Character Development and Interactions in the Scorch Trials

In both the real world, and in most good fiction books, characters are shaped by the society they live in. This is a central theme in the Scorch Trials, by James Dashner. Although the book starts off with only 20 known characters who are going through a set of dangerous "trials", the group of children is able to come together and organize themselves to survive the ordeals. From the 50 characters who were placed in the Maze from the last book in the series, only 20 were able to survive. They were then removed from this and after one day of rest were placed in a second test of survival, an enormous flat dessert that gives the book its title.

Readers only get to know three main characters well; Thomas, Newt, and Minho. These three make most of the decisions and are respected by the rest of the boys. In the Maze, despite their young ages, the boys immediately form an organized society when placed in difficult situations. Each person has a job and a set of laws is made. This social structure withers away as soon as they are rescued and given their next task: to cross a 100 mile long scorching hot dessert.

The author, James Dashner, provides readers with several clues as to why this happens. First of all, the characters now know that they are part of a huge experiment, and have started to believe that their fate is pre-determined by the organization that designed the trials. As they are told at the start of the trials, "There are no rules. There are no guidelines... go one hundred miles north and make it to the safe haven" (Dashner, 60). Unlike in the maze, the objective has now been clearly spelled out. By doing this, the determination that the characters used to have has gone away, replaced with the feeling that they are going to perish anyway so they might as well not try to escape.

At the end of the book, I predict that at least some of the characters will manage to get out alive- how else would the author write the third book in the series?

The Characters of the Scorch Trials

Anyone who's read the Maze Runner knows plot is one of James Dashner's strong points. There are so many twists, turns, and complications that what you think you know one moment could be turned completely upside down the next. But with all of this story line planning it seems that some of the characters may have been forgotten behind. Indeed, many of the characters in the Scorch Trials lack the kind of depth experienced readers may expect, but they do each have distinct personalities. Rather than simply live, the function of each of the characters is to propel the story forward, and to do so the cast of characters one encounters while reading the Maze Runner series tends to be pretty large.

All together, a reader encounters the existence of more than 200 characters, but how many do we really get to know? Somewhere around 5 or 10. It becomes clear pretty quickly that each of these main characters are built around a specific idea, and they tend to stick to it. Only the main character, Thomas, is the lucky individual who is allowed to go through serious change.

Picking up right after the end of the Maze Runner (here is the Wikipedia version in case you've never read the book), we find ourselves among the few boys who survived the ordeals of the Maze. James Dashner quite literally stamps a description on each of their backs so that new readers won't be completely lost- each of the boys finds an identification number and descriptor that explains their role in WICKED's great experiment. That doesn't mean these descriptions are completely accurate though; they are just what the government members believed they saw in each one of the boys.

Immediately, things clear up when it comes to decide what to do. The survivors from the Maze find themselves starving in a room with people on the other side who have contracted a dangerous disease that virtually turns them into monsters. Each of the three main characters who are still alive, Thomas, Minho, and Newt, each want to turn to a very different course of action. The book explains that Thomas thought, "Maybe that door was locked for a reason... something felt wrong with this," (Dashner, 30) Thomas is the voice of reason in difficult times and wants to calmly think of the proper course of action. Minho on the other hand likes to act first and think later. As stated in Chapter 3, Minho wants to quickly find out what lies behind the room: "...they had to go out there and find some answers... 'I'll go first Minho said', and without waiting for a response he walked through the open door, his body vanishing in the gloom almost instantly," (Dashner, 31). Finally, Newt is a natural leader and takes command when encountering difficult situations. When the group finds that a new boy has mysteriously replaced a fellow Glader named Teresa, he is the first one to investigate what happened. Over all, the majority of the characters so far are round but fairly static.

As a final (off topic) note, this is the first time I am reading an e-book, which feels very different than having a physical copy in your hands. What do you prefer to read?

Starting a new book- the Scorch Trials

I recently started a new book, the Scorch Trials (sequel to the Maze Runner). I didn't really think that it would be the greatest book ever but I felt obligated to know more about the series than the online summary after reading the first book. Let's see if James Dashner has managed to make the Scorch Trials innovative with plot twists and character revelations that will make it unpredictable. It seems that every science fiction novel, save a few good ones, seems to follow a similar dystopian plot that drag readers into a similar formula.

