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Symbolism In The Maze Runner

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The Maze Runner by Patrick Ness takes place in a large, open space which is surrounded by extremely tall walls called the Glade. Within these walls is a maze that the boys from the Glade have to solve in order to escape. Boys are sent up monthly through an elevator with no memories of how they got there. When Thomas arrives, everything starts to go wrong; from the walls not closing at night to the first ever girl coming. The boys are forced to escape quickly or die. They start to think outside the box, and they finally escape. While reading, I noticed that Ness uses description in order to create the setting, dialogue in order to stir empathy, and symbolism in order to build a mood. Description plays a huge role in building the setting of …show more content…

There are many examples of symbolism throughout the book that are used for many different goals, however one symbol that stood out to me was the maze as a symbol, used to build a mood. The main goal of all of the boys from the Glade is to solve the maze, but it is very hard for them. When looking at it this way, the tall walls and the shifting areas could represent the hopelessness that the Gladers feel when trying to escape the maze. Another aspect of the maze is the grievers. The maze is home to the dangerous grievers, which means that while the maze is something that overwhelms the boys from the Glade, it is also something that they fear. The maze represents their fear in the maze, and as well as intimidating and overwhelming them, it also terrifies them. The maze is used as a symbol of fear and hopelessness. Another symbol that I noticed in the text was the pit as a symbol. The depth and mysteriousness of the pit is what makes this place a symbol. The pit is not only a secret that the boys didn’t know about until the end, but it could also represent their hope. The only way that the boys could escape was through the pit, which meant that while in the beginning it intimidated them, it changed throughout the book. When the boys realized that the pit could be used as an escape route, they thought of the pit as their last chance and their only hope. After the escape, the boys looked at the pit completely

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In a book “Among the Hidden” by Margaret Peterson Haddix, symbolism is used to create a powerful feeling with a place or thing. For example, Luke (the main protagonist) was "... always safe and protected by the house and the barn and the woods. Until they took the woods away." (pg. 11) The woods were Luke’s playground where he didn’t have to worry about being seen, his only safeguard and protection from the Population Police.

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Symbols in literature aren’t simply one-sided. When looked at briefly, symbols may seem to be just another simple element in a story. Although when one takes the time to really understand the symbol, it becomes another whole component. In the novel, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the Glass Castle is one of the biggest symbol. Whenever Jeannette’s father, Rex, couldn’t seem to support his family in an adequate way, he brought up the Glass Castle as a promise to his children.

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Another example of usage of symbolism in this book would be Alcohol. Alcohol is used as a symbol to convey a deeper meaning. Alcohol in this novel symbolizes that many of the characters face problems and obstacles that are very difficult, but they don’t really face them head-on. They try to escape from their problems in many ways, and the main one is alcohol. The characters are having tough times in their lives, where they really don’t know what to do and how to handle their obstacles or setbacks to be happy.

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But understanding the symbols and patterns is what makes the progression of the book more interesting. But in the story, a certain theme is present throughout the pages and that is the symbol of not giving up on what you believe in. As the story continues, we understand that Jews did not give up their faith even if it cost them their lives. Which shows the relentlessness of the Jews in their faith. Another symbol that is present in the book is the care the Jews have for other Jews.

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Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In A Lesson Before Dying, author Ishmael Beah uses symbolism to reinforce the theme of oppression and the struggle for freedom. First, Beah’s rap cassettes symbolize his free boyhood and the loss of it. Beah carries a cassette with him until he is conscripted into the army. The cassette stays in his pocket, and acts as a reminder of his free childhood.

