Running from the world of reality into the maze of survival

Warning! ⚠️ There will be some spoilers further on!

You've all at least heard of "The Maze Runner", right? Be it the book or the movie, an iconic gem of creativity and imagination has sparked obsession in many fans, due to its intense, unique story. Walk with me as we tour the maze to find out how the novel and movie correlate, what changes were made for the adaptation, and the techniques that were used for this transition. But before we do that, here's some insight to the author and creator of the action-packed saga.

James Dashner

James Dashner is an American author who specializes in speculative fiction written for young adults and children, famous for the 5-book series "The Maze Runner" and "The 13th Reality".

He won the Whitney Award for Best Youth Fiction in 2008 for "The 13th Reality", The ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults for "The Maze Runner" in 2012, as well as the Young Reader's choice award, intermediate grades, for "The Maze Runner" in 2013.

His most popular book, The Maze Runner, reached a shocking 100 weeks staying on the New York Times Bestseller list for Children's series in 2014, right after the motion picture film adaption release.

Let's jump right into the synopsis for both the book and the film!

Thomas, a teenage boy, arrives in a giant area called the Glade, surrounded by a gargantuan maze with doors that close and walls that move at night, creating new paths every day. Since the first boy was sent up 2 years before him, there has been no answer to their escape out of the mysterious maze.

Beyond the walls lie deadly creatures known as Grievers, killing (stinging) anyone in sight. When Thomas finds himself in an intense situation stuck in the maze with the Grievers, he uncovers clues that could lead the group home, leading to him earning newfound trust and respect from other gladers as well as his promotion to be a runner (specially-appointed patrols who try to find a way out the maze by running it every single day.)

After many challenges and sacrifices, he finally manages to lead the group out to the unknown world.

A monstrous griever

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What are the differences in the book and the movie?

As someone who has read the book and watched the movie twice, I can safely say that there are many major changes that were made during the adaptation, which I assume were to make the plot more realistic. Here are a few that I found and some reasons I suspect:

• Their "code" of escape was completely different: In the book, words that were spelled out by the maze were used as the code essential for their escape, but was changed to the order of changing sections in the movie. This may have been because the solving of the code would have taken much longer to solve and requires the mapping of the maze everyday, which seems cumbersome as storing so many papers in a small shack (instead of an underground cabin like in the novel) is a tad bit problematic.

• How they found the exit and its appearance was different: Thomas and Minho came across the exit by accident when outrunning Grievers in the book, which was a camouflaged illusion of a box/tunnel suspended over a cliff. As this would be kind of fantasy-like for the movie, the Griever hole was changed to a high-tech circular door. Instead of finding it by accident, Thomas uses a part of a griever he killed to locate it.

• Teresa isn't comatose in the movie: The comatose state Teresa, the only girl in the glade, was in the book did not happen in the film. This may also be due to the removal of her and Thomas' telepathic ability, which is kind of unrealistic for the movie, and personally, it would have been strange to communicate over voice-over were it been in the movie.

• The series of events leading up to the escape are more chaotic and less sequential: In the novel, Teresa apparently unintentionally triggered a series of events called The Ending that led to the disappearance of the Sun and the maze doors not closing; the Grievers only take one boy a night. This would have caused a slight stray of the main plot and a longer movie altogether, therefore the producers have condensed the battle and went with a head on war of the Grievers with the gladers in order to prevent more deaths later on during the exit. I also believe that the disappearance of the sun and the fact that the entire sky is an illusion were also a good choice to pull out for the adaptation.

The grievers attack the gladers!

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So how do the changes in the movie make it on par with the novel?

We all know the intensity and excitement we feel from reading a book, as well as that of watching a movie, particularly those stories with key elements and themes of survival, namely "The Hunger Games", "The Giver", "Holes", as well as "The Life of Pi". And of course, we must not forget "The Maze Runner". But how do they entice the readers/watchers

and get their hearts pumping? In order to do that, we'll have to analyse the techniques used in both pieces of work.

Novel

Let's check out some of the literary techniques Dashner has implemented in the book:

1. Imagery: This one played a HUGE role in the novel. The entire story is literally based on the imagination of the reader, sort of like having your own movie play out in your head through one's own imagination. Since the plot revolves around the setting, the description of the Glade must be spot on in order for the power of imagery to kick in, and I must say, it has. "They stood in a vast courtyard several times the size of a football field, surrounded by four enormous walls made of gray stone and covered in spots with thick ivy. The walls had to be hundreds of feet high and formed a perfect square around them, each side split in the exact middle by an opening as tall as the walls themselves that, fromwhat Thomas could see, led to passages and long corridors beyond." ~ Chapter 2 You can already imagine yourself in the Glade, with the overwhelming view of walls, the suffocating feeling of being trapped for who knows how long. Dashner uses Thomas to portray those feelings, as well as enlarges them to where the reader can empathize with the characters.
   

