Robert Billings

Robert Billings was firstly introduced to us as an excluded and lonely boy who felt invisible in
Gordon High. He was a heavy boy with shirttails perpetually hanging out and his hair was
always a mess, as if he never bothered to comb it after getting out of bed in the morning.
Robert didn’t have any friends, no one wanted to hang out with him. He was regarded as the
creepy class loser amongst the seniors at Gordon High, he was an introverted young man
who was growing up in the shadow of his beloved, successful older brother. When Mr. Ross
came up with idea of The Wave, Robert was excited. He started participating in the class.
When The Wave developed to be an equal group, in which members respected to each
other, Robert saw the chance to be a part of a group and to have friends. He was
empowered by his belief in The Wave and he decided to protect The Wave and Mr. Ross. He
was obsessed and he offered Mr. Ross to be his bodyguard in order to keep him safe from
the people who were against The Wave. When he learned that Laurie, who was an ex-
member of The Wave, decided to turn against The Wave, published articles about The Wave
and the chaos it created. Robert was furious about the lies Laurie talked about The Wave. He
said (P:74 L:17-18): “These are all lies; she can’t be allowed to say these things.” He wanted
Laurie to stop. From this phrase we can see how obsessed he was with stopping her (P:74
L:32):” Laurie Sanders is a threat.” In order to protect The Wave, he was even eager to
eliminate her. As we can see Robert, who was an asocial person, would do anything to
protect his beloved people and friends. If it even means that he has to hurt others.