Response on The Maze Runner

             I am only 17 pages into The Maze Runner, By James Dashner, but I am already very intrigued. From what I can tell, the main character, Thomas, who we don’t know much about seeing that he has forgotten everything about his life story apart from his name, has arrived in this strange land called The Glade. He arrives after a long ride up a dark elevator shaft and is greeted by strange and slightly wild boys. Some are friendly and others take an aggressive stance. Since Thomas has lost his memory, it’s like we are seeing through his eyes and processing everything for the first time. The author does a very good job of keeping the story mysterious and therefore leaving you curious and wanting more.

As I was reading, I realized that the book reminded me of Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. For example, when the boys (who are also disheveled and wild after living by themselves for so long) are telling Thomas about the rules of this land, they talk about the beasts that live on the outskirts of the town and how they will attack at night if you come to close. This is very much like the “monster” that the boys claim to see and are in constant fear of on the island featured in Lord of the Flies.

Another similarity with the Lord of the Flies is that the boys living in The Glade seem to have two conflicting leaders. At first when Thomas came out of the old industrial elevator, he noticed that all the boys seemed to look up to one teenager named Alby. But later, another boy approaches him; the same one who had been giving him dirty looks earlier. Upon being asked his name, the bully replies, “Gally. And don’t let anyone fool you. I’m the real leader here, not the two geezer shanks upstairs…” he says referring to Alby and one other. Just like in Lord of the Flies, there are two boys with different natures, both competing for the same position. I wonder if this book is going to follow the pattern of Lord of the Flies and two groups of the kids and teenagers will branch off and separate from each other,

If you think about it, many stories are following the ideas of others. For example the movie Warm Bodies is really a zombie-chick flick Romeo and Juliet. Is our society really running out of ideas for books and movies that we have to copy others? A lot of sci-fi books follow the same patterns and at a certain point, I find myself un-interested in them. However, books like His Dark Materials have unique and deep plots. I’m still looking forward to finishing this book, it’s just a thought to consider.