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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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The Maze Runner

Overview:

If you haven’t heard of The Maze Runner yet, I would be surprised. The young-

adult book The Maze Runner by James Dashner, is a story about a group of

teenage boys who find themselves trapped in a grassy clearing in the middle of

nowhere surrounded by a concrete maze with huge high walls. The group works

together to support themselves and find a way out of the maze, even though it

contains tons of unknown information. Everything changes when a boy named

Thomas arrives.

The book is one of many that have been turned into a popular action packed

movie, and has many fans following it. It’s similar to popular novels that have

been recently turned into movies, such as The Hunger Games and Divergent.

They all follow a popular theme, teens faced with a tragic situation with a little

romance thrown in. In the next pages we talk about The Maze Runner, along with

its theme and more.

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Maze Runner Movie Success

Although nothing will top the famous Harry Potter series or The Lord of the Rings

series, The Maze Runner did sell incredibly well as a movie making an estimated

$32.5 million and was first place in the box office in the first opening weekend.

The movie did so well, a sequel was immediately signed and is set to release in

theaters soon. The film was so good it got an A- review on a site called Cinema

Scores. Overall, the movie made 340.8 million dollars.

Maze Runner Feedback

Thousands of people enjoyed The Maze Runner as book, and now the book is

available almost everywhere, Amazon, ITunes ibooks, Barnes & Noble’s,

Indiebound, Bam and more. Even though the exact number of copies sold of the

maze runner can’t be found easily, you can find tons of reviews all over the

internet about how they loved the book.

The movie however, did not have the same positive feedback, due to the stuff left

out from the book, receiving a rating of 69% of the audience liking it on popular

website Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 6.9/10 from popular movie website

Imdb , because of the many changes and plot holes.

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The Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner,

Similarities?

If you haven’t guessed it already by the place /society to live, and comes from the Greek

obvious picture above or the mention of roots dys- bad and topia – place to live. Nowadays

the theme in the intro, the similarity I’m Dystopian literature is societies or worlds talking

about between all these movies that have been destroyed and or are in horrible isn’t the fact that they all have made conditions, such as a government taking over millions of dollars, or that they all everything or a world destroyed by horrible have thousands of teenagers voting unexpected weather conditions. In addition to them as the best movie of the year, this theme, all these novels include teenagers as

it’s that they all share a similar theme. their main characters, trying to survive and fix the It’s an obvious observation but it’s condition that they are in. These novels also have also an important one. All the famous a common theme of people in a higher power, movies marketed at teenagers these either because of wealth or status, taking control

days have this theme. So now you’re of everything, resulting in a rebellion in the

wondering, what IS this theme? The “lower” people. The reason they are popular

theme they all focus on is dystopia. among teens may be because it’s about young

What is dystopia? Dystopia is an awful people taking a stand, no matter the consequence.

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Strong Characters, Strong Messages?

If you have ever seen an awards show, you’ve noticed the screaming fans and the levels of

volume determined by who just came on the stage or walked by. Why is that related to these

characters you ask? The reason why I bring this up is that the actress/actor who plays as these

characters, especially Jennifer Lawrence (who plays Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games).

She is one of those actresses who make the crowd scream as soon she steps on the stage or

even just walks by due to her success in the film. But why?

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In order to discover what makes these characters special and loved, you would have to

look deep into the moral messages they portray and then it is easy to discover why they are

loved. For example, Katniss Everdeen the main character in The Hunger Games written by

Suzanne Collins , is a girl of lower status, who bravely volunteers herself a tragic event to save

her sister which is created by the government, The Hunger Games. In the series, she wins the

hunger games, and then helps to rebel against the government that has created it, making her a

powerful female icon.

In Divergent and The Maze Runner, there are also similar characters, both of them are thrown

into a situation, and they both find a way to change it in order to save them and the others

around them lives. All these characters display the same character traits, traits such as:

bravery, courage, and empathy. They are able to fight for what is morally right, even when they

are afraid of what might happen to them, even when success is not guaranteed.

Even in the maze runner, when there were tons of monsters outside an exit, they still fought

their way out. They are all young people who care about what is happening around them, and

want do something instead of sit back and watch what is happening like they are expected to

do. In a way they are all what people aspire to be like: someone who can fight for what they

believe in and win.

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Sources

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Sources – Links

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_maze_runner

Rottentomatoes.com,. 'The Maze Runner'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

http://issuu.com/home

Issuu.com,. 'ISSUU - Digital Publishing Platform For Magazines, Catalogs, And More'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29

Mar. 2015.

http://hype.my/movies/fun-facts-unlock-the-secrets-behind-the-maze-runner/

Hype.my,. 'Fun Facts: Unlock The Secrets Behind “The Maze Runner” | Hype.My'. N.p., 2014. Web. 29

Mar. 2015.

http://jamesdashner.com/books/

James Dashner,. 'Books'. N.p., 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

http://www.ew.com/article/2014/09/21/box-office-report-maze-runner-reaps-32-5-million-in-

a-successful-debut

Ew.com,. 'Box Office Report: 'Maze Runner' Reaps $32.5 Million In A Successful Debut | EW.Com'. N.p.,

2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

http://libraryschool.libguidescms.com/content.php?pid=325261&sid=2662137

Stewart, Catherine. 'What Is Dystopian Literature? - Dystopian Literature For Young Adults - Libguides

Sandbox For Library Schools At Springshare'. Libraryschool.libguidescms.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Mar.

2015.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-hunger-games/themes.html

Sparknotes.com,. 'Sparknotes: The Hunger Games: Themes, Motifs & Symbols'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Mar.

2015.

http://www.livemaguk.com/why-dystopian-ya-is-popular/

Live Mag UK,. 'Why Is Dystopian Fiction So Popular?'. N.p., 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.