DANIEL LICHEV

10 J
• THE MAZE RUNNER IS A 2009
YOUNG ADULT POST-
APOCALYPTIC SCIENCE
FICTION NOVEL WRITTEN BY
AMERICAN AUTHOR JAMES
DASHNER AND THE FIRST
BOOK RELEASED IN THE
MAZE RUNNER SERIES,
ALTHOUGH IT IS THE THIRD
CHRONOLOGICALLY. THE
NOVEL WAS PUBLISHED ON
OCTOBER 7, 2009 AND WAS
MADE INTO A 2014 MAJOR
MOTION PICTURE BY 20TH
CENTURY FOX.
 THE AUTHOR
• JAMES SMITH DASHNER IS AN
AMERICAN WRITER OF SPECULATIVE
FICTION, PRIMARILY SERIES FOR
CHILDREN OR YOUNG ADULTS. HE WAS
BORN ON NOVEMBER 26, 1972 IN
AUSTELL, GEORGIA. ONE OF SIX
CHILDREN, HE IS A GRADUATE OF
DULUTH HIGH SCHOOL AND BRIGHAM
YOUNG UNIVERSITY IN UTAH, WHERE HE
RECEIVED A MASTER'S DEGREE IN
ACCOUNTING. DASHNER AND HIS WIFE
LYNETTE HAVE FOUR CHILDREN AND
ARE NOW LIVING THERE.
• DASHNER'S BOOKS ARE
WRITTEN FOR YOUNG TEENS.
HIS WORK IS TYPICALLY WITHIN
THE ADVENTURE, SURVIVAL,
AND SCIENCE-FICTION GENRES.
• THE MAZE RUNNER, HIS MOST
WIDELY DISTRIBUTED BOOK,
REACHED 100 WEEKS' STANDING
ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST
SELLER LIST FOR CHILDREN'S
SERIES ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2014,
TWO DAYS AFTER THE RELEASE
OF THE MOTION PICTURE
ADAPTATION OF THE BOOK.
 SUMMARY
• THOMAS WAKES UP IN A METAL ELEVATOR THAT BRINGS HIM TO A PLACE CALLED THE
GLADE. HE HAS NO MEMORY OF WHO HE IS OR HOW HE GOT THERE. HE GRADUALLY
DISCOVERS THAT THE GLADE IS RUN BY TWO BOYS: ALBY, THE LEADER, AND NEWT, THE
SECOND-IN-CHARGE, WHO BOTH MAINTAIN ORDER BY ENFORCING SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE
RULES. THE ELEVATOR BOX SURFACES FROM UNDER THE GROUND EVERY WEEK
SUPPLYING NEW FOOD, TOOLS AND SOMETIMES WEAPONS. EVERY MONTH A NEW BOY
WITH NO MEMORY OF ANYTHING BUT HIS NAME, FINDS HIMSELF IN THAT ELEVATOR BOX.
• ONE DAY AFTER THOMAS' ARRIVAL, A GIRL
NAMED TERESA IS DELIVERED THROUGH
THE ELEVATOR INTO THE GLADE. WHEN
THOMAS COMES TO VISIT HER, HE
RECOGNIZES HER, BUT CAN'T REMEMBER
HER NAME UNTIL HE HEARS HER VOICE
TELEPATHICALLY IN HIS MIND TELLING
HIM HER NAME. TERESA WAKES UP AND
TELLS THOMAS THAT THEY KNEW EACH
OTHER BEFORE THEY WERE SENT INTO
THE GLADE, AND REVEALS THAT THEY
COULD COMMUNICATE TELEPATHICALLY.
• THOMAS PROPOSES THAT THE WALLS OF
THE MAZE AREN'T RANDOM, BUT THEIR
MOVEMENTS ARE ACTUALLY A CODE,
LEADING TO THE DISCOVERY THAT THE
MAZE IS SPELLING OUT WORDS. THOMAS
ALSO DISCOVERS THAT THE CLIFF THEY
ALL THOUGHT WAS JUST A CLIFF TURNS
OUT TO BE WHERE THE GRIEVERS LEAVE
THE MAZE OR "THE GRIEVER HOLE"
• THIS DRIVES THOMAS TO THINK THEY NEED MEMORIES TO GET OUT, SO HE
INTENTIONALLY GETS STUNG BY A GRIEVER SO HE CAN GO THROUGH THE
CHANGING. THE CHANGING IS A PROCESS THAT BEGINS AFTER ONE GETS
THE GRIEF SERUM AFTER GETTING STUNG, TO CURE THE INFECTION FROM
THE GRIEVERS.
• THOMAS AND THE GLADERS FIND OUT WHAT THE PATTERN IS, WHICH
CAUSES MOST OF THE GLADERS TO DECIDE TO MAKE A RUN FOR THE EXIT,
• THEY SUCCEED, ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THEY WERE TEST SUBJECTS IN AN
EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED BY WICKED, WHICH STANDS FOR "WORLD IN
CATASTROPHE: KILLZONE EXPERIMENT DEPARTMENT“.
• THE TEENAGERS ESCAPE TO THE LABORATORY. ALL 20 GLADERS ARE
RESCUED BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE AND BROUGHT TO SAFE WHILE BEING
TOLD ABOUT AN APOCALYPTIC OCCURRENCE CAUSED BY SUN FLARES THAT
KILLED MILLIONS. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A SICKNESS CALLED THE
"FLARE". IT IS REVEALED THAT ORPHANED CHILDREN ARE BEING TESTED TO
FIND A WAY TO BEAT THE VIRUS.
• THE EPILOGUE REVEALS THAT THE GROUP WHO RESCUED THE GLADERS
MAY JUST BE ANOTHER VARIABLE IN THE EXPERIMENT, AND THAT THE
GLADERS WEREN'T THE ONLY GROUP BEING EVALUATED.
THANKS FOR WATCHING