The Scorch Trials
By James Dashner
Ryan Hollingsworth: Block 2
The Scorch Trials Book Trailer
Characters
Thomas
Thomas is the main character and protagonist of The Scorch Trials. He has survived as a runner in the Maze, and now he is sent to the Scorch Trials along with the other Gladers who survived the Maze. They have two weeks to reach a safe haven and get a cure for the Flare disease that WICKED infected them with. Thomas is smart and a natural leader. He faces a lot of challenges, but never gives up. He is willing to risk his life to help he and his friends make it to the safe haven.
Teresa
Teresa is a supporting character in the book. She is very pretty with long, black hair and gray eyes. She is also athletic. In the Maze, she and Thomas were best friends. They could even speak with each other in their minds. In The Scorch Trials, she quits talking with Thomas telepathically. She seems to be brainwashed and working for WICKED. Thomas feels betrayed by Teresa. At the end of the book, Teresa telepathically tells Thomas, "WICKED is good."
Brenda
Brenda is a supporting character in The Scorch Trials. She and another character, Jorge, meet up with the Gladers. They make a deal to help them get to the safe haven so that they can get a cure for the Flare disease that they are both infected with. Thomas and Brenda are very attracted to each other, but Thomas feels guilty about it because he still has feelings for Teresa. Thomas and Brenda go through a lot of challenges together and it seems like they are probably falling in love. Brenda is really smart.
WICKED
WICKED is the antagonist in The Scorch Trials. WICKED, World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department, is an organization put together by the government that is supposed to try to save the human race. They put together these trials that Thomas and his friends are used in as experiments. They have to go through the Scorch trials that are designed to somehow help WICKED save the world. There are all kinds of variables that Thomas and his friends have to go through that are extremely dangerous and deadly. WICKED is very inhumane.
Theme
The theme of The Scorch Trials is friendship and survival. Thomas and the other Gladers who have survived the Maze have developed a strong bond with each other. Now they have to make it through the Scorch Trials. The Gladers, along with their new friends Jorge and Brenda, go through many dangerous challenges. They protect each other at all costs and that is how they survive and make it to the safe haven. They risk their own lives to save their friends, and by doing this they all make it out of the Scorch.
Conflict and Plot
Man vs. Nature
A major conflict in The Scorch Trials is that Thomas and his friends must survive the Scorch. They have to endure extreme heat and horrible lightning storms. The land is barren and there is no food or water, so they have to survive on the little that they have.
Man vs. Society
I think this is the biggest conflict in The Scorch Trials. Thomas and the other Gladers are up against the organization WICKED. They have already made them endure the Maze, and now they are testing them to see if they can survive the Scorch Trials. They put them up against all types of variables to make it harder for them to survive. The Gladers have to make it through the extreme heat of the Scorch, the horrible wind and lightning storms, the Cranks who are trying to kill them, and finally the WICKED created monsters they send at the end. They survive all of this, and you can tell by the ending of the book, that WICKED still isn't finished with them.
Man vs. Self
Thomas is in conflict with himself over Brenda and Teresa. He likes Brenda, but he feels guilty about it because of all he and Teresa have been through and shared. He feels like he is betraying Teresa.
Plot
Beginning/ Introduction
The Scorch Trials begins with Thomas and the other Gladers waking up in a building. Teresa and Thomas try to speak telepathically to each other but can't. They look for Teresa, but she is gone and a boy named Aris is in her room. They find out that there were two groups that survived the Maze. Their Group, Group A that was all boys with the one girl, Teresa, and Group B that was all girls with one boy, Aris. They gather in a big room and a man from WICKED tell them that they now have to go through the Scorch trials. They have all been infected with the Flare disease and will only get a cure if they survive the Scorch and make it to the safe haven. He tells them they will enter the Flat Trans and head north. They have two weeks to make it to the safe haven.
Rising Action
The Gladers go through the Flat Trans that takes them through a tunnel that leads to a desert land called the Scorch. It is unbearably hot. They use sheets to protect themselves. They see buildings ahead that they are trying to make it to. They come to a small building. Teresa is inside and tell Thomas to run away and stay away from her. They leave running, trying to get to the tall building and mountain they see in the distance. A terrible storm starts and huge lightning bolts kill some of the Gladers. The rest make it to the abandoned city. They join up with Jorge and Brenda who agree to help them through the city full of cranks if they will take them with them to the safe haven to get a cure for the Flare that they are infected with. Brenda and Thomas get separated from the rest of the group and have to fight off a group of cranks. He and Brenda go out to the streets of the city. They are captured by three cranks, but the Gladers and Jorge rescue them. Thomas gets shot and WICKED comes and takes him away to remove the bullet. Then returns him to the trials.
Climax
Teresa shows up as the leader of the girls in Group B. They capture Thomas. Teresa takes Thomas to a cave. She tells him that she loves Aris and never loved him. She tells him that she has been told by WICKED to put him in a room in the cave. Thomas attacks Aris, and Teresa knocks him unconscious. He is put in the room where he is gassed. When he wakes up Teresa tells him that she is really on his side. Thomas can't believe or trust her anymore. He has lost the feeling he once had for her. Thomas, Teresa, and Aris leave the cave.
Falling Action
Thomas, Teresa, and Aris meet up with the Gladers and Group B. There is a stick stuck in the ground that says "The Safe Haven." The ground around the stick starts to open up and these creatures covered with light bulb like things all over their bodies come out and try to kill everyone. They fight and kill the creatures. The Berg, a huge spaceship sent by WICKED lands. They make it to the ship, but a scientist tell Thomas that Jorge and Brenda were not a part of the trials and only one can come. He has to choose who dies. Thomas thinks the scientist will kill the one he doesn't choose, so he chooses Brenda. The scientist drags her to the edge of the Berg. Thomas gets his gun and tells him the killing has to end. The scientist lets them both stay.
Resolution / Ending
They leave in the Berg. Thomas falls asleep and hears someone talking to him telepathically. It is Brenda. She says, "Things are about to get bad for you." Thomas wakes up in a room that is white and made up of spongy stuff. At the end of the book Teresa speaks to Thomas telepathically saying, "WICKED is good."
Book Review
The Scorch Trails is an awesome book. I think everyone should read it because it is so full of adventure and action. The characters are constantly having to overcome variables and challenges that WICKED creates. You almost feel like you are right there with them. Thomas is such a great guy. He is so brave and kind. He always has his friends' backs and wants to be sure everyone makes it to the safe haven. I've already started reading the next book in the series to see what happens. It is one of those books that is hard to put down, and I don't even like reading.