Symbolic Elements In Lord Of The Flies And The Maze Runner

One World, Two Stories

Often in works of literature, there are parallels between symbolic elements in two different pieces of work. Throughout the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, and the film, The Maze Runner, produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, many symbolic elements were shared in many different instances. The symbolic elements are shared at the setting of the plots. In Lord of the Flies, the main character, Ralph, arrives on an uninhabited island. The island possesses three main settings, the beach, the jungle and the mountain. In The Maze Runner, the main character, Thomas, arrives in a “maze” which has three main settings, the Glade, the Maze, and the Gate. In the Lord of the Flies and The Maze Runner, the Beach and the Glade

While on the island, the boys fight for survival and dominance among themselves. The main setting of the book is the beach, and this is where the boys live, play, and where most of the important event happen. The beach is the boy’s “Ordinary World”, or the world that is familiar to them, and what they consider as home. Problems arise when the boys venture into the Jungle. The Jungle is referred to as dark, shadowy and dangerous. On page 53 of Lord of the Flies, Jack says how the jungle can “feel as if you’re not hunting, but—being hunted, as if something’s behind you all the time…”. This reveals how the Jungle feels dangerous, and that you don’t know what’s around you at all times. In the Beginning of The Maze Runner, Thomas arrives in the Glade, or a large clearing in the middle of the Maze. while the boys are protected from what lies within. The Glade is where the boys are safe, and can live happily. The Glade is the only place where everyone is equal. The boys are supplied with infinite food and water by the “box” which is an elevator that opens only once a month which gives the boys all of their necessities. Only a select few can venture out into the dangerous maze. Problems arise when Thomas arrives in the Maze, because he is determine to find a way out and venture into the Maze. A majority of the boys are afraid of what lies inside the maze, and without Thomas, would

The island as a whole is a microcosm in Lord of the Flies, but within this one microcosm, there are many more microcosms which share symbolic meanings with microcosms of The Maze Runner. The microcosm of the Beach shares the same symbolic meaning as the microcosm of the Glade. These microcosms both represent the known and the safe. The boys view this place as their home, and their safety from the other worlds. This symbolic idea is important because it shows how the boys are more comfortable with one place than another, and how when things turn bad, the only place to go is the safe and the known. It reveals how the boys are afraid of what is unknown, and how humans will look towards someone or something to protect them from what they can’t understand. The Jungle and the Maze are two other microcosms that share the same symbolic idea, the unknown and danger. The boys try to avoid this place both figuratively and literally, by staying away from the place as a whole, and trying to ignore the idea that it gives them. When the boys don’t understand, or don’t feel safe in these places, they return to what is known and safe. This is important to the work as a whole because it shows that humans don’t like what they cannot see or cannot understand.

In Conclusion, In Lord of the Flies and The Maze Runner, there are symbolic ideas that are shared. In Lord of the Flies, the boys feel the safest while they are on the beach,