14/10/12
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
36-75

1) This section of the book begins with Thomas getting woken up by one of the leaders of the Glade, Newt. Newt shows Thomas one of the creatures that stalks the maze at night. Its a terrible creature that would make you sorry for being locked out at night. After this, Alby, the other Glade leader, starts a tour with of the Glade with Thomas. There is a farm where pigs, cows etc. are kept, taken care of, and slaughtered. There is a garden in another corner of the huge square courtyard, where many different plants/vegetables are grown and harvested. In another corner there is Homestead, a rickety and musty living quarters. In the final corner is Deadheads, a thick expanse of trees, where Alby said there was a cemetery. This sparked curiosity in Thomas. After the tour was over, and Alby had made his point about never going into the maze, Thomas wandered around exploring. Later that day, an alarm sounded. It caused confusion because it was a signal that another new person was coming in the elevator, and it normally happened monthly, not daily. Also, the person inside was a girl, which never happened. She appeared dead, but woke up saying that everything was going to change. A note in her hand also said that she was the last one to come. Ever. This created a state of confusion throughout the Glade, and the girl was put in the Homestead for safety and recovery. Even later, Thomas chose to explore Deadheads when he saw a mechanical mouse scurry into it. He lost the mouse, but then heard sounds and thought something was following him. It turned out Ben, a boy that had been stung by a Griever, a very terrible thing, was following him. Ben attacked Thomas because the sting made him very sick and crazy, and when Thomas was just about to be killed, Alby turned up and killed Ben. If he didn't, Ben would've murdered Thomas.

2) "Then she spoke one sentence-her voice hollow and haunted, but clear. 'Everything is going to change.' Thomas stared in wonder as her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell back to the ground. Her right fist shot into the air as she landed, staying rigid after she grew still, pointing toward the sky. Clutched in her hand was a wadded piece of paper. Thomas tried to swallow but his mouth was too dry. Newt ran forward and pulled her fingers apart, grabbing the paper. With shaking hands he unfolded it, then dropped to his knees, spreading out the note on the ground. Thomas moved up behind him to get a look. Scrawled across the paper in thick black letters were five words: Shes' the last one. Ever" (Dashner, 57). I chose this quote because it was a very climatic point in this story. Nothing incredibly exciting had happened yet until this girl just happened to show up. Except she didn't just show up. Her arrival was planned by whoever is controlling the Glade. There were three reasons that this occurrence was very weird, interesting, and relevant. The first one is that she is a girl. Every single person that has come from the Box was a boy, until this day. Secondly, the timing of her arrival was odd. Generally, there is a difference of one month between the times that people come from the Box. This time, instead of a month, there is a day's difference. Never has the new person been a girl, came a day after the previous individual, or said the things that she did. My third point is that not only did the girl arrive earlier than expected, she arrived in a manner that was almost frightening. She appeared dead at first, but then when Alby and Newt got her out of the box and laid her down, she immediately sat up and uttered the haunting words, "Everything is going to change." She then laid down and her hand shot up, her fist clutching a note that read: She is the last one. Ever. With the information entailed with this strange girl's arrival, one can draw that something will happen soon, probably involving the girl, and probably Thomas. Because Thomas and the girl arrived so closely together, you can guess that they are connected somehow, and will both be a big part of the plot through the rest of the book.

3) My connections to this section of the text are very sparse. I cannot find anything that really relates to my life. This story is completely fiction. It is not even realistic fiction, so it is very hard to find anything that can be considered a connection. The only thing that I can distantly think of that could be considered a connection between me and this story is the curiosity of Thomas. He follow a mechanical rat, called a Beetle Blade, that is used to keep an eye on the boys, into Deadheads. Like the old saying, "Curiosity killed the cat," Thomas is attacked by Ben and almost died because he was curious and wandered to a secluded enough place. I consider myself to be very curious when it comes to certain things, and sometimes my curiosity is blind. Not to life-threatening situations, but enough that I learn my lesson.