The Complexity of The Maze Runner Characters

Written by Kathy

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THE MAZE RUNNER SERIES (EXCEPT THE KILL ORDER AND THE MAZE RUNNER FILES) BY JAMES DASHNER
Seriously. I name almost all the major deaths. Don't read this if you don't want spoilers.

Last class, we talked about the complexity of the characters in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Mr. Mullins wanted us to look at all of Brontë's characters and notice their complexity, because he wanted us to appreciate the book more. I already appreciate the book, because I like every single book I read. The reason I never hate a single book I read is because I look at all the books I read in a more complex way, instead of just looking at the surface of the story. Most readers tend to only look at the surface of a story. One book series I love that no one else seems to appreciate is The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner. Most of the time, people say the books are "too confusing" and all the characters are "bland." First of all, The Maze Runner Series is supposed to be confusing. Thomas is put into a large Maze without his memories. We are reading from his point of view. We are supposed to be confused with him. Secondly, the Maze Runner characters are some of the most complex characters I have ever read in a story. A few of the most complex, but unappreciated characters in The Maze Runner Series are Teresa, Gally, and Alby.

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When I first read The Maze Runner, I didn't like the character Teresa at all. She seemed too perfect, because she had absolutely no flaws except for "sassyness," which is a stereotypical "flaw" for strong women in books. I kind of held a grudge against her the entire series until she saved Thomas' life and got crushed by a ceiling, which is when I started to feel sorry for her. After I finished the series, some friends helped me realize how complex Teresa's character actually is. In the first novel, The Maze Runner, you mostly see her annoying perfectness and her sassyness, but during The Scorch Trials, real flaws start to appear. One of her biggest flaws is caring too much about others and not enough about herself. She even ends up beating up her best friend, Thomas, to save his life and ultimately ruining their friendship forever. On top of that, she ends up pushing him away from a falling ceiling, only to be crushed by it. So I guess you could call this flaw her fatal flaw.

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Another character that is often looked at too simply is Gally (or Captain Gally as he likes to be called). He is first introduced as the bully of the series, because he passionately announces his hatred for Thomas every time he sees him. He even tries to kill Thomas after they escape the Maze, but Chuck sacrifices himself and the dagger hits him instead. Gally is actually being controlled by WICKED. Thomas, however, can't get this into his head, but Thomas is just clueless sometimes (and by sometimes, I mean all the time). Gally is obviously crying and trying to gain back control of himself before he throws the dagger, but Thomas doesn't notice and just blames Gally for Chuck's death. Later on, when Thomas meets Gally again in Denver, Gally reveals to Thomas he was controlled by WICKED and never really wanted to kill Chuck. He also sarcastically remarks he wanted to kill Thomas, which shows he is both sarcastic and serious (Gally seems to take himself too seriously sometimes. Example: Captain Gally). Even after Gally tells Thomas why he killed Chuck, Thomas still hates him, but he, at least, tries to not show it as much. If we, as the readers, look at Gally from Gally's perspective and not Thomas' perspective, we would see that Gally is actually a really complex character. If you do your math correctly, you can notice that there is a Keeper missing on the pole at Ben's Banishment. Gally is already declared a nemesis by Thomas at this point, so if Thomas looked at the pole, which had all the Keepers on it, wouldn't he think "What? Gally's a Keeper? I didn't know that. I hate him so much. Ugh." He doesn't, however, think this, because Gally wasn't there (Thomas doesn't realize Gally is a Keeper until Thomas' first gathering much later). And why would Gally not be at Ben's Banishment? Well... Ben is a Builder and Gally is the Keeper of the Builders, so they probably spent a lot of time together not working (Have you seen the quality of the Homestead?). My theory is that they are really close and Gally couldn't handle watching someone that close to him sent out into the Maze to become Griever food. Dashner shows that Gally actually does have feelings and isn't just the bully Thomas perceives him to be.

