The Maze Runner Universal Themes

The light shines bright in his confused eyes, dilating them painfully. Grimy boys approximately his age hover above him as he winces from the sun. Shaking with anticipation and fear of the unknown, he had been pulled into the glade. The grass is green, the sky is blue, and all seems well. However, his memory is gone. He was taken, trapped, and he does not even know who brought him here. This is the story of Thomas, a character from the dystopian-fiction film and novel, The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Universal themes and elements are used frequently across the world and are often very similar in dystopian societies. In The Maze Runner, apparent universal themes are odd elements, social cohesion, heroic scenarios, and a strong moral lesson.

Monthly, WCKD sends the gladers a metal box and a new “greenie”. These are the only supplies they are given for the month and that is a way for WCKD to tell them that they must make-do with what they have. This makes the gladers plan, ration, and avoid being greedy since they must share and be caring about each boy. There are also rules that the boys use in order to stay alive in the glade. These rules include that nobody is aloud in the maze except for runners, the runners must be back before the doors close, and everybody is assigned a specific job. Gally, one of the leaders is very stern with the rules and how they are followed. After Minho and Thomas spend the night in the maze, he says, “Things are changing. There's no denying that. First Ben gets stung in broad daylight. And then Alby. And now our Greenie(Thomas) here, has taken it upon himself to go into the maze. Which is a clear violation of our rules.” (The Maze Runner). After this, Gally attempts to enforce a punishment or restrictions on Thomas, but this is difficult to do with the number of boys who disagree with the act. Including Minho, who says, “I think in all the time we've been here, no one's ever killed a Griever before. When I turned tail and ran, this dumb shank (Thomas), stayed behind to help Alby. Look, I don't know if he's brave or stupid. But whatever it is, we need more of it. I say we make him

Many scenarios include Thomas, and are lead by his curiosity and bravery, as well as his urgency to progress. However, Thomas did not do one specific and incredible heroic scenario, but his cute, curly-haired friend, Chuck, did it. Chuck is the dorky, funny, adorable, and sometimes annoying little boy. He arrived just before Thomas so he did not know much. However, he was underestimated. The young boy saved Thomas’s life, for the price of his own. Just before Thomas was to be shot, Chuck leaped in front of him to save his life. Chuck knew in his mind that if Thomas were to go so soon, it would everything would fail and the progress that had already been made would be useless. The boys would not have a daring leader to help them make their way through the next trials. Therefore, Chuck, knowing his unimportance compared to Thomas, gave his own life so that Thomas can save the world as they know