Was The Wave Experiment A Sucess?

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“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. - Lord Acton. Was the Wave experiment a success? Discuss. The novel The Wave by Morton Rhue follows the story of a history class in Palo Alto, California during 1969, conducting a classroom experiment which goes terribly wrong. The novel illustrates the detrimental effects peer pressure can have on the group, and makes us question any type of group coercion. The Wave experiment was both a success and a failure; the novel demonstrates the power of authority and the damage it can cause. The Wave follows a factual story of a history teacher named Ben Ross and his year ten students. They embark upon a seemingly innocent classroom experiment, which develops into a problem somewhat like that in Nazi Germany. The novel demonstrates how power corrupts and how relationships can easily be torn apart when ones individuality is lost. Morton Rhue also examines the links between the class and Nazi Germany. Throughout the wave, the author explains how the students become obsessed with their experimental movement , and carry out its salutes, chants, and symbols everywhere just like the Nazi’s did in the time of the holocaust. ‘Just remember that the popular thing is not always the right thing’ (54).The wave demonstrates several examples of the power of peer pressure and the harm it can cause. In the beginning of the novel Ben Ross’s wife Christy and Laurie’s mum Midge both give warnings against the wave movement, these women’s warnings foreshadow in the near future, but were ignored in the present, and after the wave had started there was no stopping it. During the formation of the wave a letter was sent to Laurie and the other grapevine members, the letter stated that a person was being bullied into the wave, and a senior had said that if they didn’t join, they would be disliked by their friends. The letter was
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