((cliche flawed characters whose entire story can be described by one adjective) + (future that consists of an all powerful government) + (decomposed version of the US) - (any technological advancement) + (author who is writing a book for the first time))/(revolution and restructuring of society at the end of the book/series)) = 90% of science fiction novels published in the last five years

In fact, I still doubt that the Scorch Trials will divert from this at all. But why am I still reading it? It's like watching half a movie and then stopping and moving to do something else. (actually, as I recall, that did happen today). You only know part of the plot and you're just getting to know the characters- and then suddenly you are pulled out of the fictional universe and back into the real world. Reading the sequel to the Maze Runner will also let me know whether James Dashner had grand story arc planned for his entire narrative or did not know he would write a sequel until the Maze Runner became popular. I think it's going to be the second one.

As I just start the story, I know what to expect which is not very much- but hopefully my expectations will be exceeded. Anyway, the beginning is not all that promising. The "gladers" find themselves back in the actual world, next to a group of people who have just saved them and are now very sick. The Maze is a thing of the past... and now comes a massive desert. Honestly, could the author have been any less original? As far as I can see at the moment is like "The Maze Runner: level 2". (remarkably similar to the second hunger games book which for some reason is very well liked) According to an Amazon reviewer, "There are unexpected twists and turns in every chapter." I'm now on chapter 5 and I have yet to stumble upon a single turn I did not expect. The plot so far seems more like a ride on a train than a roller coaster. Maybe you shouldn't trust the Amazon reviews; probably a good number of them didn't even read the book. Switching out a few characters and changing the setting but keeping the plot the same does not seem very original to me.

First Third Trimester Blog Post

Honors English 1b has arrived- which means new blog posts. I have not yet started on a new book, so in this post I will share some information about one of my favorite books from first trimester. This was Volume 1 in the Octavian Nothing series; the Pox Party. The author, M.T. Anderson diverges from his usual science fiction writing in this book and instead turns to historical fiction. Set in the revolutionary war era Boston, Octavian Nothing is a masterpiece in terms of historical accuracy. Grammar and writing conventions seem believable but not so much so that they are unreadable. It is the story of Octavian, a 15 year old African American , boy who is the unknowing centerpiece of a massive social experiment. He grows up in a mansion with dozens of scientists and philosophers funded by an old man named Mr. Gitney. Octavian is taught latin and can play the violin. He learns classical philosophy and is treated like a king. At the same time, he does not know the reality of his position. He is a slave of Mr. Gitney, who is attempting to prove that with education, Octavian can be as intelligent as any European child. As funding runs out, Mr. Gitney has to scramble for money- but can only find it in a curious man named Dr. Sharpe. Sharpe's motives undermine Octavian's good life and force him to do brutal work and ban his education. Eventually Octavian escapes, at which point the entire narrative unfolds. You can read more about the plot here.

As I explained above, one of the best parts of this book is how real everything seems. Part of the story has been "compiled" from Octavian's own accounts, while letters from other main characters make up an entire section of the book. As Octavian finds out his true fate, he is overwhelmed with emotion and torn pages and scratched out words help create the mood. Finally, advertisements and war posters create an atmosphere that makes the story seem right in place with its setting. Some in fact were revealed to be actual posters from the 1700s. Unlike many recent books, the reader is not bored with one single plot that seems to surround a single character. There are several important characters whose own stories are explored within the longer plot, and hints about previous mysteries in the book keep the reader interested. Although not all loose ends were tied up in the end, a sequel gives readers another chance to meet new characters while remaining under the same basic premise. As M.T. Anderson explains in his note at the end of the book, in a perfect world there would be a third book where all the characters come together and live happily ever after- but we do not live in the perfect world, and some of the best characters end up in bad situations at the end of the book. The Pox Party ends on a sad note- but leaves hope for the future.

"And he finished, in a voice not of 

defiance, but suffused with realization:

I am no one. I am not a man. I am nothing."

(Anderson, 231)

More about Feed

I have now progressed in Feed, by MT Anderson, and gotten to know more about Titus and his friends. Unfortunately, the book did not completely live up to my expectations, but is still enjoyable to read. The main idea of Feed, is present throughout the story (which is a futuristic/satirical/dystopian novel that focuses on a "feed" in the brain that controls the characters' ways of life, turning them into foolish and illogical consumers). The language of the book, though, is unconventional. Unlike other science fiction books, it uses futuristic language to show how simple the characters' thinking patterns have become. For example, instead of saying that "the trip to the moon wasn't fun" a character might say "the moon like turned out to like be meg mal". This adds depth to the story, but gets annoying after only a few pages.

