The Maze Runner Movie And Book Comparison Essay Sample

Oftentimes, the screen adaptation of a novel just doesn’t live up to the original story. There could be many reasons why a movie differentiates itself from its literary counterpart such as time limit, lack of resources, or bad casting. In the case of The Maze Runner, the book and movie characterize their characters according to different archetypes because of the narrative limitations that come with the film adaptation of a novel. This is shown through the differences in characterization of Alby and Thomas between the original story and its adaptation.

Firstly, Alby’s character in the book is portrayed as a ruler whereas in the movie he is a caregiver. Following his arrival to the glade, Thomas is confused about who and where he is, therefore he goes to Alby for answers. In response, Alby yells at him to go away and threatens him by saying “If I see you again before tomorrow morning, you aint reaching another one alive” (Dashner, p. 20). In the movie, Alby answers most of Thomas's questions upon his arrival and gives him a tour of the Glade. At the end of the tour, Alby tells him the three rules he must abide by. The first: “do your part”, the second: “never harm another Glader” and the third: “never go beyond those walls”. In both the book and the movie, Alby is a leader due to the fact that he is the man in charge but in the book his total control over Thomas's knowledge makes him fit into the Ruler archetype. Alby is very stern and controls the amount of information that is fed to Thomas in order to avoid the chaos that would follow if the new guy learned the reality of his situation. This is different from the Alby we see in the movie which is more geared toward the well-being of all the members of his community. Alby’s first rule allows us to understand that he wants to build an environment where there are no selfish “citizens” and his second rule demonstrates the importance of protecting your neighbors. Both of these criteria fit perfectly with the archetype of Caregiver, although Alby’s third rule revolves around control and shows some similarity to his novel version. This change was likely since for this characterization of Alby to be adapted, it would be necessary to understand Thomas's emotions of confusion and loneliness and the effect of Alby’s attitude towards them. This is very difficult to convey effectively in a film.

Secondly, in the novel, Thomas is portrayed as an explorer whereas in the movie he is characterized as a hero. In the book and the movie, Thomas runs into the maze at sundown, trapping himself with Alby and Minho. In chapter 21 of the novel, Thomas and his friends become the first to survive a night in the maze by making four grievers fall off a cliff and into an abyss. After this amazing feat, Thomas falls to the ground and bursts into tears. In the movie, Thomas lures a griever into a section of the maze in which the walls are closing in, ultimately killing the beast. Afterward, Thomas acts as if nothing had happened, not even mentioning the event to his fellow gladers. In both the original story and the adaptation, Thomas is characterized as an explorer because he spontaneously leaves his safe environment (the glade) to explore the maze. Ironically, by leaving the glade, Thomas is now even more trapped because he is in another closed area, only this time, with bloodthirsty monsters. Thomas is also portrayed as an explorer in the novel because, after killing the grievers, he is so overwhelmed by the fact that he has overcome his entrapment that he cries. In addition, his tears demonstrate that Thomas is allowing himself to explore his emotions. In the movie, Thomas is much more of a Hero because he does not seem bothered by the sense of entrapment. He demonstrates heroism by risking his life and putting himself in a claustrophobic situation (an explorer’s nightmare) to prove his worthiness to Minho. In the book, killing the grievers was necessary for Thomas's survival, whereas in the movie, Thomas could have escaped without risking his life but killed the griever anyways to show his strong sense of courage. Also, Thomas finds no time to explore his feelings towards these events, showing no vulnerability, like a true hero. This change in Thomas's behavior during the adaptation is likely because, without the insight into his emotions given to us by the third person limited omniscient narration in the novel, Thomas's tears would be confusing and out of place.

In conclusion, the film adaptation of The Maze Runner is similar in many ways to the novel but still has some significant differences in character development because of the style of narration in the novel. We are presented examples of this throughout the novel in differences between Alby and Thomas's characters. It would be extremely difficult for the director to present a good movie, all while showing Thomas's exact thoughts throughout the story. This is because the point of view in the movie is from the camera and we cannot be given insight into Thomas's thoughts since the events are unfolding before us. This reasoning could also be used to explain why the aspect of telepathy between Thomas and Teresa was completely erased in the movie adaptation.