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Chapter 50
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
With bloodshot eyes, Alby quickly stands up, knocking his chair over behind him. He accuses Thomas of working for the Creators and says that his plan will get them all killed. Thomas asks Alby if he’s forgotten that he was the one who saved him when Minho got scared and ran off in the Maze. Alby responds that maybe Thomas was just trying to get the Gladers to trust him. Newt cuts in, saying that Thomas risked his life getting sung by the Grievers just so that he could recover his memories and help protect all of them.
The Changing made Thomas mature into a confident leader, but it made Alby become unstable. Since Alby’s accusation echoes Gally’s claim that Thomas was a spy, Alby appears to have become the “new” Gally. With Gally gone, Alby takes his place as the most violent and unstable Glader. Once the epitome of control and order, Alby now seems crazy, unable to control himself.
Themes
Realizing his mistrust is unwarranted, Alby admits his real reason for opposing the plan: he doesn’t want to go back to the horrible world he had visions of during the Changing. Alby confesses that he was the one who burned all the maps, fearing that Thomas would figure a way out of the Maze. Alby explains that he had visions of a disease called the Flare and that he saw the world scorched by fire. Alby says that it would be better to die in the Glade than to return home.
Minho tells the group that he’d rather fight and take his chances with the Creators than die in the Glade. Thomas says that no matter what the Keepers decide, he, Minho, and Teresa will fight their way to the Griever Hole and punch in the code. Thomas then says that the only way to get into the Hole is by sacrificing someone to the Grievers so that they stop attacking for the night. When Winston sarcastically asks who he thinks they should sacrifice, Thomas nominates himself.
Thomas’ plan requires the Gladers to trust in change and hope. Instead of hiding in the Glade, they must all confront their fears by going into the Maze, battling the Grievers, and jumping off the Cliff. Thomas shows once again that, like a mature grown-up leader, he is willing to sacrifice himself for the Gladers.
Themes
