In our second book club meeting, my group discussed Chapters 16-40, which contain a large chunk of information. Thomas, Minho, and Alby become the first to survive the maze at night, Teresa wakes up from her coma, the nature of the Glade and the maze begin to change, and Gally commits suicide. The once orderly Glade has now turned into a chaotic mess due to all the sudden changes, and many characters believe Teresa is to blame. Things in The Glade became different from the moment she arrived, and have become even stranger since she woke up from her coma. She seems to know things that no one else does, but doesn't know why she knows them. For example, she wrote "WICKED is good" on her arm soon after she woke up from the coma, but she doesn't have any idea what that could mean. Are her thoughts going to provide crucial information in solving the maze? Could she know so much because she is a Creator? Did the Creators send her to get everyone out? I can't wait to continue reading to see the significance Teresa has!
These chapters showed me that Teresa has an interesting relationship with Thomas. She can speak to him telepathically, which makes me think that they were connected in some way in their previous lives. Additionally, between Thomas's unnatural ability as a Runner and Teresa's inexplicable thoughts, it seems as if the pair of them might solve the maze together. I am building so many theories about these two characters is particular, and it will be interesting to see what plays out as I progress in the book.
Thomas, still as curious as ever, has shown to be someone who puts others before himself. He displays this throughout his night in the maze, beginning with the moment in which he dashed into the maze through the closing wall of The Glade to try to help Minho and Alby. While in the maze, as the Grievers are approaching, he ties Alby high in the vines, which ultimately saves Alby from his death sentence. However, while what Thomas did was extremely courageous, he did break the number one rule of The Glade: Don't go out into the maze unless you are a Runner, and especially when the walls are closing. For this, Thomas was punished, but only for a brief period, and appointed as a Runner. My group and I discussed our opinions on the decision of the Council to punish Thomas, and we all seemed to agree that his one-day jail sentence was appropriate for what he had done.
Also while reading this section of the text, most of us began to make text-to-text connections between The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games. We all agreed that the two books were very similar to each other. In The Maze Runner, there seems to be a group of people that created the maze; in The Hunger Games, a group of people designed the arena in which the Hunger Games were held every year. These creators of the maze seem to control what goes on in there, much like how the creators of the arena control what happens in the arena. In addition, both the arena and the maze contain similarities. Both represent some sort of an alternate universe, meaning that the children in the arena and maze have different lives than those in the arena or the maze. The inhabitants of the arena and the maze are sent supplies to help them stay alive. As I read on, I will be sure to look out for other ways The Maze Runner can be connected to The Hunger Games.
As I begin to dive further and further into the text, I am becoming more captivated and intrigued. I actually want to read an assigned reading book for once, which is saying a lot due to my past experiences with reading (refer to my blog post entitled "My Memory of Language Arts" to learn more). As a future teacher, I will be sure to give my students choice in what they read, as a love of reading begins with allowing students to read about things they are interested in. I hope all you teachers out there adopt this same approach!
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