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The maze is a symbol of the confusion and uncertainty that the characters experience as a result of their trauma. The characters feel trapped and unable to escape the maze of their own thoughts and feelings. They are lost and disoriented, unable to find their way out of the maze. The second archetype used to represent trauma

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Symbols are used all throughout the book to add depth to the story. One example of this would be how the children all receive different things as they get older, and how each item has something to represent. A quote that shows this is “females lost their braids at Ten, and males, too, relinquished their long childish hair and took on the more manly short style which exposed their ears” (p. 46) A second symbol in the book is Jonas seeing the color red which is a very “Emotionally intense color” and symbolizes the arrival in conflicting emotions in Jonas. A third and final example

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The Maze Runner takes place in The Glade. This is a small living place separated from the Maze by walls. The Maze is a dangerous place that has changing paths and is filled with slug-like, spike-covered deadly creatures called grievers. No one has ever escaped the Maze, since Alby’s arrival two years before The Maze Runner takes place. Thomas is a teenage boy who wakes in The Glade and doesn’t know what’s going on.

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The Maze Runner, a science and apocalyptic fiction, tends to have imaginative plots. The first setting of the novel is in the elevator, where Thomas (the main character) wakes up with no memory in the dark. Then, the main setting took place in the glade surrounded by cement walls hundreds of feet high, with four passages, it closes as soon as it gets dark, and that’s when the runners return from the maze who bravely try to find the way out. The main character of this book is Thomas, that’s all he remembers his name. Thomas has a very curious mind and willing to find the truth of his identity, he has dark hair, brown eyes, and around 16-17 years of age.

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Survival is a difficult thing to accomplish when you are forced into a dangerous environment against your own will. In “The Maze Runner,” by James Dashner, a teen named Thomas is forced into the Maze not remembering anything from his past. He and his fellow Glade members have to solve the Maze and escape it because the days wear on, the safety of the Glade slowly diminishes. But before he can escape, he has to survive. But Thomas is faced with other problems: people who don’t believe that the Glade is weakening and are giving up on trying to solve the Maze.

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Running the Maze Imagine being trapped inside of a place with no memory of how you got there and the only way to get out was through a maze. James Dashner’s young adult, science fiction novel, The Maze Runner is about just that. There were a brunch of themes in the novel but the most important ones were maintaining rules and orders, making sacrifices, never giving up, and manipulation, even though something may look simple it might be harder than it seems. All these themes were practiced by Thomas and other Gladers in the Glade. Dashner also wrote the sequels to the Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials and Death Cure.

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“Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.” Symbols can add a deeper meaning than just an object itself that the author is trying to make. Symbols can also foreshadow what is yet to come. The audience can interpret a symbol in many ways it depends on their experience. In Southside Chicago the Younger family is struggling to have hope as they are always facing society.

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One of the most important symbols of this story is Harrison; he symbolizes the revolution that everyone wants ad needs, he also symbolizes independence and doing what you think is right. We know this because he is the only one in the story who at least tries to gain independence and freedom. Another important symbol are the handicaps; which symbolize the oppression, conformity and the false equality. The handicaps show this because they are the tools the government uses to oppress people and stop them from being themselves. Symbolism shows the tone of foreboding because every symbol relates to something that could happen like the handicaps are like chains that hold us back and Harrison is like the revolutionist with a new idea or

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For example, he uses gothic imagery to describe the surroundings of the ravine. “Black crickets and dark green frogs and the black stream. The colours black and green can be associated with the atmosphere of the place, giving a scary ambience, making it more vulnerable. Bradbury also uses symbolism at the end of the story “She wished she were back in that time now, drinking from it, the night still young and not begun”. Here she is looking back at her life, wishing she could go back in time and redo the day.

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The maze runner is a young adult, science fiction and post-apocalyptic book that has the purpose of introducing the reader into a fantasy world where things can get a little out of control and surviving remains the main focus. The story starts mysteriously with the title character named Thomas, a teenage boy, who wakes up with no memory after arriving with a moving box into a Glade surrounded by a Maze. The book explores different psychological stages of the characters and help up understand how it is like to live with no memory and surrounded by people you do not know. The author, a young man also, has a particular interest in adventure and survival plots due to their excitement upon readers. The author came with the idea of writing a novel involving a crowd of teenagers trapped into an unbreakable Maze filled with hideous creatures while he was dreaming.

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