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One of the most complex, but unappreciated characters is Alby. I have never heard a single person say that he is his/her favorite character. That might be due to the fact that he died in the first book, or it could be due to the fact that people aren't looking at him closely enough. Even though I don't usually choose favorites, I would say that Alby is probably my favorite character, for a number of reasons: (1) he is fearless, (2) he is efficient, and (3) he is a really caring person. Alby usually only shows the first two to other people. He wants the other Gladers to know he's a good leader, especially since he is fairly new at leading (The previous leader, Nick, died somewhere between Chuck's arrival and Thomas' arrival. Chuck arrives only a month before Thomas, so it was fairly soon). When Minho tells Alby there's a dead Griever in the Maze, Alby quickly agrees to investigate it the next day. He pokes the "dead" Griever with his foot. I don't think any other Glader besides him (not even Minho) would poke a Griever. The Gladers are completely scared of the Grievers, but Alby believes it is important and he pokes the Griever in order to double check that Grievers can actually die (They actually can, but this particular one wasn't really dead). Alby makes decisions in a quick and rational manor in order to get things done in a time efficient manner (except after he goes through the Changing). An example of this is when Teresa first arrives in the Glade. He takes the situation very seriously and questions Thomas on whether he knows her or not. He doesn't spend a lot of time on questioning Thomas, because he figures that's a waste of time (because Thomas isn't answering all that well) and he orders the Med-jacks to take Teresa in their care. He also tells the many excited and hormonal teenage boys not to touch her. This shows that he cares a lot about people, even people he doesn't even know. There are many hints he is a caring person throughout The Maze Runner, but the biggest event that shows how much he really cares a lot about others is the time he saves Newt. In The Death Cure, as Crank Newt is begging for his death, he tells Thomas the story of how he really got his limp: After Newt climbs up one of the Walls inside the Maze, throws himself from the side, and lands on the ground, he is somehow still alive. Alby finds him and drags him all the way back to the Glade, most likely going against orders to save his friend (Guessing that Alby was a Runner at this point, because Alby would've not gone into the Maze with Minho if he wasn't: Runners had to map their sections then immediately come back). Alby cares a lot about Newt and about his fellow Gladers. He wants to ensure that everyone's lives are safe and they escape the Maze. Well, until he goes through the Changing. After he goes through the Changing, you can tell he still cares a lot, because he doesn't want the Gladers to face the horrors of the real world. He believes it is preferable to be killed by the Grievers than to face what's outside the Maze. Even though Alby may not always show it, but he has many different sides to him: He has a fearless and efficient leader side and he has a caring guardian side.

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The Maze Runner Series is full of complex characters. I can't even begin to comprehend people who don't believe the characters are complex. They are extremely complex. All the characters in the Maze Runner series have many different sides to their personalities. Shuck it, even the "Rose took my nose" Crank has many different sides to his personality (We know he likes to eat noses, but the words "Rose took my nose, I suppose." sounds like a nursery rhyme. He probably was a father or an uncle or another family figure before the Flare took him over). Even the smallest characters can have complex personalities. Not all characters need an entire book in order to portray their personality. The personalities Gally, Teresa, and Alby were portrayed through the writing of James Dashner quite well. They are complex and different from every single other character in The Maze Runner Series. People who read the series probably perceive the characters as simple, because they are reading from the perspective of Thomas, the main character. Thomas is an introvert (You can tell by the way he complains about not getting enough alone time and the way he runs off to the Deadheads to hide from his problems), so he won't naturally be able to perceive other people's personalities as well. Since the readers are in the perspective of Thomas, probably the most clueless character in the entire series, they won't be able to look through other character's perspectives unless they look closer at the series. The most subtle of hints can give away an entire character's personality. Figuring out a character's personality is like finding the Code to the Maze, you have to put the small facts and ideas together to come to a conclusion. That conclusion will help you escape the Maze of "flat" characters and go into the real world of discovering round characters. Sometimes the key to solving the character's personalities is right in front of you and "maybe you should just push that button." - Chuck (The Maze Runner, Page 346)

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