Holy crap.
That’s really all I can say at the moment. This book was much more fast paced than its predecessor. No more secrets, no more guesses. The Gladers know the rules of the game now: they are in the midst of a mortal experiment that can somehow save the fate of humanity. WICKED shows its rat-like face. We finally, finally, get to meet the much anticipated Group B.
Aside from arranging for the brutal murders of a bunch of kids, Rat-Man likes to snuggle.
The Gladers’ problems are not quite finished. They are forced to face a new set of variables that are much more twisted than the Grievers ever could be. There’s some deeply wound psychological manipulation at play during this phase of the Trials. The extent of it leaves the Gladers with more than a few questions: how much control does WICKED have over their minds? What’s the real purpose of these experiments? If they survive, what awaits them at the other side?
On the bright side: free tickets to everyone who doesn’t meet a gruesome end!
No more confining walls: this book’s plot surrounds the open, derelict wasteland nicknamed “The Scorch.” A WICKED spokesman outlines the task given to the boys. They must cross this desert, battling both natural and unnatural forces, in order to reach a safe haven at the other end. The boys have just two weeks to achieve their goals because they have all been infected with the Flare.
Spoilers under the cut.
One of the coolest aspects of this book was its exposure of WICKED’s technology. The Flat Trans, the healing gas chamber, the miraculous medicine they give Thomas: all of it underscores what the Rat-Man says to the boys before the Trials. WICKED has resources that they can barely understand or predict. This is easy enough to accept. But what Brenda tells Thomas adds a twist of confusion: the Flat Trans was invented before the sun flares ravaged the Earth and the surviving governments coalesced to form WICKED. Is WICKED really behind all of this? Does the setting take place much farther in the future than our world today? Am I reading too much into a small detail?
Technology is just so amazing.
The introduction of Aris also upsets everything I thought I knew about the dynamic between Thomas and Teresa. Aris– I’m assuming a nickname for Aristotle?– is Teresa’s male counterpart to the Group B trials. The three of them, along with Rachel, who died after Group B made it to the Creator’s hideout, somehow helped WICKED with the creation of the Maze. Thomas’s brief flashes of memory prove that they at least knew what they were doing before they stepped into their respective Mazes and had their memories wiped. Thomas’s anger near the end of the book is therefore more interesting: he seems so removed from the little boy in his recollections, the one who is so sure that WICKED is doing the right thing. Teresa believes that after regaining their memories, they will believe in WICKED’s ultimate purpose. Thomas has other ideas. After seeing his actions, I don’t doubt it.
At the end of The Maze Runner, Thomas tries to convince the Gladers that sacrificing a few for the good of the many is the right choice, morally and pragmatically. It’s not hard to tell, however, that even he has misgivings about this. He offers to be the single sacrifice the Grievers need in order to placate his own doubts. Once out of the Maze, once Chuck is murdered and the survivors are placed in yet another test, Thomas’s beliefs are turned upside down. Convincing the Group B girls not to kill him reveals his true nature.
The Scorch Trials, page 277
Thomas is starting to think critically, to unwind the variables from WICKED’s murky motivations. Despite how emotionally deadened he has become, he still finds ways to undermine the variables and put the many above the few.
Speaking of emotionally deadened, what was up with Teresa’s betrayal? I can’t figure her out. She didn’t question her orders if it meant that Thomas’s life was on the line. Despite her reasoning, she left some deep emotional damage and seems a bit too cavalier about that for my taste. Like Thomas, I’m reasonably certain she’s on their side, but can’t trust her anymore.
When we leave Thomas at the end of the novel, he’s trapped inside of a padded, windowless room after just hearing Brenda’s voice inside his head. That was something I wasn’t expecting: does that mean the girl is working with WICKED? Was Teresa’s betrayal implemented to make Thomas more receptive to Brenda? Regardless, Thomas is locked up and Teresa informs him telepathically that he’s been quarantined because he’s gone mad with the Flare.
This is terrifying, especially after battling up close and personal with Cranks throughout the trial. This disease is more than just degeneration of mental faculties, it seems to take away everything that goes along with being human. What I find most interesting about the Cranks, though, is how similar they seem to be to the Gladers. When the first group of boys was delivered to the Maze, they didn’t grieve (no pun intended… okay maybe a little bit) or fall despondent. They created their own society with its own government and responsibilities for each member. They made do with their unfortunate circumstances even though they knew nothing about them.
The Cranks are the same, at least at first. When we first meet Jorge and Brenda, they are living in a sort of Crank compound, one that at least appears organized, if not a little manic. Jorge and Brenda seem to top a hierarchy of dwindling sanity. Before they lose all hope, the Cranks do exactly what the Gladers did: they organize. They cope. They survive.
That is, of course, before they go into a nose-eating frenzy of madness. No wonder Thomas is anxious about his sanity. I feel you, Thomas: I might go insane if I don’t get my hands on The Death Cure in the next 24 hours. Despite only having access to what might actually be the world’s worst internet connection, I’m going to attempt to download it to my Kindle. Hopefully I’ll get some answers to the questions that are bugging me: Who or what is WICKED? How much did Thomas have to do with the creation of the Maze? Are Brenda and Jorge involved in the trials? And what exactly do those signs proclaiming Thomas as the leader mean? Knowing WICKED, it can’t be an accident.
Brown Fogs, Winter Dawns 