Fear In The Maze Runner

In the vast African Savanna, many people are sleeping at night in the middle of it all, cozy near a campfire. A twig breaks, and one of the men wake up, who later decides to go back to sleep. The sound comes again more frequently, which is when everyone has woken up. On the southern side, they see a moving animal just walking in circles around them. Everyone is afraid, but they do not know what it is… until is roars. The beast is a lion, and all of the men are sure they are going to die. This is when fear is triggered, causing everyone to be afraid. Fear is experienced by almost everyone through some type of danger or threat, whether it be internal or external. It prepares people for immediate danger. Fear is one of the three main emotions

“Fear is an unpleasant emotion that occurs in response to an immediate and identifiable threat, usually of an external nature” (Gramlich). As life goes on, nobody ever wants to experience fear, which makes it one of the emotions that no one likes. But, fear usually occurs because of the situation ahead, usually being some sort of physical danger or threat. In The Maze Runner, a group of boys are trapped in a and begin to start a new civilization but want to escape at the same times. In a moment of a life and death scenario, Thomas is hanging onto a vine for his life in order to hide himself from the creatures that patrol the maze. Thomas, hanging on making sure he is not found, it witnessing fear at this particular moment. When Thomas is looking down from the vines to see the creature right below him, he thinks, “But nothing sent chills up and down Thomas's spine like the haunted, deathly moans that somehow escaped the creature when it sat still, like the sound of dying men on a battlefield. Seeing it all now—the beast matched with the sounds—Thomas couldn't think of any nightmare that could equal this hideous thing coming toward him. He fought the fear, forced his body to remain perfectly still, hanging there in the vines” (Dashner 127). The beast was coming toward him, and he could see it crystal clear. He thought that he was going to be seen, so he was afraid. So, Thomas had to conquer this fear, and he did and he stayed perfectly still until the creature of gone. There are many situations that can cause fear, and many of them are external conflicts such as shadows at night, cars at night and much more. Although, this is when fear is normal and healthy. But, when fear is just in the mind of someone and the person is usually paranoid, it can be unhealthy. These types of situations cause adrenaline to burst out and make someone think fast without much thought.