Lou’s mental state for much of the novel is represented by the maze in the castle above her small hometown. Lou is not often sure of what she should do, or which path to take, and is hesitant to take risks for fear of what might happen to her. Later, the maze becomes a site of trauma for Lou, the location where she was sexually assaulted as a young adult. The maze then represents all of life’s dangers, a place where Lou never goes so that she never has to move outside of her safe zone again. When Will takes Lou back to the maze, Lou’s decision to go into the maze once more shows her desire to finally move past this earlier event and find a new way through life and all of the difficulties that she must face. Lou panics in the middle of the maze, but Will comes to help her out. His assistance shows that how Will gives Lou support, especially in life’s trickier situations. With Will’s help, even after he is gone, Lou can finally get out of the maze of her own fears and move forward into a more fulfilled life.
The Maze Quotes in Me Before You
I thought of my parents, my sister with her big new life. Mine was to be the small life, my ambitions the petty ones. I glanced over at the maze, at its dark, dense box hedging. I was being ridiculous. Perhaps I had been behaving ridiculously for years. It was all over, after all. And I was moving on.
The Maze Symbol Timeline in Me Before You
