Summary Of The Wave By Todd Strasser

In The Wave written by Todd Strasser, the idea of conformity and individuality was brought to my attention. It showed how everyone can undergo a phase where they believe that being part of a group is more important than being an individual. Conformity was the idea of how the teens at school would change their own beliefs along with their morals just to fit in, and to follow the usual standards that are expected of a group. While following the group the idea of being an individual was lost in the minds of most students especially in Robert Billings mind. Individuality is how a person distinguishes themselves from others and the idea of being an individual while a group was taking over the school was nearly impossible. No one was willing to take

Laurie Saunders was one of the few people that decided to stay as an individual while the rest of the school was head over heels for the idea of The Wave. Laurie said “David I think you and everyone else are taking this whole Wave thing a little bit too seriously” implying that she believed that The Wave has gone too far and out of hands. Laurie was the kid who had it all, she was an “A” grade student, had friends, editor of The Grapevine, and had a boyfriend, half of the school’s parents said, ‘‘why can’t you be like Laurie Saunders?’’ This shows that Laurie was the “perfect” child that every parent wished for, but after The Wave, her life slowly started to crumble. Laurie gained a lot of confidence and strength to not just stay an individual but to also stand up against The Wave even if it meant losing her popular status. She soon began to lose her boyfriend, David Collins, and her best friend, Amy. “Suddenly it was as if she was a stranger,” said Laurie. This line from the book was to represent that after The Wave it changed her best friend and she didn’t know who’d her best friend is anymore. Laurie was willing to rebel against her whole school by writing a news article stating that it was “… a dangerous and mindless movement that suppressed freedom of speech and thought and ran against everything this country was founded on.” Laurie, Alex, and Carl were willing to form a group to rebel against The Wave or as Laurie called them the “… Night of the Living Dead.” Laurie believed that The wave was doing more harm than good and was motivated to try and shut it down. For being an individual Laurie was willing to risk everything and not back down to do that thing she believed was right. Not a lot of people could do what Laurie Saunders did but she by taking action and doing what she did makes Laurie Saunders a strong, motivated