Summer Book Response. The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

            The Maze Runner, written by James Dashner is a thrilling sci-fi book based in the future told from the perspective of Thomas who has been robbed of his memories and has been lifted in an elevator into a large field with around 50 other boys who are roughly 12-16 years old and are no different from him. The field which they live in is surrounded by what they call The Maze, and some boys have been there for nearly two years. It’s made of enormous stone walls hundreds of feet high with vines hanging down with walls in the middle of each side that open at dawn and close at dusk with horrible monsters inside. Once you’re trapped in The Maze, there’s no way out. No one’s ever survived a night in the Maze. Things begin to change when Thomas arrives, and he and his new found friends adventure to escape the Maze and regain the memories. Throughout the book, the author does fantastic work in developing and constructing his characters. Including anything from building their personalities through their actions and experiences, to making them more realistic as people through their internal thoughts and dialogue and everything in between. Overall the way in which the author develops and presents the characters to make them seem more realistic greatly enhances the quality of the characters and everything that revolves around them. And through this, increases the quality the book itself.

            James Dashner uses the characters’ internal thoughts and feelings along with their dialogue to develop and establish the characters. One of the ways in which he did this was demonstrating characters reactions to something in their minds versus how they react to something through dialogue, knowing that their dialogue is open to be something people use to judge the person who said it and their thoughts are not. For example, on pg. 9, the author explain how scared and even lonely Thomas is in this new place but nevertheless Thomas acts and speaks as if he were in complete control. This tells us about his personality. It establishes that he is the kind of person who WANTS to be thought of as someone who can stay calm and be tough. While we can see that he really is the kind of person who takes a bit of time to adjust to completely new areas. Something similar also shows up on pg. 19, still on Thomas’ first day when he disobeys the rules and enters a restricted area. When he is caught and yelled at he hides his feelings and thoughts through dialogue like this:” Thomas felt weak. ‘I…uh…want some answers, `’Get down those stairs right now!’ Alby ordered. Thomas was humiliated and scared. He felt like he had shrunk to the size of a small rat. Without saying a word he pushed past Alby and headed down the creaky steps, going as fast as he dared.” This quote demonstrates how realistic of a character Thomas is by showing that even though he felt weak, humiliated and scared he pretended to be tough and in control through what he said, just like anyone would when meeting new people. Especially if they had to live, survive and work with these people for who knows how long. One thing I thought was interesting that the author added into the book was that the characters had developed their own vocabulary. I think this shows a lot about the characters. That they are, in a way kind of saying they’re proud of what they've done. The vocabulary they developed is almost like them showing off that they can adapt and get through this. Another interesting thing that isn't in many other books is that Thomas and another character are given the gift of telepathy. It’s interesting again to see what people say to one another in private versus in public and through this telepathic thinking they reveal more about themselves because no one is around so we too- as readers- lean more about the characters. I think this is a very unique way of developing characters too because they don’t know anything about themselves either so when they find out they must have known each other before the Maze they begin to start having hope and learning about their pasts. Overall, through the characters’ internal thoughts, feelings and dialogue James Dashner was able to develop the characters in a unique way that made it much easier to relate, connect and empathize with them, which in the end made the book much better.

            The author was also able to develop and construct his characters through their actions and experiences. For example, on pg. 112, at the end of a day two boys are running to make it back from inside the Maze, but they aren't going to make it before the walls close and trap them out. “They weren't going to make it. Time was up. That was it. Thomas heard Newt scream from behind him. `Don’t do it Tommy! Don’t you bloody do it! ` The rods on the right wall seemed to reach like stretched out arms for their home grasping for those little hole that would serve as their resting place for the night. The crunching, grinding sound of the doors filled the air, deafening. Five feet. Four Feet. Three. Two. Thomas knew he had no choice. He moved. Forward. He squeezed past the connecting rods at the last second and stepped into the maze.” This quote shows what kind of a person Thomas is. Rather than let people be in danger he’d brake the number one rule and help them even though he knew they wouldn't make it back safely and neither would he. And since he knows nothing about himself yet, he doesn't know if he’s athletic of strong enough to evade the horrible creatures for the whole night until the doors reopen. It shows he’s a caring, sacrificial person instinctively attempts to protect people, and also might be a little impulsive at the same time. He is very brave and confident in himself as well. His actions in this scenario established what kind of a person he was under lots of pressure. Additionally, on pg. 294 Thomas’ actions develop him as a character by giving us more of his character traits. At this point in the story, the walls separating them from the maze have stopped closing at night and the creatures have gotten into the field taking one boy a night and they have no way of stopping them and can only hope for safety by waiting it and feeling guilt after relief in knowing after hours of waiting that the one boy taken wasn't them even though it could been one of their friends being dragged off by the horrible creatures and you still have to live knowing there’s always tomorrow night. Thomas once again sacrifices himself to help others:  “Tom! Teresa screamed inside his head.  What are you doing!? He ignored her. He just kept running. The Griever holding Dave-a kid Thomas had never spoken to-was rolling along on its spikes toward the West Door, churning and whirring. The other Grievers had already gathered in the courtyard and followed their companion toward the Maze. Without hesitating, knowing the others would think he was trying to commit suicide, Thomas sprinted in their direction until he found himself in the middle of the pack of creatures. Having been taken by surprise, the Grievers hesitated. Thomas jumped on the one holding Dave, tried to jerk the kid free, hoping the creature would retaliate. Teresa’s scream inside his mind was so loud it felt as if a dagger had been driven through his skull…Thomas felt pain erupt over every inch of his body-needle pricks that told him he’d succeeded.” In this scenario, Thomas knows that by getting stung by the creatures will give him his memories back. This shows how selfless he is because he’s willing to sacrifice himself to benefit the whole group of boys, because with his memories he can lead them out of the maze. It’s also shown that he is smart and knows his friends well because he seemed sure they’d stop him or convince him not to do it if he told them or paid attention to them. In the end James Dashner used a great deal of actions in the book which helped the characters develop a more realistic personality

            In conclusion, James Dashner found a unique and brilliant way to use the internal thoughts, feelings, along with the actions and experiences of his characters to create and establish the characters themselves, and their personalities which made the characters more believable and interesting and through that made The Maze Runner an amazing book.