As the second post dealing with the film “The Maze Runner,” which I viewed this afternoon among my other various errands [1], I would like to comment on one of the most distinctive aspects of the film: the only way out is through. Thomas, the hero of the story, is the penultimate person placed into a glade at the middle of a giant maze that has been constructed by some sort of wicked company that behaves in the sort of ambivalent way that is all too familiar to those with painful experiences of child abuse. After all, the same people who provide sustenance and the illusion of some sort of safe place within a dangerous world end up being the same people who create the “grievers,” deadly monstrosities that kill those unwary who are caught in the maze at night away from safety and who terrify and demoralize those who survive.

Fairly quickly, Thomas’ arrival in the maze causes what can politely be called drama. His intense curiosity and unconventionality cause immediate turmoil within the small village of young men that has been built over three years of effort. Despite its dangers, he is drawn to being a runner, to finding a way out of the maze, recognizing that whatever temporary and partial safety can be found in the glade, that it is a prison and that there must be a way out. In the process of being a bit foolishly brave as well as deeply humane, he manages to be one of three people who first survive a night in the maze despite the dangerous creatures there. Even more remarkably, he manages to be the first person to kill one of the “grievers,” which provides an essential clue as to the nature of the maze and who created it, giving credence to his dreams (and those of the young lady who follows him up the elevator) of the experimental nature of maze.

Unsurprisingly, Thomas’ confident belief in the necessity of confronting the fearsome monsters head on in order to escape a prison and find a way “home,” wherever home happens to be, causes a great deal of division. There are some who are willing to offer Thomas (and the young lady) as a sacrifice to the grievers in exchange for a return to the good old days when there was safety in the glade and the deadly monsters only came out at night. To face one’s fears and peril in the daytime, where one expects to be safe, is rather unpleasant to deal with. In the end, of course, Thomas is vindicated that the only escape from the maze is through its difficulties, despite the fact that a lot of people are lost and those who survive face the harsh and unpleasant reality that their experiences were all an experiment designed to help humanity survive the horrors of mass death and destruction and disease in an apocalyptic scenario.

What relevance does all of this have to us? We all have to face tests and trials in our lives, and though we might wish for escape, often there is none to be found. Sometimes, we finish one test or find relief from one difficulty only to immediately find ourselves in other trouble that further tests our character and helps us to hone our abilities to cope with the struggles of life. Our hope, of course, is that we will not only survive our difficulties for a little while but that we will be victorious over those things that threaten our well-being. Yet the only way to realize those hopes is to face our fears head on, finding encouragement from others, and seeking strength from above. Courage does not mean being without fear, it means not letting our fears deter us from what is right and what needs to be done. And in the troubles of our lives, we need all the courage that we can get, for there is much that can make us afraid in this world.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/wicked-is-good/