SuitabookThe Wave
Morton Rhue
- Reading
- Read alongside conversation rather than treating the movement’s appeal as self-explanatory. Pause after major changes in group behaviour, track who can speak safely, and discuss how the novel connects present choices with historical examples.
- Themes
- Belonging and conformity: The experiment develops a movement whose ideology changes its followers and social relationships at school. The book appears to examine why collective belonging and discipline can become pressure to conform, rather than presenting group loyalty as uncomplicated.
- Freedom of expression: The school newspaper provides a setting for opinion and publishes criticism of the movement, while supporters object to critical reporting. The narrative gives independent expression a sustained counterweight to authoritarian pressure and shows criticism exposing threats and abuse.
- Power and historical warning: The novel’s school experiment is taught alongside propaganda, manipulation, the Milgram experiment, fascism, Nazism and the Holocaust. The movement is described as becoming radical and totalitarian, with aggression towards non-members; its connection to historical authoritarianism functions as a warning.
- Worth knowing
- Some scenes involve threats towards students who resist, a student being beaten up, aggressive behaviour by supporters and a boyfriend pushing his girlfriend during an argument. The intensity and detail of these scenes remain unclear.