The Wave by Morton Rhue free essay sample

In the novel The Wave by Morton Rhue we see change occur in this novel when a classroom experiment designed to show students how to make people change and conform their behaviour to fit certain rules. The classroom experiment that the teacher created was the catalyst that caused throughout the schools behaviour and the students behaviour and attitude. Robert Billings is a student who rarely pays attention in class and is always getting low marks and sleeping in Ben Ross’s history class. We see this early in the novel when Ben Ross is going through his class marks and comes across Roberts mark. â€Å"The other D was Robert Billings, the class loser. Ross shook his head . The Billings boy was a real problem†. In this quote we get a brief description of what type of student Robert is and the use action words emphasises the worry in Ben Ross. After the first wave lesson there is a sudden spark in Robert. We will write a custom essay sample on The Wave by Morton Rhue or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Robert becomes a new person after the wave. Before the class commenced when all the student were walking in Ben Ross describes Robert when he says â€Å"He was a heavy boy with shirt tail perpetually hanging out and his hair always a mess. In this quote Ben Ross gives an outline of how Robert presents himself and shows lack in confidence. The use of formal language is used to describe how he looks. We first notice change in Robert after the first lesson of the wave when for the first time Robert is getting involved in the class instead of always sleeping. The second place we see change is after the class in the men’s room when Mr Ross watch’s Robert without him having any idea of him being and there and says â€Å"He was standing in front of the mirror tucking in his shirt and fixing his hair†. This strongly represents change in Robert after the wave lesson; it is as if The Wave has changed Roberts Perspective on things. Later through the novel we strongly see a positive change in Robert. From the class loser that always slept in class to a leader and Ben Ross’s bodyguard all because of the wave. But the change that we see that appears to be positive is negative. Robert thinks that the change is a real group or organisation and dosnt realize that is all a lie and just a classroom experiment the Ben Ross has created. The Wave made Robert feel like leader. For the first time Robert was felling something different in his perspective something good but in reality it was all a lie, mad up, it was still just and fake class room experiment created  by Ben Ross. All he positive change the Robert was felling was all a waste. We see how much the wave meant to Robert when Ben Ross finally decides to put an end to the wave. Robert doesn’t take the end to The Wave very well and we see this in the quote â€Å"he heard a sob and saw Robert leaning against one of the television sets, tears running d own his face†. This quote shows how much Robert how much feeling he had for the wave. This quote emphasises Robert how upset Robert is and showing us that he isn’t just upset he is heartbroken. This shoes us that change that is forced upon of change that is a lie may seem at first to be positive but as a result it is negative and at time damaging. Other types of change are seen on the character David Collins. David is a successful and popular student who uses The Wave to improve the football team. After the first lesson of The Wave David realises that this could encourage them and motivate them to do better. We see this in the quote when David is having a conversation with Eric and says â€Å"But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t work, David insisted†. In this quote we see that David is very enthusiastic about the wave and really believes that it can improve the football team’s results. We see the change in David’s perspective of the wave and by using an excited tone it shows us how much David supports his believe. David believed strongly that Appling the wave to the football team could make them win. They suffered a horrible loss and this caused David to completely change the way he thought of the wave. We also see a negative change in David due to the wave when Laurie tries to stop the wave and David and her have a fight over it. â€Å"Laurie you’ve got to stop writing stuff against the wave. You’re causing all kinds of problems†. In this quote we see that David is blaming Laurie for causing the trouble in the wave and because of this argument it cause the to break up because the rules and the spread of the wave. Due to this Laurie is further isolated and friendless. This is an example of how change can cause people to be neglected and isolated from a group that do not believe, or agree with its terms. David is a calm guy but due to the change in him because of the wave it causes his behaviour to change causing a violent outburst on Laurie and throwing her on the ground. This violent act causes David to have an epiphany that the wave hasn’t caused a positive change but a negative one. The song Father and Son by Cat Stevens represents the different opinions people have toward change. In the song the father doesn’t agree on the change and believe that there is no need for change. It is an emotional relationship containing complication in generation. The father dosen’t trust the son judgement and says he is â€Å"too young†. But the son tries to explain why he wants change â€Å"I try to explain, as I do he turn away†. We see that the father s caring for his child and doesn’t want things to change. In the song we are seeing two different generations that have different ideas on change. The father thinking that it change is not needed â€Å"it’s not time take it easy† and â€Å"for you will still be here tomorrow but your dreams may not† shows us that the father is trying to limit the sons dreams. The Son wanting change â€Å"I know I have to go† show frustration and a sense of having to leave as change is needed. This text represents change in people over time as generation find it difficult to communicate with each other. The visual the seven stage of man represent change in each person and that life is continually changing and is like a cycle. There is no single catalyst that causes change in this text; people grow get old and die. This visual represent change by 7 pictures of the same man throughout his life. If the first stage of the characters life he in young and smiling and holding a hand which represents needing support. In the next two figures the characters is still smiling but now has wide arm movement which represents a confident stride which show that he is looking forward to the future. The middle character is still smiling but has changed in appearance. He is now wearing a suit and has reduced his stride to a relaxed and confident walk. In the last three figures the man begins to start having a hunch and has now lost majority of his hair, is no longer smiling and is wearing glasses all these feature symbolise change and getting old. In the second last figure the man had almost no hair and is being support by a walking stick. In the very last figure the man has no hair and as a hand guiding him and a walking stick. This last figure links back to the first figure of the little boy they both are being supported and one is new to world and ready and the other is old and ready to leave. The visual represents change that happens to people over time were as the song Father and Son by cat Steven’s shows that change in people over time changes their idea toward change. As demonstrated in the texts the wave, Father and son, and seven stages of man change can be caused by a single catalyst or can be gradual and a part of nature as seen in seven stages of man where it is a cycle of life. Change to me is something that sometimes we aren’t even aware of and sometime we are and without change you have nothing to look forward to in life.