The Maze Runner is a young adult, science fiction novel by James Dashner. The book’s genre does not suggest that it would carry many literary elements, but The Maze Runner is full of them. The key literary element in this book is foreshadowing. Foreshadowing makes The Maze Runner exciting and keeps the reader guessing at what might come next. The book has three types of foreshadowing: words, feelings and actions. The foreshadowing used in The Maze Runner makes the book a very descriptive piece of literature.
The literary element that The Maze Runner uses to help build suspense and keep the reader guessing is foreshadowing . The different types of foreshadowing The Maze Runner uses are: words, feelings and actions . An example from The Maze Runner for each type is as follows:
1) Words – at the end of chapter one Mr. Alby warns Thomas not to take everything he says as fact without proof . This sentence creates a sense of curiosity surrounding Alby’s mysterious personality . Later , it becomes apparent that Mr. Alby knows more about The Maze than he claims . The reader is on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen next and why Mr. Alby has such knowledge .
2) Feelings – The Maze Runner creates a sense of caution and danger through feelings . The reader can tell that The Gladers fear The Creators , as they should, because the characters who run The Glade are young boys who have been stuck in The Glade for two years . The fear adds to the suspense as The Maze was designed to kill those who enter it so caution must be used when going into The Maze .
3) Actions – In chapter five Thomas takes it upon himself to ask about a mysterious room that is always locked with no apparent way inside . Cormac, a boy from The Glade, tells Thomas about The Maze . The reader understands that this conversation is important because The Maze isn’t something you just talk about with people you don’t trust . The significance of The Maze and the walls surrounding The Glade will come into play later in the story so it is important to note small facts such as this one.
The foreshadowing in The Maze Runner helps keep the reader interested and builds suspense so they will read on to find out what happens next. Dashner uses these literary elements well to build a descriptive piece of literature full of mystery and action that leaves the reader wanting more.
The Maze Runner is a science fiction novel written by James Dashner. The book was published in October 2009, and since then it has gained popularity worldwide. The story takes place in the near future where society lives in an enclosed environment, away from most of the world’s nature. The people live within The Glade, which consists of The Box – the main building with elevators to go up or down between floors, The Armory -a room with weapons and supplies, The Gathering Place – Where The Runners meet every day at dawn to discuss their plans for that day, The Greenhouse- Where food is grown.
Anything outside of The Glade borders is known as “The Maze”; nobody knows what’s beyond The Maze. The story starts with a boy, called Thomas, waking up in The Box. The box opens from the top, and there is only darkness beneath The Box. The box closes after Thomas is inside of The Glade. It is discovered that none of the Gladers have any recollection of their previous lives except for a few things: their name and how to speak English. Later on in The Maze Runner, it becomes apparent that groups of people had been going into The Maze before The Box arrived containing Thomas; however nobody has ever come back out since then.
Ways In Which Dashner Implements Literary Elements In His Novel
A major personage throughout the novel is Theresa, also known as “Teresa” or “Tris”. The name Teresa is derived from the Greek and it means “harvest” or “to reap.” The Greek root word for harvest also means ‘teeth,’ so The Maze Runner shows how the people The Glade are constantly reaping what they have sown throughout their past lives by being put in The Glade.
At one point in the novel, Thomas sees a picture of his mom when she was younger. He describes her as having short blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail with bangs to frame her face. Bangs are typically fringes of hair that fall over someone’s forehead – commonly worn by women because it focusses attention on their eyes. The eye is typically seen as the window to the soul. The Maze Runner shows how Thomas never had a chance to focus on Teresa’s eyes, because he was always running through The Maze with her in his memories. The picture of Teresa reminds Thomas of what it means to be human and gives him strength when he feels like giving up hope from time to time .
The book The Maze Runner provides readers with descriptions that allow them to understand how society would live years into the future – somewhat depressing but also hopeful for a brighter future. The author incorporates literary elements such as symbolism and personification while using literal language throughout the novel; this allows readers to fully comprehend the ideas Dashner is trying to get accross without getting too confused. The reader can see the amount of work and thought Dashner puts into making The Maze Runner a novel that others will enjoy reading.
The book is about a young boy named, Thomas, who wakes up in a lift with no memory of his past life. The lift opens and he finds himself in the Glade surrounded by four large stone walls and another closed door on the other side. The children living in The Glade call themselves “Gladers” because they had been deposited there as babies and have called it home ever since. The main characters include: Newt (council member), Minho (runner), Alby (first leader of The Glade) , Teresa (new girl), Chuck (boy without memories).
Thomas makes friends immediately quickly gains knowledge thanks to The Gladers. The Gladers are trying to solve the maze at The Glade because over time, The Grievers have become much stronger and more frequent in their attacks. The only way to survive The Grievers is by staying within The Maze walls where they cannot harm you. Thomas’s job is to be a runner just like Minho who goes into The Maze daily to map it out and see what he can find out about the maze before being attacked by The Griever.
The setting changes throughout the book as well, but this article will focus on how literary elements are used in James Dashner’s The Maze Runner .
Narrative point of view refers either first or third person, but Dashner uses both in The Maze Runner . The book is mostly written in first person when Thomas is narrating the story. The only time it changes to the third person point of view is when there are parts where he talks about other characters.
The mood in The Maze runner , according to The New Oxford American Dictionary , has two meanings: emotional atmosphere or feeling conveyed by a creative work, or an emotional response indicating approval or disapproval. The tone Dashner uses when writing this book seems to be suspense and mystery because it’s very hard for him to give away the plot and what’s going to happen next even though we already know some parts from reading the back summary. The climax throughout The Maze Runner , which is right before all of the action happens, is when The Grievers attack The Gladers in The Maze . The mood after The Grievers have attacked becomes suspenseful because it has increased the action in the book.
One of the literary elements Dashner uses are hyperbole which is exaggeration to create emphasis or humor. Most of this is used with Minho , who is very stubborn and always thinks he knows what to do even though others may have a different idea.
Dashner also uses personification which makes non-living things seem like they are alive by giving them human traits. The main example is in the beginning when Thomas wakes up in The Box with no memories of his past life except for two things: his name and that there was another boy who got The Box right before him, so The Gladers call The Box “the lift”.
Another literary element Dashner uses is simile . A simile is a figure of speech comparing two things using the words “like” or “as”. The author uses similes to describe The Maze which make the reader see The Maze much clearer in their mind by how it’s described. An example is when Thomas first enters The Maze , Dashner describes The Maze as being alive because the walls are shifting constantly every day making The Maze into different passageways almost like its taunting you to find your way out.
