Мортон Рю - The Wave

Behind her, David saw Eric and Brian. Both looked shaken. They stopped when they saw David and for a few moments the three team-mates stood in an awkward silence.

“What a freak-out,” Eric said, his voice hardly more than a mumble.

David tried to shrug it off. He felt bad for his friends. “Well, it's over now,” he told them. “Let's try and forget it ... I mean, let's try not to forget it... but let's forget it at the same time.”

Eric and Brian nodded. They understood what he meant even if he hadn't exactly made sense.

Brian made a rueful face. “I should've known it,” he said. “The first time that Clarkstown linebacker broke through and sacked me for a fifteen-yard loss last Saturday. I should've known it was no good.”

The three team-mates shared a short chuckle and then Eric and Brian left the auditorium. David walked down towards the stage where Mr Ross stood. His teacher looked very tired.

“I'm sorry I didn't trust you, Mr Ross,” David said.

“No, it was good that you didn't,” Ross told him. “You showed good judgement. I should be apologizing to you, David. I should have told you what I was planning to do.”

Laurie joined them. “Mr Ross, what's going to happen now?” she asked.

Ben shrugged and shook his head. “I'm not sure I know, Laurie. We still have quite a bit of history to cover this semester. But maybe we'll take just one more period to discuss what happened today.”

“I think we should,” David said.

“You know, Mr Ross,” Laurie said. “In a way I'm glad this happened. I mean, I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I'm glad it worked out, and I think everyone learned a lot.”

Ben nodded. “Well, that's nice of you, Laurie. But I've already decided this is one lesson I'm going to skip in next year's course.”

David and Laurie looked at each other and smiled. They said good-bye to Mr Ross and turned to leave the auditorium.

Ben watched Laurie and David and the last of the former members of The Wave leave the auditorium. When they were gone and he thought he was alone, he sighed and said, “Thank God.” He was relieved that it had ended well, and thankful that he still had his job at Gordon High. There would still be a few angry parents and incensed faculty members to smooth over, but in time he knew he could do it.

He turned and was about to leave the stage when he heard a sob and saw Robert leaning against one of the television sets, tears running down his face.

Poor Robert, Ben thought. The only one who really stood to lose in this whole thing. He walked towards the trembling student and put his arm around his shoulder. “You know, Robert,” he said, trying to cheer him up, “you look good in a tie and jacket. You ought to wear them more often.”

Through his tears, Robert managed a smile. “Thanks, Mr Ross.”

“What do you say we go out for a bite to eat?” Ben said, leading him off the stage. “There are some things I think we should talk about.”

The Wave is based on a true incident that occurred in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, in 1969. For three years afterwards, according to the teacher, Ron Jones, no one talked about it. “It was,” he said, “one of the most frightening events I have ever experienced in the classroom.”

“The Wave” disrupted an entire school. The novel dramatizes the incident, showing how the powerful forces of group pressure that have pervaded many historical movements and cults can persuade people to join such movements and give up their individual rights in the process — sometimes causing great harm to others. The full impact on the students of what they lived through and learned is realistically portrayed in the book.

In addition to the novel, The Wave has been made into a one-hour television show for ABC by Virginia L. Carter, an executive director at Tandem Productions and T.A.T. Communications Company.

Harriet Harvey Coffin

Project Consultant

T.A.T. Communications Company