Martha and reach a greater understanding of…

Words 677 - Pages 3

The STory of an Hour Essay

09/19/2013 Character Analysis 703 words “The Story of an Hour” Is there a right or wrong way to handle the death of a spouse? In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, readers will see Mrs. Mallard as a developing character and see how she handles the death of her spouse. Mrs. Mallard makes several changes during the course of this story. First the reader will see that Mrs. Mallard is grief stricken…

Words 676 - Pages 3

A Clockwork Orange Literary Analysis Essay

Clockwork Orange – Literary Analysis A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess introduces the reader to the main character, Alex, who can be analyzed and criticized using a psychoanalytic lens. Throughout the novel Alex prominently displays the lack of control his superego possesses over his id. He consistently thinks and reacts violently. He acts on impulses and instincts rather than on reason or practicality. He states “What I do I do because I like to do.” (Burgess, 31). This statement illustrates…

Words 437 - Pages 2

Susan Power Chicag Poem Analysis

Depths Abundant seas of water crash back in forth, cascading between the wind and shore lines. The thrashing sounds of the crest of the wave splashed down on the rest of the water and reoccured in rhythmic intervals until the water washed up into the sandy shore of Lake Michigan. A 15 year old girl, obviously scared, jumped in the choppy water, engulfed in its waves. Thrown around and swept under the current, the girl remained under the water until being spat out along the sandy beach. Susan Power…

Words 1202 - Pages 5