The Wave by Todd Strasser Themes Analysis Essay

Authors use themes within the texts to communicate their corn on society or a specific issue. In the historical fiction novel, The Wave, by Todd strasser. He has effectively used a variety of themes that communicated his concerns about society and how quickly it can slip into facist ways, despite its dislike of this.He has used the themes coercion,groupthink and conflict to address his concerns, and how it has an impact on the audience. 

Todd Strasser has effectively used his historical fiction novel to convey his concerns about coercion, the danger, and impact it has on the people involved.The audience can see that  each character is impacted on some level of coercion, either by expercining it or informing it. This is shown in the quote “...She says Mr. Ross is manipulating us..She's crazy” David said. “How could she think know? And besides what do u care what ur mother says? You know she worries about everything”. This quote demonstrates the idea of the characters being manipulated, and how much they got into the experiment.David tries to tell Laurie that her mother is wrong, which makes Lauire think that she should listen to David and believe what he believes. This makes Laurie unsure about her decision, and worries about if David is right, so she will second guess her opinion. This is important because we see how coerning The Wave is, and how David is trying to get Lauire to believe what he says. Todd Strasser has successfully used the theme coercion to convey his coernsand the dangers it has.

The author, Todd Strasser has efficiently used his historical fiction novel to convey his concerns about society, and how quickly it can slip into facist ways.He has used the theme groupthink to convey these coerns. The main issue about groupthink is the willingness it has to have an opinion as a group, instead of themself which leads to significant issues such as bad decisions. This is shown in the quote “His students could glibly split back answers as if by vote,but there was no analysis, no questioning on his part”. This quote demonstrates that the students weren't thinking,no questioning at all and were thinking more as a group then for themself. They didn’t say anything it was like they didn't have their own opinion. This can have a dangerous impact as they are not thinking for themself which takes their indepence away, and are not thinking logically. Todd Strasser has successfully used the theme groupthink to convey his concern about society and how quickly it can fall into facist ways.

Todd Strasser has used the theme conflict to historical fiction to show his concerns about making decisions as a group rather for themself, and the characters independence. This is shown in the quote “Yeah david” replied. “If he really wanted the best for the team he’d join the wave instead of giving brian a hard time. Hes a one-man team, Laurie.”. This quote demonstrates the conflict between groupthink and individuality.David is saying that he has to join the team, and that he has to do everything as a team instead of doing it for himself. David is trying to make him lose all his independence, and to do it as a team. This is important because it shows how willing the novel is to let go of their individuality and to do everything just as a team. Todd Strasser has successfully used the theme conflict to convey the issues about groupthink and individuality

The author Todd Strasser has effectively used the 3 themes coercion,groupthink and conflict to address his concerns about society and how quickly it can slip into facist ways. The author has shown his point of view in all themes, to have an impact on the audience.