Reading log III The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Hey guys it is Casey back here again with yet another post where today I am in English with my third reading log complete which means I am halfway done with there so yay for me.Anyway the book I have chosen this time is the Maze runner by James Dashner and I loved it and you should all go read it but anyway here are my opinions.

This book is about a teenage boy who only remembers his own name as he comes up into the glade which is at the center of a colossal maze.In the maze, there is giant cybernetic scorpion-like creatures called grievers who kill anyone inside the maze after dark and now, Thomas and the other gladers must fight their way to freedom or starve to death inside this test set by W.I.C.K.E.D.

I personally love the character of Thomas because he is really the audience in a sense because he comes up from the box only knowing his name and so wonders where he is which is pretty much anybody getting into a new series making him in an uncommon way, relatable. Because of his amnesia, he is curious about both the glade and the maze just like the audience and so we learn about the world at the same pace as Thomas. This aspect of the book makes Thomas relatable because when you enter a new place then you are going to want to know as much about it as you can.Thomas also excels in rising above the others by becoming a runner in as little as a week as opposed to other gladers where it takes months to become one. Even though most people can not relate to this aspect, it still makes the audience cheer Thomas on and they want to see him beat the maze and the grievers all so he and the rest of the gladers can escape and find a real home other than the prison that is the Maze.

I also think that the Maze itself is a great setting because the way the maze is described to the audience makes it feel like it has been there for centuries and maybe even millennia.Just the description of the maze further helps make it a great setting and what Newt says really solidifies what it is.”Out there is a maze; Newt whispered, eyes wide as if in a trance.Everything we do - our whole life, Greenie-revolves around the maze. Every lovin’second of every lovin’ day we spend in honor of the maze, tryin’ to solve somethin’ that's not shown to us it has a bloody solution ya know ?. And we wanted to show ya why it’s not to be messed with. Show ya why the buggin’ walls close shut every night. Show ya why you should never, never find your butt out there”. That one quote in my opinion sums up the maze as perfectly as you could probably do and in a way you could say that the maze is both a protector and a tormentor with it closing shut every night to protect the glade from the grievers and a tormentor because of those unlucky enough to find themseelves in the maze after dark. The whole idea of the setting reminds me of the greek legend of the Minotaur imprisoned inside a maze  and the gladers are essentially in the same position. Overall I think that the collossal maze is a great setting in general and the main moral of it could be that the greatest protector can also be the greatest tormentor.

In the end I honestly think that both the setting and the main character help create not only a great world but a magnificent coming of age story. The coming of age metaphor in my mind comes with escaping the maze and the glade is your current world in which you are a kid but out there beyond the maze is adulthood and the road to getting there is challenging just like the maze itself.I think that this is a great metaphor for the intended audience which is young adults and they can learn from this book that even though the road to adulthood is long and challenging, it is nessecary in life because you cannot stay a kid forever. I think that James Dashner had wrote a great interpretation of a great metaphor and that many people can have that even though they would want to stay a kid forever, they cannot and adulthood is just another nessecary gear in the delicate machine that is life.

Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this post so please share with anybody you think may like this post and I will see you all in the next post bye bye.