The Wave

It is evident that not all young people are resilient when it comes to dealing with life’s challenges, as it was displayed in the book ‘The Wave’ written by Morton Rhue. There were a majority of students who were not resilient with the wave and the challenges that emerged from it, such as Amy, Robert and David. The student that was surprisingly resilient was Laurie, who was also the main character of the story. Laurie was mentally and also physically strong at dealing with the consequences that upshot from the wave Such as the isolation from the entire school and her best friend, the break-up with her boyfriend and the discrimination and violence of being and as being an ‘outsider’.

There were many reasons why students supported the wave and were not resilient and did not stand up to their individual rights. David was Laurie’s boyfriend when the wave was introduced David valued The Wave as something good and recognized the possibility to use the positive effects for the football team. His motive was to hope that shifting the class spirit to the team will push and rise it up, will lead to the success it lacked before. He was so mentally absorbed he could not see he was being dragged into a cult. Robert was the class ‘Loser’, his motivation was s personal one. He wanted to be a member of The Wave, especially a good member. Joining the movement was rather important for him, because he wouldn’t be the underdog any longer, by employing all his abilities he would be able to turn his role into a leading one. So joining the group gave him the chance to redefine himself. In former times he had given up, because it was out of his reach to compete with his older brother, who had been the quintessential model student and a big guy on the campus. The Wave offered a new way of life to him. The opinions and reactions of the other students were different too. They changed from being fascinated to being afraid of the newly founded movement. The wave made Robert equal like everyone else, so like David Robert was not resilient because he could not see that he was being dragged into a cult.

Laurie is the only character who is resilient; this is because she’s an independent character. She’s used to reflect situations and experiences and she behaves according to her intellectual standards. Besides this she solves problems on her own and in her own way. As far as The Wave is concerned she acts as usual. She isn’t against community in class, isn’t against reaching a common goal by acting in unison, but she’ll never give up her own opinion, her own thinking, her individualism and her independence. Personal abilities and her intellectual capacity are suitable measures for her to solve problems, to reach intellectual goals. She is not against equality, but values individual contributions. Laurie's opinion about The Wave is very critical. She has the feeling that all The Wave members behave like a stunned common flock of sheep. The fact that students have been hurt in the name of The Wave makes her angry. Moreover she can’t believe that even smart and intelligent people like her best friend Amy are involved and loyal to this movement. Finally it becomes clear that the movement destroys this friendship and Laurie doesn’t agree with the fact that she is pushed into the role of an outsider now. Her fighting spirit leads to action. She defends herself against the loss of individuality by publishing her critical editorial in the school paper, a measure of intelligent power.

Laurie is very resilient when the wave results her to break