The Maze Runner

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Think about a time when you had to adapt to a completely new environment. How did your experience compare to Thomas’s arrival in the Glade?

2. The Gladers maintain hope despite their dire circumstances. Reflect on a challenging time in your life when hope helped you persevere. What kept you going?

3. Many characters in the novel make sacrifices for others. Have you ever had to sacrifice something important for the greater good? How did that experience shape you?

4. The novel explores the tension between following rules and breaking them for a greater purpose. When have you faced a similar moral dilemma?

5. Throughout the story, characters struggle with questions of identity and memory. How do you think your memories shape who you are? Who would you be without them?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. How does the novel’s portrayal of WICKED’s experiments reflect real-world debates about ethics in scientific research?

2. The Maze Runner presents a society built entirely by teenagers. What does this suggest about young people’s capacity for leadership and organization?

3. Consider how the novel addresses themes of surveillance and control through the beetle blades and the Creators. How do these elements relate to modern concerns about privacy and authority?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Analyze the significance of names in the novel, particularly how the boys are named after historical figures. What does this suggest about their roles and identities?

2. How does Thomas’s character development throughout the novel reflect or subvert typical hero’s journey tropes?

3. Examine the role of Teresa as both the only female character and a catalyst for change. How does her presence alter the dynamic of the Glade?

4. Consider the symbolism of the Maze itself. How does it function as both a physical and psychological obstacle for the characters?

5. Analyze how Dashner uses the concept of memory loss to create suspense and drive the narrative forward. At what points in the story does the suspense increase as a result of this concept? What is potentially lost or gained through this technique?