The Wave

The Wave is a book by Todd Strasser. It was about a teacher who wanted to teach his students how the Germans were ignorant towards their actions in WWII. Therefore, he started an experiment with his students and the Wave organization. The Wave organization started out in his classroom and the students had uniformed procedures to answer questions and acting within class. They answered with "Mr Ross" before every answer and question and they had to stand beside their desk. It became so successful because this procedure took so little time to go through their lessons. It somehow motivated them to become better in an organized group. The Wave soon spread throughout the school and used for so many other things other than within the classroom like at the football field. But, the school started to force others to join. They resorted to violence and isolation in order to recruit students. It evolved from a class experiment to a school wide fad. On the brink of when it was to spread to the public, Mr Ross showed the students how they were acting. They were acting as if the Nazis did. They recruited as much as possible and hurt those who didn't. By doing so, the students were appalled by their behaviors and wanted to never repeat this.
I thought this was a very interesting book. It shows how the human can't think other humans can possibly do that sort of harm. Humans turn a blind eye towards themselves and hold themselves in a higher position than they truly are. Yet, there are some humans who see this truth and want to enlighten others, such as Todd Strasser.

Journal Entry May 5, 2009

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."
-Anne Frank

What is truly evil? I believe evil is all in the mind. Evil is but an option that not everybody shares. For example, Hitler was hated by everybody. He is believed to be evil but not everybody agrees. People in Germany think he was a "hero". Even the US thought so, too. He rescued Germany from depression. I''m nut saying how Hitler is good but evil is an opinion. Even the 9/11 hijackers. They were "evil" in some opinions but others may look upon them and see that they were nationalists. They've killed hundreds but only for what they believed in. or some they were heroes willing to make the biggest sacrifice. Again, I'm not saying they're good, in fact they're "evil" in my opinion but evil is all in the mind.
So if a bully is picking on you or you're fighting with someone, look into their point of view and see what they are fighting for or against. They may have a goal worth fighting for.