Maze Runner Archetypes

Dashner’s book is so much more enjoyable because of his skills in theme. Dashner’s constant restating of his theme, friendship and family beyond blood greatly improve the quality and enjoyment of the book. Throughout the story we see how, despite the lack of blood related family, the boys of The Maze Runner, join together and treat one another as you would family. In the beginning of the story, when Thomas first arrives in the Glade, the current “Gladers”, or the residents of the Glade, welcome Thomas and help him out of the box he arrived in; “The helping hands didn’t stop swarming around him until Thomas stood up straight and had the dust brushed from his shirt and pants.”(page 5). This quote proves that even when they don’t know Thomas they treat him as a friend and help him out of the box. Also in this quote, “Thomas stared at him, stared at his friend’s lifeless body”(page 357) Chuck, a good friend of Thomas, has just died and this is how Thomas reacts. Thomas met Chuck on his first day in the

Thomas is the narrator and protagonist of the story. He arrives in the maze with no knowledge of who he is or was. He only remembers his name and nothing else about his life. Thomas proves to be brave and clever even though he only has a very limited memory of previous knowledge of the Maze. Since arriving in the maze, Thomas makes both friends and enemies and proves to be a leader among the other boys with him in the maze.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is 374 pages and is a science fiction novel. The story takes place in a strange place surrounded by massive thick ivy covered walls. The outside of these walls is a detrimental maze. The people in between the walls are called Gladers. They have been memory wiped and sent to a mysterious place called the Glade. The main characters that take place at the Glade are Thomas, Theresa, Gally, Alby, Minho, Chuck, and Newt. When arriving at the Glade everyone quickly shares one common goal. Their goal is to figure out the maze and get out of there. The conflict in the story is Thomas and Theresa have all the tools to free them, but the other Gladers are accusing them of all the change brought

Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of a dystopian world set in the 24th century. Reading goes against the law in the 24th century, and firemen burn houses that contain books. Some people accept this law while others see the reality of the situation. There are many characters in Fahrenheit 451 to represent Carl Jung’s archetypes. The three main archetypes in this novel include a hero, a wise old man, and a trickster. Guy Montag represents the hero, Faber represents the wise old man, and the society acts as the trickster.

Thomas realizes it is human nature to take life for granted; until death approaches. Thomas wrote this poem for his father, to tell him that there is so much more for him here, living, to do. The only way to deter death is through fury and frenzy. Death comes too quickly for most people and only with "rage" can death be defied.

Montag’s Awakening highlights the phases of fear and enlightenment Montag goes through towards the end of Fahrenheit 451 which reminds us of the similar change the prisoner in The Allegory of the Cave goes through.

Thomas enters the Glade the same way a baby is welcomed into the world. They come out with no memories of the womb and they do not know anything, not even their name. Therefore, they are confused, like Thomas and just want to cry. Slowly, however, they are taught things until they can function on their own. This helps show that one of the symbols in The Maze Runner is the maze itself, as it symbolizes life and how complex it is. As life does not follow one rule but instead has many obstacles and Unforeseen events which is like the twists and turns in the maze. In life there are the nice straight paths these are when nothing is wrong and life seems easy. Then there are times where there are twists and turns, this is when in your life a hard

of everyone in this book is because Thomas is a character who believes in himself, he

The classic fantasy The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a story written by L. Frank Baum, who suffered from a heart condition. Since he was unable to participate in many activities as a teen he resulted in writing, allowing him to escape the real world and live through his fantasies. Starting in Kansas and moving into the Land of Oz it is the reoccurring patterns of symbolic and situational archetypes that bring the story to life. Although originally written as a piece of children's literature, it is a story that people of all ages love. Literature has the ability to take readers to another place better than the real world. Expressive use of vivid colours throughout the Land of Oz, unfortunate situations that lead to newfound friendships and Dorothy's purposeful journey allows readers to visualize how life would be living in a childhood fantasy.

The use of everyday objects and descriptions can really connect to something more deep. In the captivating novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury uses many archetypes to build up the story. The protagonist, Guy Montag is in a journey to find answers using the paperback books that the overall society totally rejects. In this society it is not that hard to forget about others when you have three walls covered with TV’s. The majority of the society decided to use materialistic objects such as the T.V to entertain themselves.

Guy Montag, a typical fireman, lives in a futuristic society full of conformity. However, the future’s definition of a typical fireman consists of men burning books and the houses or buildings in which they are found. Montag goes through his life just living to please and be accepted by society. Nevertheless, his life is turned upside down with the introduction of new characters who get him thinking and wondering about the principles of their society that are so easily conformed to. These characters are represented using the impactful archetypes of an innocent youth and a mentor.

An archetype is a type of character found across multiple books and or movies. John Steinbeck wrote the novel Of Mice and Men. Within this novel, there is a character named Lennie Smalls. Lennie is a unique character because of his mental disability. Lennie has a best friend named George, who promises Lennie’s Aunt Clara that he would take care of Lennie when she passes away. Lennie is very strong and throughout the book it is shown how his disability and strength are used against him. Steinbeck’s character from Of Mice and Men, Lenny, is the typical example of an innocent archetype.

This quote was said by Alby when him and Thomas were conversing. Thomas has a lot of questions and seems eager to explore. Alby then tells him to calm down and it's all right to be scared and that "If you ain't scared, you ain't human. " I chose to use this quote because it stuck out to me. Entering a whole new world with no known exit while experiencing amnesia, and being surrounded by strangers and deadly monster, certainly is frightening.

The movie Young Frankenstein is about a neurosurgeon professor named Fredericks Frankenstein whose doesn't want to be known as Dr. Frankenstein grandson so calls himself Fronkensteen. Fredericks grandfather was known for trying to revive the dead, which Fredericks doesn't like when people bring it up so he calls himself Fronkensteen. Fredericks goes to Transylvania after he finds out that his grandfather gave him his castle. Frederick finds his grandfather's secret laboratory and also books on how to revive the dead. With the help of Igor and Inga, Frederick brings life to a dead body. Frederick shows the monster to the people of Transylvania but they are scared of him and the monster is taken to jail and locked up with chains around his neck. Later that night while Frederick is sleeping with Inga, his fiancée Elizabeth shows up at the door. Soon after Elizabeth shows up the monster escapes out of jail and kidnaps Elizabeth and sleeps with her. Frederick lures the monster back to the castle and gives him half his mind. The monster can now think and talk a lot better than before and gets married to Elizabeth. Frederick is now calling himself Frankenstein. We see how Frederick is finding his identity throughout the movie.

The famous book The Maze Runner by James Smith Dashner, is the famous story about a young man named Thomas who wakes up in the middle of a metallic box that serves as an elevator with no memory of his past, the box opens up to a place called “the Glade” with 60 other boys staring back at him as he tries to run away pass them. Every thirty days a new boy or supplies arrive from the box and for three years they have lived together trying to find clues through the maze that surrounds them; but as they start losing hope it all changes when something unprecedented happens and a girl along with a note arrive through the box. The book along with amazing imagery and relevance to today’s world manages to attract more than just teenagers but anybody that is up for the challenge of the maze, and that is just the purpose of this paper to demonstrate multiple reason of why this book not only deserves to be read but it should hold a place in the literary canon.