The Maze Runner
By:James Dashner
Genre
The Maze Runner is an action book because everyone is facing dangerous obstacles and the runners are risking their lives up against the biggest threat,the grievers.Will the runners find out what they are really up against and escape or will they remain trapped inside the maze.No one makes it through the maze alive.
Plot
Thomas awakes in a lift with no memory of the outside world or who he is or was.He was welcomed by Alby(the first gladder and runner to arrive)and introduces him to a glade located inside a maze.There is only one way out of the maze.The runners spend time daily mapping it down the maze trying to find a way out.Afterwards,Chuck(the youngest glader)helps Thomas settle down for the night.Overtime Thomas is introduced to the runners and begins to question the maze and is told no one makes it through the maze alive.The Maze doors are opened by day but close by night.During Thomas' time in the maze he makes both friends and enemies.But one night when Minho (a runner) doesn't succeed making it out of the maze all the way,Thomas barley makes it in before the doors close expecting theme to survive a night in the maze.Minho is already expecting them to die but Thomas doesn't give up hope.Together Thomas and Minho work together to find clues and hints to fight off the biggest threat,the grievers.Minho and Thomas face dangerous obstacles and barley survive the night.That morning,Thomas is approved a runner and goes back into the maze with other runners.Thomas and the others return with a clue from a griever that Thomas had injured(killed).Later that day,there is an unexpected arrival in the lift.All the gladers and runners surrounded the lift.It was a girl with a note attached to her wrist.They crowded the note."She is the last one,ever.",Newt (a glader)read.The girl awoke from a coma saying Thomas' name.Teresa(the girl)had also lost her memory of the outside world.Teresa had many visions of the past.Minho and Thomas looked at the model of the maze and found an exit.They returned from the search as the maze doors were closing.The next night they returned from a search when the maze doors weren't closing.The grievers began their attack on the glade.Many had been injured or killed as others hid in shelter.The next morning almost everything had been destroyed.Thomas and the others decided they would have to leave the glade sooner or later or the grievers would keep coming back until they're all dead.The ones that turned against Thomas stayed with one of the other leaders,Gally.Teresa helped Thomas lead others out of the maze.During their escape they saw many deaths of friends and enemies.When they came to the exit Thomas saw familiar faces dead.They were the ones who had rescued the gladers.Just the day before.
Characterization
Thomas
Thomas arrives in the maze with no memory of the outside world or who he is or was.Soon after arriving Thomas makes both friends and enemies.During his time in the maze he proves that he is brave and loyal and is willing to take any risk no matter the consequence.As Thomas goes through dangerous obstacles of the maze he is clever and uses limited knowledge and curiosity of the maze to escape.Thomas knows he can prove himself a leader among the gladers and find out what they are really up against.
Teresa
Teresa is a dark haired mysterious girl who unknowingly arrived in the glade a day after Thomas.Teresa ended up being the last one to arrive the glade and was the last clue to escape the one way out maze.Soon Teresa's fear turned into curiosity as they fought off grievers.Through out the story Teresa helped Thomas lead the other people from the glade out of the maze.Even though Teresa was left without questions asked,she was brave throughout the story and is willing to take a chance through any adventure.
Minho
Minho was one of the first gladers to arrive and is a dependable leader as one of the first keepers of the runners.As one of the first runners,Minho spends time daily mapping down the maze trying to find a way out.He is willing to step up and take charge during any problem or situation.Minho is always confident and daring when facing dangerous obstacles of the maze.One night when Minho and Thomas become trapped in the maze they barley survive and become close friends.Minho was a big help when escaping the maze.
Setting
The Maze Runner takes place inside a maze where The Glade is.The Glade provides needs such as,food to eat,wood to make shelter and other items or objects that help all the characters survive.
Point of View
The Maze Runner speaks in third person because it is using words like he and she through out parts of the book
- She'd said,I just triggered the Ending. (page 220)
- Either way,only he had heard the voice inside his head. (page 187)
- Those things she said. (page 187)
- He leaned toward the glass of the window as she disappeared from his view up head. (page 363)
Narrator
The Narrator in The Maze Runner book is Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) because it is speaking in his perspective throughout the book at certain times.
Tone
The Maze Runner starts of with a mysterious tone as Thomas enters and explores the glade.Slowly moving through the book mysterious eventually turns into curiosity.Thomas' curiosity begins to ware on everyone as others begin to turn against him.As Thomas travels the maze the story goes deeper in a serious tone.Thomas and the crew find a way to escape the one way out maze as the tone grows more serious.Towards the end of the book the tone seems intense leaving you with a cliff hanger.It all changes from there.
Symbol
The maze shown below is a model of the model that helped the runners try to find a way out of the maze.This symbol let the characters know where they are and and what their surroundings are.
Simile
- "With another jolt,the room jerked upward like an old lift in a mineshaft."
- "He felt an icy terror brewing in his heart,expanding like a tumor…"
- He felt as if he was as small as a rat
Metaphor
- The whoosh of an object slicing through the air
- The stood in a vast courtyard several times the size of a football field.
- The walls had to be hundreds of feet high.
Theme
Survival was definitely a big part of the theme because of some of the techniques and skills they used to survive inside the maze.For example,sense there were a lot of trees inside the maze,the would use the bark and wood to build shelter.But surviving the maze took teamwork when trying to escape the maze.When trying to escape the maze they saw many deaths of both enemies and friends.Without working as a team it would probably be not nearly as easy to survive and escape the maze.