At the same, the order and stability inside the Glade may only conceal a dark and systemized savagery. Although the laws in the Glade attempt to prevent violence, they also create cruel and overly violent punishments. Alby, the Gladers’ leader, maintains order with fear, often threatening the boys with the death penalty. His use of fear to control the Gladers becomes most overt when Alby has Ben banished. Although Ben attempted to murder Thomas, he did so during a state of mental distress caused by the Changing. Even after Ben repents and asks for mercy, Alby stills banishes Ben to the Maze, effectively sentencing him to death. Although Alby feels that such harsh punishments are necessary for ensuring order, the extreme violence of this act and the fact that many of the boys seem to enjoy watching Ben get banished suggest that beneath the Glade’s veneer of order and security is actually a somewhat cruel and brutal society.
The Changing Quotes in The Maze Runner
The The Maze Runner quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Changing. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 23
Quotes
“Are they changed because they want to go back to their old life, or is it because they’re so depressed at realizing their old life was no better than what we have now?”
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Chapter 39
Quotes
“No one ever understood what I saw, what the Changing did to me! Don’t go back to the real world, Thomas! You don’t...want...to remember!”
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Chapter 45
Quotes
They needed more clues about the code. They needed memories.
So he was going to get stung by a Griever. Go through the Changing. On purpose.
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The Changing Symbol Timeline in The Maze Runner
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Changing appears in The Maze Runner. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...see someone who’s been stung. The boy then tells Thomas that he saw him during Changing.
(full context)
Chapter 14
...collar around Ben’s neck. Ben pleads that he only tried to kill Thomas because the Changing made him crazy. Alby pays no attention and, in a ceremonial and authoritative voice, decrees...
(full context)
Chapter 22
...hours later, who tells him that Alby has survived but is now going through the Changing.
(full context)
Chapter 23
...him that Alby be will alright soon. When Thomas asks about what happens during the Changing, Newt says that all they know is that the Gladers who go through it get...
(full context)
Chapter 27
...so that they can talk privately. When they are alone, Alby says that during the Changing he saw Thomas and the girl working with the Creators in the place where they...
(full context)
Chapter 28
...says that no one has ever tried to tell them what they remembered from the Changing. Newt suggest that something must be preventing them from talking about their memories and that...
(full context)
Chapter 31
...Alby arrives at the Slammer and lets him out. Alby tells Thomas that during the Changing, he saw Thomas helping the Creators, but that the images he saw could just be...
(full context)
Chapter 45
...back, Thomas decides to get stung by the Grievers in order to go through the Changing.
(full context)
Chapter 49
At the Gathering, Thomas explains that during the Changing he saw flashes of his lost memories. He says that the Maze was a trial...
(full context)
Chapter 51
...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...
(full context)
Chapter 59
...Trial. She then says there is one more Variable. Like Alby in bed after the Changing, Gally struggles to speak, saying that he can’t control himself. He then takes a knife...
(full context)
