Blog Post #16: The Maze Runner

          I am currently in the beginning of the book, The Maze Runner by James Dashner. It is about a boy named Thomas who is in an elevator and suddenly gets "transported" into a whole other world known as The Glade. He forgets everything except his name, even his last name. In The Glade, he sees a lot of people, ranging from different ages, from 13 to 17, all boys. The people we meet in the very beginning of the book already introduces us to the character archetypes, but I am still interested in reading further to learn more about each of them (the hero, the mentor, the shadow, etc.) because I can tell there's a lot more to them.
         
         The hero of the book is still unidentified, though I thought it was Thomas at first because he is the main character. But I doubted myself on that because nothing has really happened yet to make him the hero. But because of so many people that are present in The Glade, who are just as confused as Thomas as to how to get out, I feel that in the end, all of them may be the heroes.
       
         I believe that the mentor is pretty obvious right from the start: Alby. Thomas says that he thinks Alby is the oldest, because he looks the oldest. Also, he seems to be the leader of everyone because in the beginning, he kind of introduced The Glade to Thomas and helped made sense of some things for Thomas. He states that no questions to be asked until the next day, he was able to throw anyone off The Cliff, etc. He seems to symbolize knowledge and experience. But at the same time, there's two others that could also be the mentors under Alby: Newt and Gally. Newt is the nicer version of Alby who kind of seems playful, but at the same time, he seems to know his way around things. Gally is the meaner one who always taunts Thomas, but at the same time seems to know his way around just like Alby and Newt. Even though Gally is the meaner one, I don't think he would be so dark that he would be considered the shadow of the book. I think there are more bigger things than Gally, and also because Gally is just like Thomas: trying to figure his way around The Glade and how to get out, even though he has been here for a longer period of time.
         
         The shadow is still very mysterious, but I think I have some ideas on who (or what) the shadow is. First off, Thomas has some acknowledgment of the Changing. He wasn't supposed to go into the room, told by Alby and Newt, but on page 20, he saw a horrible sight. He saw Alby and Newt surround someone supposedly named Ben and Ben looked beaten up with "sickly green veins webbed across the boy's body and limbs". He only saw a few seconds of him, but Alby immediately blocked the image and yelled at him to go away. Everybody, including Gally called it the Changing. I'm not sure what it is, because it definitely isn't "changing" into anything good. Another bigger shadow could be The Glade it self. When I picture it in my head, I think of a dark murky place, just like the cover may suggest. It definitely is a mysterious setting and it seems to hold a lot of secrets. Chuck (a smaller mentor who is the nicest to Thomas, who leads him around) keeps mentioning the Maze, but he won't tell Thomas what it is. Also, it's obvious that all these people, including Thomas are trapped here and still haven't a way out. There's also a gate/ door that Thomas was introduced to on page 25, and it opens in the morning, but closes tight at night. The Changing and The Glade and the Maze are obviously not good things/ places to be in.
         
         As for the shape-shifter, I don't think there is one yet identified.