2. Consistent innovative use of literary devices: Just read this excerpt: "For several seconds, Thomas felt like the world had frozen in place. A thick silence followed the thunderous rumble of the Door closing, and a veil of darkness seemed to cover the sky, as if even the sun had been frightened away by what lurked in the Maze. Twilight had fallen, and the mammoth walls looked like enormous tombstones in a weed-infested cemetery for giants. Thomas leaned back against the rough rock, overcome by disbelief at what he had just done." ~ Chapter 17 Just from this, I felt the tension and fear of what would come next, distinctly because of the fact that no one has ever survived the maze at night, creating and air of anticipation and mystery. The repeated description of the size of the maze constructs the notion of how inferior Thomas is to the maze, increasing the dreadfulness of the situation, sort of like an ant in a human's home. The vast myriad of devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, as well as others which could take too long to list out.

Movie

While in the novel, there were times where the scene was intensified due to immense creativity in the writing and sparking the readers' imaginations, however, in the movie where the imagination is replaced by actors and backgrounds, which helps build a solid, visual representation of the characters, instead of a loose picture in our minds. Of course, everything in the movie has been set in stone, unlike for the novel, but when the picture we perceive when reading matches with that of the movie, a feeling of satisfaction can emerge.

Let's also explore a few methods used to make the film just as entertaining as its origin novel.

1. Sound effects: In the book, many onomatopoeias were used to accompany the constant described element of motion used throughout. An example would be: "The walls slammed shut behind him, the echo of its boom bouncing off the ivy-covered stone like mad laughter."~ Chapter 16. However, since movies are made of visual action mostly, real sounds replace the onomatopoeias from the novel, making the film seem so much more real, as if you are there with the characters, experiencing the events at the same time. The significance of these are amplified due to the matching of them with the movements and actions that occur in the movie.

2. Music and soundtracks: In accordance with the sound effects and visual effects, background music is often underrated, but they bring out the best in each scene and complement the mood and atmosphere of the film constantly. At intense times, for example, fast-paced minor-keyed music creates a huge impact on the mood of the scene, where the music climaxes towards the peak of action. Take a look at this scene from the film.

The music, slow-motion, silenced background sounds (such as shouting, to make way for the music) work hand-in-hand to produce an extremely tense and adrenaline-packed moment. Here is a link to my friend George's article on music in "The Maze Runner".

3. Use of camera angles and shots:

The constant moving of characters keep the movie going, however, the need for certain angles of them arises for each scene. It solely depends on the type of scene and its respective focus, for instance, a revolving camera shot around Thomas was a wise choice as it focused on displaying the surroundings, which was the centre of attention, while using the shots of characters as a pivot to demonstrate their expressions as well.

Thomas arrives at the Glade

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So, what do I think of the novel and film?

Obviously, I love them both, which was why I picked this story in the first place (¯\_(ツ)_/¯), but I shall rather go into detail about their specific points and what made them a worthwhile read/watch.

As someone who has read all five books in the series, I thought it was seriously, seriously amazing. The fiction doesn't even seem fictitious anymore, more like surreal; as the story captivates its readers, drawing them in to their world of imagination. It definitely made my heart beat and my head pound several times; well, one of the themes being survival, I'd expect no less. Some of the comic relief happened during the telepathic communication, which I also found enticing and unrealistic in a good way. The slow build up of clues and gladers working together to make it out was an element I commend as well, of course this was not possible in the movie due to time restrictions and things unlike the novel, but I think it's what makes the book unique to the movie.

I approve of the movie itself as well; I liked listening to the soundtracks produced for the film. As you have read above, there were many changes made to adapt to the film from the novel which were for the better. The dialogue and interactions of characters were also changed as well; I noticed more informal, modern language being used in the movie to reach out to more teens like myself. The actors were also spectacular (as much as I enjoyed the movies, their bloopers were also hilarious), portraying each character wonderfully, being a physical embodiment of them from the novel. The more high-tech approach to the laboratories compared to the book's more fantastical approach also had a drastic effect. One of my favourite movies by far.

All in all, I really enjoyed working on this project as it is a topic I can really delve into without hesitation. For me, I personally cannot bring myself to compare both entertainment stimuli as I equally relished, but I joined the "Maze Runner" fandom through the novel at first, so I'll have to give props to it for dragging me into its labyrinth of a ride.

What's next?

I have no idea. We'll have to see where the world of modern entertainment and literature takes us. What lies ahead is beyond the maze, after all. The Scorch Trials? The Death cure? Another review? ¯\(°_o)/¯

But for you readers, which one did you enjoy more? Please let me know down in the comments what you thought of them, as well as your own opinion on the book(s) and movie(s)! I'd love to hear what you guys think about the franchise!

Here's some extra information to boost your statistical feed: ಠ‿↼

Novel reviews:

• 4/5 on Goodreads

• 96% liked on Google

• 4.7/5 average audience rating

• 5 books in the series

Movie reviews:

• 6.8/10 on IMDb

• 65% Rotten Tomatoes

• 57% Metacritic

• 95% liked on Google

• 4.6/5 average audience rating

• Movie trilogy

That's all I have for now,

Thank you for checking out and reading my blog post!

~ Jeremy Cheang, Class of 2020 ~

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Sources:

https://www.cinemablend.com/new/10-Big-Differences-Between-Maze-Runner-Book-Movie-67300.html

Photos were taken from google images