The Wave Chapters 12–14 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 12–14

Summary: Chapter 12

On Friday, as students get ready for The Wave rally, Brian and Deutsch, who hasn’t joined The Wave, get in a fight. David tells Laurie he’s disappointed that she won’t attend the rally as she should be setting an example. Laurie asserts that The Wave blinds members to people’s right to be individuals. Their argument intensifies. When David says Laurie’s upset because The Wave means she’s no longer special, they break up and David walks away.

Later, in The Grapevine’s office, Laurie realizes how out of control The Wave now is and determines to expose the truth in The Grapevine. Soon, Alex and Carl, fellow non-joiners, arrive. They decide to form a resistance movement, The Ripple, and plan to meet at Laurie’s on Sunday. That night, Laurie’s father tells her that a Jewish sophomore was beaten up at school. He and other parents plan to complain to Principal Owens on Monday. Laurie says she’s going to speak out about The Wave in The Grapevine.

Summary: Chapter 13

At the football game against Clarkstown on Saturday, Laurie tries to enter the stands to join Amy, but Brad stops her, requesting The Wave salute. Laurie protests vigorously, but Brad insists that no one can enter without saluting. As Laurie remains defiant, Brad eventually concedes, calling the salute “stupid,” but when Laurie questions why he’s still going along with the demand, he has no real answer. Laurie then asks Brad if he’s afraid, which angers and embarrasses him.

The Grapevine’s staff members meet on Sunday to plan their special issue though some of the staff are noticeably absent, likely, Carl says, out of fear. The edition is to include the anonymous junior’s letter and an article from Carl about the Jewish boy who was beaten up. It will also feature interviews with concerned parents and teachers along with Laurie’s editorial condemning The Wave. She intends to show how, along with suppressing individualism and freedoms, The Wave has done more harm than good.

Summary: Chapter 14

On Monday, Amy reads Laurie’s editorial and demands that it can’t be published. Laurie insists that it needs to be, as students have become mindless. Amy praises how The Wave has made everyone equal, including Laurie, whom Amy no longer feels inferior to. Laurie remains steadfast, however, knowing people need to read the truth about The Wave.

Later, as students read the newspaper, more negative stories about The Wave emerge. Members have launched threats at non-joiners, and many parents are upset. Mr. Ross now sees how his experiment has gone awry. He is also upset that the football team lost on Saturday, thinking a win could have proven The Wave’s success. The thought process confuses Mr. Ross, however. The Wave was meant to be a lesson for his students, not a movement that could succeed or fail.

David is troubled by the dissent expressed in The Grapevine. He even thinks some of the stories are invented. He still believes The Wave can help the school. Still, he tells Eric, Brian, and Robert that students should have the right to think what they want and that those who speak out against The Wave shouldn’t be punished. Nevertheless, Robert says that Laurie is a “threat” who needs to be silenced. They form a plan for David to tell Laurie to knock it off after school.

Analysis: Chapters 12–14

The Wave continues to swell in Chapter 12, as do tensions between its members and non-members when Brian and Deutsch fight again and Brian then chants the movement’s motto. Tensions later take on more ominous tones when a Jewish sophomore is beaten up, an event that recalls the rise of Nazism in Germany when Jews were frequently the targets of abuse and violence that foreshadowed the Holocaust. Although many German citizens remained silent and complicit during those early warnings, fortunately, the event at Gordon High marks the point by which parents such as Mr. Saunders realize The Wave has gone too far. Laurie clearly understands this now, and her insight and bravery grow when she deflects David’s peer pressure and determines not to attend the upcoming Wave rally. Her description of David as an idealist is accurate. David has become so intoxicated by the movement’s false promise of community that he’s blind to its crimes.

Laurie’s altercation with Brad at the football game in Chapter 13 also reveals how significantly The Wave has transformed Gordon High. Their tense interchange also lends insight into how fear likely affected the behavior of many German citizens when confronted with the force of the Nazi’s group will. Readers may recall that, after watching Mr. Ross’s film on the Holocaust in Chapter 2, Brad declared he wouldn’t be scared into participating and pretending those horrible crimes weren’t occurring. Yet now, despite admitting that The Wave’s salute is “stupid,” Brad demands that Laurie salute before she can enter the stands. The Wave has become so powerful that Brad is afraid to stand up to it and when Laurie confronts him with this truth, he only grows more fearful and threatening. Laurie, however, only grows braver and more determined to resist The Wave. As so many of Laurie’s peers mindlessly comply with the movement and pretend not to see the harm it’s causing, her resistance shows how critical it is for voices of conscience to stand up to the forces of fascism, particularly as people are being harmed and freedoms are being stripped.

Despite Laurie’s bravery, though, she has to hide out in The Grapevine’s office, revealing how powerful The Wave has become and prompting Carl’s fitting reference to Anne Frank. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis for two years while living with her family in a secret attic in the German-occupied Netherlands. Her diary, written during her years of hiding, is often the first exposure young people have to the Holocaust. That Laurie, Carl, and Alex determine to use The Grapevine to expose the truth about The Wave is also significant. The press is often referred to as the fourth branch of the United States government for the role it plays in, ideally, informing the populace and helping preserve democracy. It would seem to make sense that as dictators rise, they often look to eliminate the freedom of the press first. Fortunately, Laurie, Carl, and Alex publish their exposé on The Wave, an act of courage that inspires others to share stories about how they were threatened by Wave members. It’s telling, though, that after the paper is published, Brian and Robert, two of The Wave’s most zealous and dictatorial members, see Laurie as a threat and demand that David prevent her from publishing similar stories.