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Chapter 48
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Maze Runner, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory and Identity
Stability and Order vs. Change and Chaos
Sacrifice
Growing Up
Hope
Sexism
Summary
Analysis
At the Gathering, Thomas explains that during the Changing he saw flashes of his lost memories. He says that the Maze was a trial that was never meant to be solved and that whoever survives will go on to do something important. Thomas says the Creators stole every one of the Gladers when they were children and named them after scientists (Thomas for Thomas Edison, Alby for Albert Einstein, Newt for Sir Isaac Newton, etc.).
Unlike in the previous Gathering where Thomas stayed silent, Thomas now leads the meeting, showing how the Changing, which represents puberty, has made him grow into a confident and mature leader.
Themes
Thomas says the Creators wanted to test if the kids would keep trying to solve the Maze despite the Variables, which are the events and things that prevent or discourage them. Thomas confesses that he knows how to solve the code because he was with the Creators when they put the code into the Maze.
Thomas’ former role as a Creator doesn’t deter him from helping the others. He could have resigned himself to his identity as a Creator and refused to help the Gladers, but instead he tries to redeem his past actions by helping the Gladers in the present.
Themes
