OptionalBooks

Only a ripple in the kiddie pool

“How could the Germans sit back while the Nazis slaughtered people all around them and say they didn’t know about it?” When his students ask Mr. Ross this question, he does not know what to say. Not wanting to leave them hanging, he dreams up an experiment. What if he made his students experience “Strength through discipline,” community and action? What if they joined in a movement?

This novelization of a film based on true events is sometimes assigned reading in schools, especially in Germany. The true events of the weeklong experiment are shocking to hear and have much to tell us about the way totalitarianism works and how we are all susceptible to it. But while the story is fascinating and compelling, this book is a terrible way to experience it.

The story is presented in short sentences and plain language, turning every paragraph into a bore. On a narrative level, the author also aims his efforts at the slowest readers. Every scene and character motivation is overexplained to stamp out any ambiguity. Here's an example:

[Laurie] turned to the reporter who was bopping to his radio. “Alex?” Alex kept bopping. He couldn’t hear her. “Alex!” Laurie said more loudly.

If the author had even a modicum of trust in his readers, he could've omitted the second line completely. On some level, this also seems to be a crutch on part of the author. When he fails to convey an emotion or atmosphere in a scene, he just addresses the reader and tells us directly.

Later sections also explicitly tell the reader what to think of the events described. In this, the book goes completely against its own message. The reader is given no chance to make up their own mind and is instead offered an easy-to-digest moral of the story: “Don't question me when I say you should always think for yourself.”

Lastly, there's the problem of being based on a true story. Some editions feature interviews with Ron Jones, the teacher that actually ran the Third Wave Experiment. But in those editions that do not, the reader is left to wonder: What actually happened? Is this all just hyperbole? When we doubt the validity of the story, we are invited to disregard its moral as a conclusion based on flawed premises.

It seems that the novel is quite close to reported events, but there are some important ways in which it differs. First, this novel is not clear about the very condensed timeframe in which the developments took place. Second, the secret police implemented by Ron Jones is only mentioned in passing. This information network was very effective at silencing opposition and controlling students through fear and plays a big role in my reading of the events.

Rather than reading this book, I would recommend to experience this story either trough watching the 2010 documentary Lesson Plan or by listening to episode 399 of The Dollop podcast.

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