Adam VanArsdalen

1st Hour
Mrs. Mainero
February 11, 2015
The Maze Runner
Thomas rocked back on his heels, then ran his arm across his forehead, wiping away the
sweat. And in that moment, in the space of only a few seconds, he learned a lot about himself.
About the Thomas that was before. He couldnt leave a friend to die(120). Thomas, the main
character in the Science Fiction novel The Maze Runner, has many attributes. He is kind,
selfless, and powerful, but there are things that better describe who he is and what kind of person
he is. Throughout reading the book I have noticed three large describing features of Thomas and
what kind of person he is. He shows acts of loyalty, intelligence, and determination throughout
the book.
The first attribute one might noticed in Thomas are acts of determination, showing in the
novel that if he puts his mind to it, he can do whatever he needs to, despite how challenging. A
first example of determination Thomas shows is when two people are stuck in the maze, with the
impenetrable doors closing. Thomas has the choice to either watch them get trapped in the maze
or run into the maze to help them, knowing that no one has ever survived in the maze when the
doors shut, despite this he runs to help them,He knew he had no choice. He moved. Forward. he
squeezed past the connecting rods at the last second and stepped into the Maze(112). This
example shows that Thomas is determined to help his friends, knowing the risk of his death, and
that he might not come out of the maze, but knows if he puts his mind to it he will make it out.
This determination helps him later do great things in the novel, and in the end, escape the maze.

Another attribute one could notice noticed while reading The Maze Runner, is that
Thomas shows multiple acts of loyalty, Thomas refuses that anybody die, and he will do
whatever it takes to get everybody out of the maze. One example is when he is stuck in the maze
with two friends named Alby and Minho, who are trying to survive and get out. Alby is
unconscious and Minho ran off to avoid the grievers(robots that are designed to kill humans),
Thomas considers running with him, then looks back at Alby, knowing that grievers will get to
him and kill him. In this moment he realizes he cannot leave a friend to die, so he turns back and
finds a place to hide him, Thomas rocked back on his heels, then ran his arm across his
forehead, wiping away the sweat. And in that moment, in the space of only a few seconds, he
learned a lot about himself. About the Thomas that was before. He couldnt leave a friend to
die(120). This example shows how he is loyal to his friends and makes sure that they get out of
the maze, without any of them dying. This loyalty later brings character development with a
separate character named Chuck, when Thomas makes Chuck a promise we learn more about
him and who he is.
A last attribute in Thomas that is noticeable by Thomas are acts of intelligence, Thomas is
able to figure things out about the maze, that the others in the glade (the area that the maze
surrounds) hadnt figured out over a span of two years. One example of Thomas's intelligence is
when he figures out a code of the maps to the maze that the others hadnt by tracing the maps on
wax paper then cutting them out in a pattern, this process eventually shows that it works when
the wax paper cutouts show the letter F, Thomas held in his hands what looked like a checkered
grid. But certain lines in the middle-lines that happened to appear more often than any othermade a slightly darker image than the rest. It was subtle, but it was, without a doubt, there.

Sitting in the exact center of the page was the letter F(277).Thomas's intelligence later helped
him and the rest of his friends escape the maze by using this code.
Thomas in The Maze Runner showed a lot of attributes throughout the book, he proved to
be loyal intelligent, and determined. These attributes helped him resolve his and his friends
situation of being trapped in the maze, by escaping. Without Thomass intelligence no one would
have figured out the code of the maze, without Thomass determination, Alby and Minho would
have most likely died, and without Thomass loyalty Alby would have definitely died.