Discuss setting in the wave.

Strasser is very vague about The Wave's setting. References to Wheaties cereal and The Night of the Living Dead suggest that the book is definitely set in the United States. However, there is little regional color and the place names––such as Clarkstown and Gordon High––are generically American, and offer no hints as to where the story is set. Strasser's decision not to specify the setting suggests the book's allegorical purpose. Readers are supposed to be able to relate it easily to their own lives. It also demonstrates Strasser's point that atrocities can happen anywhere, regardless of the place or time.