Reading Response based on the Inquiry
“Where there is power there is resistance” -Michel Foucault
Were you ever a leader of a group or a person in charge? If so, how did you make decisions? Did you make choices based on everyone’s opinion or were you conceited and made decisions that only pleased yourself? Someone in power has the right to resist certain things such as the things people ask for. Clearly, people would not want a leader like this. They would rather want a leader who is selfless and cared more about others. “The Maze Runner”, by James Dashner is an adventurous and suspenseful book to read. He showed the consequences of having quality leaders and careless leaders. I related to this book in many ways, one being that the person in charge always being in stress. James Dashner portrayed that powerful people can often resist in positive and negative ways. However, the author also shows that sometimes it is better just to follow the leader than doing nothing or just giving up.
While reading “The Maze Runner”, leadership was one of the most important factor of surviving in the world showed in the book. The story is about a person named Thomas who wakes up in a lift in the center of a gigantic maze and doesn’t remember any of his past memories. He finds a group of boys who have been surviving for the last two years with their own supplies and food in the glade, where everyone survives. Every morning the people in the glade sends two of the most sturdy boys to solve the maze. However, they come back before it gets dark knowing that every night the doors to the maze close and creatures known as 'grievers' terrorize those who are stuck inside. Throughout this book, the author demonstrates the importance of leadership and how the thoughts and actions of characters can show the tension of power and resistance.
After Thomas’s first few days in the glade, he gets really interested with his surroundings. When he learns about the appointed runners, who try to find out a solution to the maze, he thinks about becoming a runner as well. He tries asking the people around him about becoming a runner and exploring the maze. However, they dismiss the idea and tells him that he has no chance of making it through it. They say that he would need to have the abilities to become a runner such as speed and the ability to be clever and figure things out. However, Thomas keeps resisting and saying that he would be able to do it. The risk of death does not scare him at all. Alby, a person from the Gladers, told Thomas, “Freak, that’s the Number One Rule, the only one you’ll never be forgiven for breaking. Ain’t nobody- nobody- allowed in the Maze except the Runners. Break that rule, and if you ain’t killed by the Grievers, we’ll kill you ourselves, you get me?” ” (Page 46) Clearly, Alby is just trying to be a good leader by creating this kind of rule. He is actually trying to prevent people from dying. He has had a lot of experience and is saying this for everyone’s own good. With this kind of leadership, almost anyone would be able to survive. However, Thomas’s resistance also shows his part in power. He is determined about finding a way out of the maze. He believes that he could help everyone out of this mess if he at least tries to help. Many people can connect to this because once they realize that their leader is right but mostly wrong at the same time, they can step in and help.
Some people want power for greed. They act kind on the outside but in the inside, their minds set up what they want once they have power. They would start resisting everyone. They would satisfy themselves by doing only what they want. In fact, some people would go to any extent to get their wants rather than needs.
Moving along the story, the leaders change as the other one isn’t capable of holding up anymore. Another leader replaces the recent one. This usually happens after the Gladers have seen what their leaders are capable of, usually dealing with tough situations and being strong. For instance, most people inside the maze lost hope of getting out and instead of trying to do anything about it they worked on securing food and shelter inside the safe area of the maze. Fortunately, Thomas decided to challenge the rules and find an escape route but he faced severe resistance from Gally the assigned leader of the pack. However, one day Alby and Newt, the second person in charge, were in the maze and they were injured. They were a hundred feet away from the closing walls and were trying to reach to it before they closed, obviously not wanting to stay with the Grievers all night. Thomas as empathetic as always wanted to help them, but he couldn’t go past the walls, or else that would be breaking the rules. But then he made up his mind at the last second and slipped through the walls right before they closed. Clearly, Thomas was brave enough to go past the walls when no one else did. He even broke the rules without noticing it. His emotions took over his mind which would have told him not to pass the walls. Alternatively, doing things in the right time can be enough to help someone. Thomas resisted the rules and took power over himself, which is sometimes necessary in life. His brilliant attitude shows that resistance can be used in a positive way, if not a negative way. Moreover, Thomas shows that no one has to give us power or always tell us to do certain things. Our instincts would tell us what to do and that’s what really matters. People do not always have to have knowledge about something in order to do it. With our basic knowledge we could do anything.
Speaking of knowledge, knowledge is one of the most important things mentioned in “The Maze Runner”. It can be applied to our life skills by preventing us from being taken advantage of. By educating ourselves and learning to avoid mistakes of others, we can avoid situations where others have power over us. Knowledge teach us to be aware of the world. By learning how to fight, we can defend ourselves when it is needed. By learning how the world works, we can face it without having to go through any hard situations.
Moreover, before Thomas even came he knew nothing about the Glade or how anything works there. He was clueless to everything and believed that the people already in the Glade would know more than him. He kept asking them questions such as “Who sent me here” or “Where am I”. (Page 8 and 11) This is an example of the connection between knowledge and power. It also shows how powerless he seemed compared to all the other Gladers. Afterwards, Thomas even resisted to Alby by not shaking his hand because he did not trust them. He only wanted answers. Many people can relate to this because if they were clueless about something then clearly they would want answers to their questions more than anything. People would even resist to try to get their answers.
All in all, the author showcases the tension of power and resistance with many details, actions and thoughts. At the beginning, Thomas starts out as a clueless and powerless boy. However, by the end of the book, many people would have died without his valiant actions. Many people can connect to the actions made by Thomas or any other characters in the book. This book can impact people in many ways if they don’t relate to it anyhow. It can change the way they think about the world by showing them more about power and resistance. Sometimes people think that knowing more than someone else makes them superior than others. Sometimes people take knowledge the “wrong way”. They think that since they know more about something they also have power. They think that since they have more power, they can resist things that others cannot. In the book, people sometimes take things way too far. They become conceited. There are a lot of situations in this book that symbolizes these kind of things. A common thread between all these examples is knowledge. In this world, intelligent people have a better chance in passing through difficult obstacles because they know what to do and they just have more knowledge. There are also some people like Thomas, who later learns more about the ‘new world’. People like Thomas have power and resists certain things but only because of the good for everyone. These kinds of people are caring and thoughtful about others. Although, being the leader can be fun, people take advantages of it by doing wrong things. A leader isn’t someone who who is just smart, they should have feelings too. That leader is one of a kind where everyone can strive with and can love.
