Why So Many People Missed the Point of the Maze Runner Trilogy

[@wilhelm-z4t]

First of all, props for trying to enlighten the TMR masses! Too many viewers of TMR have only a superficial understanding of the trilogy, and that's okay, but there's so much more to TMR than a simple action-adventure story. If that's all you're taking away from it, you're only realising a fraction of the potential enjoyment. The main theme of the trilogy asks: Is it "right" to sacrifice the few to save the many? Mutatis mutandis, do the ends justify the means? Either formulation amounts to the same thing and undergirds WCKD's actions vis-a-vis the immunes and non-immunes. "The ends justify the means" is a principle often associated with totalitarianism, and the phrase has its origin with Machiavelli, although the idea is much older. The principle is part and parcel of consequentialism, a teleological theory that says whether an action is morally good or bad depends on its outcomes. The more good outcomes outnumber the bad, the better/more moral the action. Under this rubric if WCKD finds a cure, then WCKD is very good, indeed. It's clearly rooted in Utilitarianism. Teresa/WCKD adhere to this end-means principle rigidly. This principle is, unfortunately, a too common belief today. It allows people to believe their actions are justified regardless of how they go about achieving their desired end result, opening the door to all sorts of aberrant behaviors. Since they are dealing with an end of very great significance, Teresa/WCKD feel anything goes when it comes to "how" the end is achieved. Teresa/WCKD are totally ruthless in their pursuit of a cure. Thomas, on the other hand, believes that the means are just as important, or, maybe, even more important than the end. His viewpoint is if the means are morally objectionable in themselves, then this outweighs any potential benefit from the end. In other words, the "how" is just as important as the "why" in his calculus. Thomas, just like WCKD, wants to find a cure to the Flare, he's only opposed to how WCKD does it. Thomas is more than willing to sacrifice himself to obtain a cure and save humanity. He's not willing, however, to sacrifice the unwilling. Theresa's/WCKD's morality is relativistic and man-centric, whereas Thomas' morality is based on absolute principles and God-centric. Even so, the trilogy challenges both WCKD's and Thomas' perspective, and makes us wonder which interpretation is "right." I'm reminded of Pilate when he said: "What is truth?" We have man's truth, and we have God's Truth. This is the crux of the conflict between Teresa/WCKD and Thomas over how best to find a cure. There are many parallels between Teresa and Thomas. They both were highly placed in WCKD. Both were the most intelligent and ableist of WCKD's immunes. Both medical doctors/scientists. Both were betrayers and, ultimately, both were tragic heroes. Teresa's epiphany came when Jansen detailed his selfish plans for Thomas. Thomas wouldn't be cure for all but for the select few. This was contrary to Teresa and WCKD's objective. At that point, Teresa turned on Jansen and intended to free Thomas. Teresa's raison d'etre had always been both to find a cure and to make it available to everyone. She does belatedly admit the cure belongs to Thomas, but we know Thomas wants to make it available to all. Because Thomas is the cure, Teresa works to save Thomas, which is consistent with her long-standing objective, even if it means her death, and that's what happens. Like Thomas, Teresa is a tragic hero. Teresa was wedded to WCKD. Ultimately, her fate mirrored WCKD's fate. A considerable amount of time passes, and Thomas has just recovered from his, frankly, very life-threatening wound. Amazingly, the bad guy actually had hit his target! Thomas is going to leave Safe Haven, find whatever site to which WCKD evacuated and present himself as the cure. Newt says in his letter "[t]he future is in your hands now, Tommy, and I know you'll find a way to do what's right. You always have." Thomas looks at the vial, and then at the ship. It's clear what he's thinking and what he's going to do. This ending is consistent with the notion of the "monomyth." It's also another parallel. It parallels Thomas leaving the Glade to rescue Alby and Minho. It seems incredible but heroic stories often follow the same basic pattern. In his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," Joseph Campbell, distilled the world's myths into a common structure which he called the monomyth or hero's journey. It's very concisely summarized as follows: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. That's the "Maze Runner" film saga in a nutshell with Thomas and his blood as the "boon." In addition to the main theme, there are various subthemes in TMR. These include growing-up, chaos v. order, memory and identity, friendship/love of others, selfishness v. selflessness, loyalty v. disloyalty, self-sacrifice v. self-preservation, man v. nature, how different people react to the unknown, mazes as an allegory for life's many twists and turns, curiosity v. apathy, groupthink v. individual initiative etc. TMR saga is very surprising deep and very adult.

[@E.S.2006]

That is what I thought too. However, I still think that if one reads all five books, it gets even harder to decide what is right. I don‘t like what they did to Theresa though. In the books, it is unclear if she ever did betray him and the others in the same way as shown in the movies. In fact, if one reads the kill order, one understands why she does what she does. One empathises with her.

[@wilhelm-z4t]

@@E.S.2006 Both the books and the films, I think, are primarily based on four things: The "Theseus and the Minotaur" myth, the myth that the newly dead drank from the river Lethe and forgot their past existence (the test subjects are sort of the walking-dead), "The Lord of the Flies" novel, and the WW II Nazi human experimentation programme. Whatever Teresa's individual motivation may be, she was effectively working for Nazis in the films. It's hard to imagine, off-hand, but I suppose there might have been good people who were well-intentioned working for or with the Nazis, but the mere fact they were associated with the Nazis taints them and everything they did. Although perhaps unfair, there's that transferred guilt, guilt by association. The mode of experimentation WCKD followed is minimally unethical because, with the exception of Thomas and Teresa, participation was involuntary. Personally, I find it difficult to sympathise with her as portrayed in the films. As an aside, I'm happy the books and the films differ. The films are classic Greek tragedy a la Aristotle's "Poetics." The film trilogy doesn't end happily with the boy getting the girl or what-not. No, the trilogy ends tragically. Thomas, in the films, is not merely heroic, he's tragic heroic. The films are very adult. The books, although actually darker in some ways than the films, are more action-adventure with a love-triangle and a happy ending. WCKD/Dr. Paige actually redeem themselves at the end in the books. It's YA fare. They're certainly enjoyable for what they are, but I like the films better.

[@E.S.2006]

I agree with you on the possible inspiration. I still can understand Theresa. She has lost two familys to the virus, after that her life at wicked got better. She had that comparison. The other kids however, did not have that. They knew, that just because one life contains more safty, it does not mean it is better if you have to live it by force. Newts Parents for example got killed infront of him so he and his sister could be taken in. He lost his family because of them. What they did became worse over time. It might have been morally grey at the beginning. But from the point they deleted the kid’s memorys, their actions were wrong. I also agree, that I like that the movie version is different. But I would‘nt say, the books ending is happy. Both endings are far from happy. In both versions Thomas ends traumatized and maybe tired of life and running and fighting. And don‘t forget, that in the books, we don‘t know if Thomas is actually the cure. He would have been killed to find out more about his brain and to possibly find a cure from the results. He even asked himself, if dying would be better then life at this point. The discussion with you

[@E.S.2006]

I forgot to metion, that for human survival, wicked could have protected the imunes and taught them all that was neccesary instead of sacraficing them. It is questionable, if that would have been sacraficing the not imune people.

[@wilhelm-z4t]

@@E.S.2006 As I recall, the books at least imply Thomas and Brenda live happily-ever-after together and all the survivors have a new home at wherever they were teleported to. The film trilogy ends completely differently. My interest is primarily in what happens in the film trilogy, which I prefer to the books, and which take place in a universe different than the books. What happens in the books can be used to complement the films but not supplant anything in them. Our different opinions are probably just a matter of taste, I suppose.