The main character in Feed is Titus, a teenager who represents what America has become. He goes to School™, yet cannot read. Titus is educated by corporate interests that tell students how to spend "wisely". He and his group of friends stand no chance to peer pressure, doing whatever is supposed to be cool at the moment. After meeting a girl named Violet who is trying to resist the feed, Titus realizes just how dull he has become. Titus subconsciously wants to change himself for the better, but is unable to with the sheer amount of advertising and propaganda that is thrown at him.

On the other hand, Violet is trying to actively resist the feed. She goes to hundreds of stores asking for random items, so she would be characterized "in a customer profile that just doesn't exist". Her efforts do not seem to be bringing about any kind of major change to society, but show how hopeless the situation is. With her father being a professor of ancient languages (modern programming languages), she has a very different view of the feed than most other people. Her father cannot afford an implanted feed, and talks in such a way that the feed will not understand him.

More than to advance a specific plot, the characters in feed represent a society saturated in perpetual product cravings. I look forward to figuring out more of the story.        

Books I Want to Read

Recently, I've been posting many repetitive posts about theme, characters, and analysis, so this post will be about new books that I want to read. If you think of any more good books, write them in the comments section.

Book 1: The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner

At the end of the Maze Runner by James Dashner, (highlight for spoilers),the boys trapped in the Maze realized that it was created by a governmental organization to find people immune to the Flare. Thomas' friend is killed, and the boys believe that they have been rescued.The ending left many things unresolved and kept the reader in suspense. Hopefully The Scorch Trials will provide some answers as to the creation of the Maze and how Thomas is connected with it.





Book 2: Divergent, by Veronica Roth

 I seem to be the only person who hasn't read this series now, and although I know I am unlikely to think it is a well written book, I probably should read it anyway before having any opinions on the story. To me, the story sounds like it has a dystopian hunger games like setting with characters similar to most other young adult novels. I generally have a very negative opinion of most of the books in the current wave of dystopian fiction novels (which lack a logical or consistent plot, and contain unoriginal shallow characters), but maybe this book will not be as bad as it sounds. In any case, I don't want to be the only one who hasn't read this series.

Book 3: Gone, by Michael Grant

Another fairly popular book, Gone seems to have an interesting concept. Everyone over the age of 15 suddenly disappears from a small town in California.Chaos rules over the children who don't know what happened. The descriptions I have read of it so far though are vague, so the I do not know exactly what happens in the book.

Feed

This week, I read the first few pages of Feed, by M.T. Anderson. The title is very ambiguous, so the first thing you should know that this book is not about the production of food for farm animals or giving meals to young children. It is a satirical science fiction novel about a group of people who live far in the future. They all have "feeds" programmed in their minds, giving them information, propaganda, and advertisements. During a completely "normal" trip to the moon, the main character, Titus, has to learn how to live without the feed and resist its control over human thoughts. Published in 2002, the novel predicts a future frighteningly similar to the technological advances we can see today. Google glass may be the forerunner of the omnipotent feed, turned to nefarious purposes by powerful entities. Of course, that will hopefully never happen.

 I have read two other books by M.T. Anderson before, both about a boy named Octavian. (Their actual titles are remarkably long) Unfortunately, this meant that I had only experienced M.T. Anderson write in eloquent but ornamented 18th century English, and I was very surprised when the main character of feed talked with deliberately incorrect grammar and used the word "like" in about every other sentence.

I immediately noticed a text to world connection as I started reading. The "feed" in the book is very similar to a modern day technology such as Google glass. It can give the characters information and suggestions, and is filled with advertising. Soon enough, advertisers will probably figure out how to send location based ads to peoples' smart glasses telling the user, "turn right to find our amazing business which 6 of your friends have recommended". I also made a text to text connection to The Giver, by Lois Lowery. In that book, the government is also trying to influence peoples' thoughts, but by using external forces and not feeds inside the brain. I found that the theme of the books seemed similar, with both main characters rebelling against an oppressive regime that nobody else realizes is oppressing them. The primary difference though is that the Feed characters are influenced by an overwhelming amount of information while the Giver characters are influenced by a lack of knowledge. Finally, I made a text to self connection. Just like the main character, I don't enjoy being sold things by companies when they claim that you need to want their product because that's what other people want. This kind of advertising makes everybody feel that they are imperfect and their shortcomings could only be fixed with the new product.

As I continue reading, I predict that the main character will find other people to support his cause, but will not be able to make a substantial change in the society he lives in. There will probably also be more details, such as the advertising on the feed, that are based on real world things. Hopefully, Feed will turn out to be a good book.

The Feed may already be here...