“Today after school a boy was beaten up,” her fa-
ther said. “Now I got this story secondhand, so I don’t
know if it’s all accurate. But apparently there was some
some kind of rally at school today, and he had resisted join-
ing this Wave game or said critical about
it.”
......
“Maybe,”said Mr.Sanders. “But Laurie, the boy is
Jewish. Could that have anything to do with it?”
-The Wave, Pg: 98
My reaction to this quote is that it’s mimicking the Holocaust because the Nazis targeted Jewish people, this student targeted a Jewish person too. But, it’s not as bad as the Holocaust. I don’t think that people should get beat up, killed, or harmed in any way just because they refuse to join a group or party. In the book, it said that the person who had beaten the Jewish student had done it in the name of ‘The Wave’ as an excuse. Just because you’re part of a group, that doesn’t give you the right to harm somebody unless you have to. I don’t think the religion has to do with it, but it is kind of a coincidence.
The theme I can connect it to is ‘Blind Obedience’ because this student beat up another student. During the Holocaust, people followed Hitler blindly, it’s the same with ‘The Wave’. Also, this event reminds me of the Holocaust because the Nazis and Hitler targeted Jews, and this student that got beat up a Jewish student. I don’t think it was intentional, like I said before, but it is kind of a coincidence that the student who got beat up was Jewish. Any student who get harmed is bad, but it isn’t as bad as the Holocaust. The reason why I choose the Holocaust, among other themes it reminded me of ‘The Wave’ is like it in a way. The students in Ben Ross’s class are doing whatever he says, in a matter of a day. The students always came in slowly, bullied other people, and didn’t listen to Ben, and then they started to follow his rules, thinking it’s a game.
Wally,
ReplyDeleteThis is what stood out for me in your writing above:
"Just because you’re part of a group, that doesn’t give you the right to harm somebody unless you have to. I don’t think the religion has to do with it, but it is kind of a coincidence."
Im sure in your school you see this often - that someone thinks they are in charge of the social life, or sports team life of your school. And you can see that their words and actions harm others. Life in middle school is often like this - do I have that right?
But you go further and identify themes about religion - where some would say if you don't belong to our religion you are "wrong" or "bad".
Isn't it interesting that we all are so different and yet try to find a way to be the same - as we see in The Wave and even in life examples around us.
Thank you for responding, and I find it interesting that everyone has their different styles, likes, and interests, but they find a way to become one. But they try to make other people be like them, or they'll be outcasts. I remember reading in 'The Wave' that a senior tried to make three lower class men join the Wave, two of the three joined, and the senior tried to use fear by saying that no one would want to be his friend to the third friend. I think that it was nice that his friends stuck up for him and supported his decision. And the senior was saying that he was bad because by saying that he would have no friends, like you said. Just because someone says that someone else won't have friends or will be an outcast, they're always aren't right.
DeleteI think that you have a lot of helpful feed back for people, I think it helps them because you always have these complements about blog posts, so it gives them confidence boosters to keep writing and to write more. I also think that it's nice of you to take time out of your day to comment on our blog posts. Have a nice day!