The Maze Runner: Quote Analysis

Thomas, a teenager, arrives in a glade at the centre of a maze with no memories. Like the other people in there before him, he has no memory of his previous life. Thomas quickly becomes part of the group and soon after shows that he has the abilities to become a runner — who patrol the changing maze to find an escape route. Together with Teresa, the only female, Thomas tries to convince his Gladers that he knows a way out.

As you may have seen the movie, The Maze Runner is a science fiction movie and book with creatures that lurk throughout the maze as a challenge for the Gladers to be distracted to what’s happening on the outside world, which they are all unknown to.

I have chosen The Maze Runner because the theme of conflict is emphasised throughout the book with friends becoming enemies and enemies becoming friends. This is a great book that I recommend you to read where you don’t know what will come next.

Quote1: At the start, Thomas, the main character, rises from underground whilst being sick and having animals locked up inside with him. As he reaches the surface the doors open to be faced with no memories and new people which is shown by the narrator saying, ‘And yet he didn’t know where he came from, or how he’d gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were’. This is effective because gives us a sense of unknown and what is coming after. The effective use of the list to build tension. This shows the theme of power being in the hands of someone else because of what they have done to Thomas, locking him in an elevator and wiping his memory. This contradicts what happens later in the book as Thomas gains power and becomes a leader whilst the people that put him in there (W.I.C.K.E.D) were destroyed.

Quote2: “Just follow me and run like your life depends on it” This quote is important as Thomas and the other Gladers are running away from the main enemies of the book called “grievers” using the pronoun “me” in the context of “follow me” showing leadership and control. This also shows power which is a key theme in the text making the group follow whatever he says. The saying “run like your life depends on it “is used which is effective because their life literally depends on it. They don’t even know if running from the grievers will be better as they have no clue what is on the outside which foreshadows to the earth being destroyed by the flare.

Quote3: ‘Are they changed because they want to go back to their old life, or is it because they’re so depressed at realizing their old life was no better than what we have now? ”This is effective because it tells the reader how excited they were to exit and go back to the old life which they expected to be better than what they had in the maze but to be shown a scorched earth with undead that lurk and try to kill you. Also the verb “changed” links to the process called “The Changing” which is what happens when someone got stung by a griever which then recalls some of their memories and puts them in a painful state. Thomas shows leadership which the main point being power by sacrificing himself to go through “The Changing” to recall some past memories to figure out why they’re in the maze. This quote also foreshadows what the Gladers will eventually discover about the Flare and how it has ravaged the earth.

Quote4: “All the same, Thomas now had a plan. As bad as it was, he had a plan. They needed more clues about the code. They needed MEMORIES. So he was going to get stung by a Griever.” This quote is effective as this shows leadership sacrificing himself for the benefit of everyone to possibly recall his previous life and know more about why he is there and how to get out finding parts to the code. The way that he decided as a leader to sacrifice himself instead of anyone else tells the reader how he deserves this position even though he was near the last person to enter the Glade. This also foreshadows, to all of the effort that he put in to escape, the outcome of his plan