The Maze Runner Literary Analysis

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is much more than another dystopian novel aimed to please millions of teenage readers. Dashner uses his novel as an attempt to modernize a style of writing not seen in modern times while still appealing to a younger audience. The Maze Runner, at its base, is a modern day epic. An epic can be described as a series of events following a hero, where he goes on a vast journey in order to save his nation from impending danger. The hero will often fight a monster or several monsters, in his journey before finally returning back to his homeland as a hero (Downes). Hero 's within epics also have certain characteristics which make them heroic. One must have inordinate strength, be a great warrior, possess great humility, have a supernatural foe or supernatural help, complete a quest that saves his people, and come from a noble birth (Epic Heroes). Epics themselves also pertain several characteristics. An epic will use supernatural force to either aid or hinder the

Historically, epics start “in medias res” which means to start in the middle of the action (Carson-Newman). When a reader first begins reading The Maze Runner they are thrust right into Thomas being brought up the shaft "He began his new life…surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air." (Dashner 1) with no explanation of how he got there or what is about to happen to the character. In epics, the events that lead up to the beginning are only learned through flashback that the hero has (Carson-Newman). Flashbacks play a key role in The Maze Runner, titled as "The Changing" within the novel. Flashbacks help the reader understand how the gladers arrived in the glade and their true purpose for being there, it also leads to Thomas finally understanding the code of the maze. The Changing within his novel is Dashner 's modern take on flashback that are prevalent throughout classical