Maze Runner-Dystopian Elements

By James

Dashner

PREZI BY

Anu Gurung, Maria Heuring,

Nick Seel, and Oliver Swingen

The power is clearly with the Creators. The Gladers are really just pawns of their game. “The subjects will eventually recall and understand the purpose of the hard things we have done and plan to do to them.” (373) Alby, as the leader of the Gladers, also has power and

influence.

MAZE RUNNER

Thanks For Staying Awake For Our Presentation!

Customs

Geography

These customs represent some of the book's themes such as danger, risk, imprisonment, and control.

Some customs in the Glade are:

-The Changing, which happens after a Glader is stung by a Greiver “A twisted, pale figure writhing in agony, chest bare and hideous…” (20)

-The Doors of the maze move every night, trapping the Gladers inside the Glade (or the maze!) “The Runners’ll be back soon;then the walls are going to move until the gaps are closed.” (25)

-Beetle Blades are like “spy cameras” so the Creators of the maze can see what is going on in the glade. “Beetle Blade... won’t hurt ya unless you’re stupid enough to touch one of them.” (13)

Things you will need to know in order to understand our presentation!!!

It is unknown exactly where the Glade is...however they are definitely trapped inside it. At the end of the book, it is revealed that their living there was an experiment controlled by WICKED (World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department)

“Welcome back. Over two years, and so few dead. Amazing.” (353)

SPOILER ALERT

This is definitely dystopian because

the characters hardly know anything about where they are, what they need to do, or even who they are.

Plot= A large group of teenagers have been put inside a giant maze with no memory of their past other than their name. They have no communication with the outside world other than the box that drops off supplies, food, and a new kid once a month.

Gladers= What the boys call themselves

Runners= The runners go out every day and map out the maze in hope to find a way out...the walls of the maze close!

Greivers= Robots that attack/sting Gladers that get too close to them in the maze.

Food

This isn't really dystopian because

while they would like better quality food,

they at least stay nourished. In many dystopias, food may be available only to some or have to be rationed/controlled.

Yet that isn't the case in Maze Runner as

they have some freedom to grow their

own crops.

Frypan cooks the Glader's Food.

Here is a picture of the actor who will play

Frypan when the Maze Runner MOVIE comes out this September!

sup.

History

Food isn’t much of a factor in the book,

because the food is delivered from the Creators in the magical box known as 'The Box'. They also et supplies and occasionally people from The Box. The Gladers are also able to grow their own food using their

garden . “...grow and raise most of our

food…”(42)

This is definitely dystopian,

because in novels of that sort,

the characters rarely know much about their history. This is usually to cover up scandals, wars, plans, etc. and to prevent

citizens from thinking that life

could be different.

SPOILER

The history of the Glade is little, but we know it came to be as

an experiment/ trial when the Flare (natural disaster) started.

The first Gladers arrived two years before Thomas, main

character, did. It is hidden from them, of course, because they

have no memories of their own past/history. “Over two years

and so few dead. Amazing.” (353) [Using this quote again

since it works for both elements]

Family

The Gladers (The people living in the maze) have a

broken sort of family. They were all brought together

to the Glade with their memories wiped. They have no memories of their real family and past experiences.

However, they were able to forge a working “family”

where all the gladers have jobs. They are very self

sufficient even with the little supplies the creators

give them. As Alby said,

“-We pretty much run ourselves in the

Glade.”(42) This is dystopian, because their

family is run more by survival than love.

Symbolism

Some symbolism in this book

can be found in the maze itself

(imprisonment), the

creators(control), Thomas (determination/hope),Teresa (The "beginning of the end"), Beetle

Blades (Eyes for the creators) etc.

For instance, a quote that shows

Thomas’s determination is,

“Denying the truth would solve

nothing.” (185)

Here is a picture of a greiver, machines that live in the maze and attack the runners.

Scary!!!!!!

ooooooooooh!

They symbolize fear.

Power

Terms

The type of language that the gladers use reflects how the

Glade has turned them “hard” just for survival. They rarely

compliment or say positive things. They also use...rustic? words they have come up with themselves, i.e. Greenbean, shank, shuck, klunk, slopper, etc. “...hearing so many words and phrases that didn’t make sense...they popped out of the boys’ mouths so naturally it seemed odd for him not to

understand.” (6)

This is definitely dystopian, as the "citizens" are not free to

make their own choices...

Physical Apperance

The Gladers still look like humans as we know today.

The grievers and the beetle blades may be mutants, but pretty much everything else is 'normal looking.' “I’d say you’re sixteen. And in case you were wondering, five foot nine...brown hair.” (15)

This isn't really a huge factor, but there are enough

dystopian elements that is it still a dystopian novel.