The simulation world in James Dashner's The Maze Runner.

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A THESIS

Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Sarjana Degree of English Department Faculty of Arts and

Humanities State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya

By: Maharani Dewi

Reg. Number: A93213155

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SUNAN AMPEL SURABAYA

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Approved to be examined at: Surabaya, July 2017

Approved by

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

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ABSTRACT

Dewi, Maharani. 2017. The Simulation World in James Dashner’s The Maze Runner Novel. Thesis. English Department. Faculty of Arts and Humanities. State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Advisor: Itsna Syahadatud Dinurriyah, M.A

This study attempts to offer Jean Baudrillard’s concept about simulation and hyper-reality happen in the reality. Regarding to those, James Dashner’s The Maze Runner novel is suitable to be analyzed since it represents the simulation world which leads into hyper reality. This study uses qualitative method to analyze about simulation world describes in the novel and how the simulation world leads the individuals into hyper reality. World In Catastrophe Killzone Department (WICKED) is a company concern in simulation world experiment on teenagers to get the best survivor. It is created simulation world, like a giant maze called Glade, and hyper reality begin in that Glade.

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INTISARI

Dewi, Maharani. 2017.The Simulation World in James Dashner’s The Maze Runner Novel.. Jurusan Sastra Inggris. Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora. Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Dosen Pembimbing: Itsna Syahadatud Dinurriyah, M.A .

Skripsi ini mencoba untuk menyampaikan pemikiran dari Jean Baudrillard mengenai Simulasi dan Hiper realitas yang terjadi pada kehidupan nyata. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, novel yang di tulis oleh James Dashner yang berjudul The Maze Runner merupakan novel yang sesuai untuk di teliti karena menggambarkan dunia simulasi yang menuntun menuju hiper realitas. Skripsi ini menggunakan metpde kualitatif untuk menganalisa tentang dunia simulasi yang di gambarkan dalam novel The Maze Runner dan bagaimana dunia simulasi yang di gambarkan mempengaruhi orang-orang yang tinggal di dunia simulasi mengalami hiper realitas. WICKED adalah sebuah perusahaan yang melakukan uji coba kepada para remaja demi mendapatkan orang terbaik dari yang terbaik. Perusahaan tersebutlah yang menciptakan dunia simulasi; labirin raksasa, dan dari situlah proses hiper realitas berlangsung.

Kata Kunci: Simulasi, Hyper realitas, Eksperimen

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1.5. Significance of the study...7

1.6. Method of the Study...7

1.7. Definition of Key Terms...8

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE...9

2.1. Postmodernism...9

2.1.1.The Precision of Simulacra...10

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2.2. Review of Previous Study...19

CHAPTER III ANALYSIS...22

3.1. Simulation World in The Maze Runner...22

3.1.1. Glade reflects a basic reality...22

3.1.2. Glade mask and perverts basic reality...25

3.1.3. Glade mask the absence reality...30

3.1.4. Glade as simulation world...43

3.2. Hyper-reality in The Maze Runner......46

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION...54

WORK CITED...57

APPENDIX...61

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of study

Literature is work of writing which deals with human imagination, human

feeling, etc. Bennet and Royle state that literature is uncanny which has meaning

a basic psychological disorder of what we think and we feel, it is concentration to

sense of strangeness and mystery about unfamiliar feeling comes to the heart of

familiar and on the contrary (34).

Literature is interesting to disccuss, because there is always something new in

the literary work that is written with full of ideas and imagination. The readers

can imagine how the author’s feeling in the novel she or he reads. Although, some

of literary works come from author’s imagination, but as the readers sometimes

we find the same cases or close relations of the literary work from the reader’s life

experience. Bannet and Royle state that, literature is also kind of writing which

has close relation with uncanny aspects of experiences, thoughts, and feelings that

can determine “the real” and “the fiction”, even “the real” and “the literary” seem

blend or combined into one (35).

Literary work is an author's creative thinking. The author writes the literature

not only with what he feels, sees, and experiences in real life, but also imitates the

idea from another literary work to create new literary work through the author’s

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reality, even though the natural world and subjective world of the individual also

been the objects of the literary “imitation” (Wellek and Waren 94). In other way,

literature is one of the subject which deals with inner and outer factors of human

life which are described through author’s imagination. The author creates the

literary work not only with the skill and creation ability at all, but also the vision,

inspiration and imagination.

So, here literature represents the author’s imagination, feeling, vision,

inspiration, and ideas from their literary work to the readers in order to entertain

the readers with their unlimited imagination through their literary work. Wellek

and Warren state that the term literature seems best if we limit it to the art of

literature, that is, to imaginative literature. Literature is also produced by

imagination of the author. Literature is not just a document of facts or the

collection of real events, because it may happen in the real life. Literature can

create its own world as a product of the unlimited imagination (22).

There are several kinds of literature, such as poems, novels, etc. Tim Gillespie

states that literature is a work of writing which deals with ideas of timeless and

universal interest except artistry and power, it can be poems, stories, novels,

plays, essays, memories and so on (75). This study takes a novel as the object of

the research, because there are more sources that can be analyze than in drama,

poem, and etc. According to Encyclopedia Britannica , novel is an invented prose

narrative on considerable length and a certain complexity that deals imaginatively

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a group of persons in a specific setting. Within its broad framework, the genre of

the novel has encompassed an extensive range of types and styles: picaresque,

epistolary, Gothic, romantic, realist, historical to name only some of the more

important ones.

