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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wave, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Groupthink and Coercion
History and the Past
Equality vs. Independence
Education
Summary
Analysis
The next day at school, Ben Ross is summoned to a meeting in Principal Owens’s office. On the way down the hall, over a dozen students give him the Wave salute. Ross is nervous that Owens will urge him to stop The Wave—but admits that if that’s what happens in the meeting, he’ll feel “some relief.” He can’t believe how big The Wave has gotten in such a short span of time. Even though students like Robert Billings have been positively impacted by The Wave, Ross is nervous about his own involvement in the experiment—he is worried about getting too “carried away.”
In the meeting with the “towering” and formidable but nonetheless genial Principal Owens, Owens asks Ross to tell him some more about the experiment that has the whole school “in a tizzy.” Ross explains The Wave to Owens, who regards the experiment as “unusual.” Ross assures Owens that there have been no complaints, but Owens remains uncertain about The Wave’s use of mottos and salutes. Still, Owens admits that even Coach Schiller has credited The Wave with turning the football team’s attitudes around.
This passage shows that Owens is willing to risk some controversy for the success of the struggling football team. He knows that Ross’s methods are unconventional—but if they help his school, and himself by proxy, look better in the eyes of the community, he’s happy to be along for the ride.
Themes
Owens reminds Ross that “there are limits” to classroom experiments like this, and Ross assures Owens that he won’t let The Wave go too far or get out of hand. Owens tells Ross to be careful with his young and impressionable students—but says that because Ross has never given Owens a reason to doubt him before, he has the go-ahead to continue with The Wave.
Owens retains a bit of skepticism—and gives Ross a clear, fair warning about how fragile and susceptible young people’s minds can be. Ross insists he already knows this, and is committed to conducting the experiment safely—but he will soon find himself pushing his own experiment to the very “limits” Owens is speaking of.
Themes
