“You must always question what you do rather than blindly follow a leader.” Ben Ross, The Wave, p. 140
SPOILER ALERT!
Okay, this quote is after Ben Ross show’s the students the Wave’s real leader, Adolf Hitler. I am glad that Ben didn't go mad with power like I thought. I kind of thought that Ben was telling the truth about how there was a supreme leader of the Wave. I wonder why Ben didn't tell Laurie and David his plan about the Wave rally meeting. What I wonder is did some of the other Wave members think that this was like being a Nazis because it completely resembled it? This was a real event that happened in 1969 not too long after WWII, so I would think that more people in the school, kids and adults would have seen the resemblance. When the quote says, “rather than blindly follow a leader,” that’s exactly what the Wave did the the Nazi kind of didn't. The Wave doesn't really believe in a cause like the Nazis did.
I think that the theme of this quote is blind obedience. The Wave members followed Mr. Ross without really having a cause. The Wave was just obedient to Mr. Ross even though he never told them what the Wave was trying to change or do. I can’t relate this to the Nazis because the Nazis were told what they wanted to do unlike the Wave. I think this quote is about bandwagon and how the Wave didn't question Mr. Ross, they just went along with it. I can relate this to Nazis because they just blindly followed Hitler and didn't think of the consequences. Maybe the Wave members join out of fear and not obedience, like the Nazis. I think that most of the Nazis join out of fear more than obedience, because if you didn't join the Nazi party then you were put in jail or killed. After the person would join then they would be obedient because of fear so I think that the two themes go together. In the Wave I think it went opposite, because it started as obedience then turned to fear when the Wave members started to beat kids up.
I agree with you, the Nazis did kinda do what they wanted and if they wanted unless told by Hitler. I think the Nazis were still brain washed by Hitler that Jews aren't mean't to live which is totally wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Austin because nobody in The Wave saw that they were acting like the Nazis
ReplyDeleteWhat did the Wave do to make these people obedient? It seems to me like there should be some kind of influence that would make people like the Wave before many joined out of fear. I like your use of the term blind obedience. This may signify that the Wave never did have anything to offer in the first place, but would make it hard to track why people were so obedient to it.
ReplyDeleteI was a little confused because Mr. Ross just told them to stand and say his name and there was no objection.
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