The theme of this novel maze runner is team work and courage. Throughout the whole book Thomas the main character, shows many signs of these admirable traits. From becoming brain washed and not remembering a thing or who he is to finding a family in the next day is a huge obstacle Thomas must overcome. This piece of literature could also be related to real world problems like disease.
         This novel mentions a lot of disease and anarchy towards the end and 2nd book. This could relate to current events such as Ebola or the measles outbreak. Towards the end of the book the author mentions how disease and anarchy has ravaged the outside world outside of the maze they were trapped in. Confused and startled Thomas is emerged into this new and strange wasteland.
       The book mentions a group of individuals that are now the leaders of the new world. They call themselves wicked and could be related to the government in a sense. Putting them through tests they make the survivors traverse the open wasteland to study them. Wicked controls every aspect of life in this new world throwing challenges at the survivors left and right, making the modern day conspiracies about the government almost seem true in  an apocalyptic world.
      In this new world the survivors are told that the sun has become an inferno and will scorch any living thing during the day. Giving people something called the “flare” could be related to everyday conspiracies such as zombies. These diseases in the book are very closely related to our diseases known today just not as severe.
     The whole book Thomas is dealing with these obstacles that make life almost impossible to overcome. What gets him through most of these challenges is his newly found family and his courage and motivation to get through these tests to live with his new family. The author uses obstacles that could be related to everyday life but in a modified apocalyptic world. Truly the theme of this book would be Courage.