The Maze Runner And Lord of the Flies Peter Sutherland-Finch

Theme/Setting

The theme in Lord of the Flies have many similarities with theme from the Maze Runner. Both books take a group of young boys and put them in a dire situation with very minimal supplies. Giving that in the maze runner their is one girl and other small details the theme is a perfect parallel to one another. The idea of a group of boys stranded with out any rules or regulations or adult supervision, proves to be an interesting tale to say. In Lord of the flies the boys experience a traumatic plane crash that leaves them stranded on a excluded island, these boys begin to lose their "minds" so to say when they start to believe they were stuck there. These boys at first try to act civil to survive as a group, but as time went on the boys begun to use their basic instincts to survive. Golding wanted the reader to feel uncomfortable knowing that deep down everyone can be "pushed" to this point. While in the Maze runner Dashner wanted the reader to root for Thomas and Teresa to survive and make it through. Both authors took a similar concept of boys being stranded in a secluded area that looks as if their is no escape but to at the end to be rescued or escape their torture.

Characters

Thomas and Ralph

Both are the main characters of their stories. Thomas is the strong will thinks on his own and who is a natural leader. Ralph shares that trait and they both use it to their advantage when they are found in their new environment. Both boys rise to power just to lose their power towards the end of the book. The only difference is that Thomas was able to win back everyone and lead them to escaping the maze. While Ralph and the boys were found at the end of the book.

Chuck and Piggy

Chuck is the overweight kid who doesn't really fit in anywhere. He is found pushed around a lot and not really able to speak his mind. Piggy fits in the same way the only thing he has going for him is his glasses. Even tho its not a physical or mental trait he is able to provide its still something. Both boys are the bottom of the food chain in their scenarios which eventually leads to them both dying by the “villain” of their groups. Even though roger did kill piggy it was ultimately Jack's fault because of his actions leading up to it.

Gally and Jack

Gally is the strong willed bully of a leader. He is often found using his size and stubbornness to pray upon the "weaker" kids of the groups. Jack like Gally uses crude language and his size against the other kids in order to have power. Thus making him the bully/villain of the group. These two throughout their books kept pushing the main characters around and trying to either take their power or keep the power power. Their actions ultimately lead to the killings of minor characters including the Chuck/piggy characters at the end of the novels.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

In the Stanford prison experiment we see what the abuse of power can do to a group of young individuals. Like lord of the flies the people who were in charge (The Officers) were quick to show their power. After only a few short days the officers began to really use the power they posses over the prisoners to their own agendas. They often would use different tactics to sleep deprive and torturer the prisoners. They were seen and heard lying to the prisoners in order to install fear in the prisoners. Very similar to how jack uses fear to control the boys in lord of the flies. This experiment also shows how cruel people can be when put in the position of power just like how lord of the flies illustrates.

Credits:

Created with images by Julia Velkova - "Islands"

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