The Maze Runner: An Authoritarian Government

Throughout the history humans, there have been multiple different governments. Each government plays an important role in the formation of new governments. Often, authors of fictional books use real governments as examples for governments in their books to make them more believable. In the fictional book, Maze Runner, an unique government is used. Although it is undefined, it is very similar to other known governments of today. James Dashner, the author of the Maze Runner, uses specific governments, such as a republic, an authoritarian, and a socialistic government, to influence the government he created in his book. The republican government is a main government Dashner uses as an example for the Maze Runner government. A republic is a government

An authoritarian government is “a form of government in which state authority is imposed onto many aspects of citizens’ lives” (Melina). Dashner takes pieces of an authoritarian government and implements them into his government. An authoritarian government makes people work. In the book, everyone is forced to do their job except when they are eating or sleeping. “’Don’t you have some sloppin’ to do’” (Dashner, 220). The keepers are continuously making sure that everyone is working when they are scheduled to be. In an authoritarian government, the people are forced to work even when they do not want to. The Gladers, the characters in the book, have no free time or lives outside of their mandatory work. “’Quit you leisure time with Chucky here and let’s get going’” (Dashner, 220). The Gladers are made to work causing them to not have time to relax. Although authoritarian governments and socialistic governments do not have an excessive amount of things in common, Dashner used fragments of socialistic governments in his

A socialistic government is “a government in which the means of planning, producing and distributing of goods is controlled by a central government that theoretically seeks a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor” (Melina). This means that the government is in total control of where one works and how one starts there. In a socialistic government everyone has to be put into a job by the government. In the book, each person “try’s out” for a job and then the keepers decide if they want the new Glader or not during the Gathering. The Gathering elects the “newbie” into a job (Dashner, 101). The keepers decide if they want to give a Glader a certain job the same way a socialistic government decides what job they want a person in. In a socialistic government, everyone has to work in order to better the rest of the population. In the glade, everyone has to pull their own weight to help provide for others. “’You’ll spend the next weeks working one day apiece for our different jobs’” (Dashner, 43). The Gladers had to work at every job at least once. Dashner used a socialistic government in cohorts with other governments to create a new government. Often, authors use real life governments to create a fake government for their novels. Dashner takes three, distinct governments, a republic, an authoritarian, and a socialist, and manages to make them all fit together to create a government