There are a lot of authors write novels in a form of science fiction genre. One

of them is James Smith Dasner who write about simulation world in the future.

The Maze Runner Series is young adult dystopian novel written by James Smith

Dashner. James Smith Dashner or known as James Dashner is an American

novelist. He was born in Austell, Georgia on November 26th_{, 1972. His writing}

career began with his works entitled The Jimmy Fincher. Then, he continued his

work with The Maze Runner series. The series consist of five novels, they are The

Maze Runner (2009), The Scorch Trials (2010), The Death Cure (2011), The Kill

Order (2012), and The Fever Code (2016). This study takes the first sequel in The

Maze Runner Series, because in this first series a lot of explanation about

simulation world compare to another The Maze Runner series. The Maze Runner

published in 6th_{October 2009. This novel was adapted into a movie in 2014 and}

get two awards, the first in 2008, ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and the

second in 2012, Young Reader’s Choice Awards, intermediate grades.

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dashner)

The Maze Runner talks about a group of people who lives in the glade. Then,

a boy come to the glade and change everything. His name is Thomas. Thomas and

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they escape from the maze, they find a controlling room which observe their life

in the glade. When they want to attack the creator of the glade, a group of people

come to save them. In the evacuation process, one of the helpers tell them that

they are an experiment group created by WICKED. WICKED is a company

concern in simulation world experiment on teenagers to get the best survivor.

This company makes an experiment by using young people as their sample to test

their immunity and to find the best survivor from the glade. The result of the

experiment is to make their DNA as the formulation to increase human

population. They just know that more than half of human in the world is

annihilated because of the sun flare. It become the reason they are chosen as a

subject of the experiment.

This study chooses The Maze Runner novel as the subject of the research

because the novel talks about simulation world which leads into hyper reality.

Simulation is something that represents something else, it is not a real thing.

Simulation for Baudrillard brings people into a circular world in which the sign is

not exchange for meaning, but merely for another sign as a result simulation is the

active process of replacement of the real (Baudrillard 10). The procreation of

simulacra leads to what Baudrillard saw as a new era of simulation in which all

referents have been abolished, and the distinction between the real and its

representational has collapsed. Simulation is a four step process of replacing

reality: 1. Faithful: the image reflects a profound reality. 2. Perversion: the image

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reality. 4. Pure: the image has no relation to any reality, so it is pure simulacrum

(Lechte 200). Simulation or known as simulacrum will lead to hyper reality after

four steps in the simulacrum proccess fulfilled.

Real is variously defined as factual or actual. It is often identified by what is

not supposed to be. It should not be imaginary, pretended, artificial, etc.

Hyperreality melts these opposing concepts like, real and illusion, fact and

fantasy, into one unified experience. It can be either realistic representation of

fantasy or fantastical representation of the real. This is hard to define concept has

been examined by various hyperreal theorists from various angles and at different

points of time in history.

So, after reading novel entitled The Maze Runner by James Dashner, this

study tends to analyze how the simulation world described in the novel and how

the simulation world leads hyper reality described in the novel. In order to

understand the simulation world in The Maze Runner by James Dashner, this

study applies hyper reality theory from Jean Baudrillard to reveal how simulation

world is described in the novel and how is simulation worldlead to hyper reality

in the The Maze Runner novel.

1.2 Statement of problem

Based on the explanations in the background of the study, this study formulates

the statements of the problem as follow:

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2. How does simulation worldlead to hyper reality in The Maze Runner by

James Dashner.

1.3 Objective of study

Dealing with the statement of the problem above, this research has the

objectives of study as follow:

1. To describe the simulation world in The Maze Runner by James Dashner

2. To explain hyper reality in The Maze Runner by James Dashner

1.4 Scope and limitation

To avoid the vagueness, it is necessary to make a clear limitation into a narrow

scope, so the analysis can be clearly interpreted and understood. Moreover, the

analysis of this research should be more specific.

The scope of this study will focus in The Maze Runner. Then, this study will

focus in plot and narration of the simulation world in The Maze Runner using

Jean Baudrillard theory, hyper reality, in order to limit the analysis.

1.5 Significance of study

This study hopes that the result will be useful for English Department students

especially those who have focus in literature. This study can be used; first as an

understanding about science fiction genre and hyper reality theory from Jean

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simulation world that may be happens in the future just like in The Maze Runner

novel. This study also hopes that this research will inspire other researcher to

observe more about The Maze Runner Series, and another literary works from

James Smith Dashner.

1.6 Method of study

This sub chapter consists of four main discussion, there are research design,

data and data source, procedure of data collection, and procedure of data analysis.

1.6.1 Research design

This study applies descriptive qualitative to describe and uncover the data

which are related to the statements of problem. Fraenkel and Norman explain that

the descriptive qualitative method aims to identify and provide a picture of an

event, condition, or situation by using data in the form of words rather than

numbers (105). Therefore, qualitative approach appropriates dealing with this

research use hyper reality theory from Jean Baudrillard.

1.6.2 Data and Data source

The data of this research is taken from novel entitled The Maze Runner by

James Dashner and the data sources are taken from e-books and journals that

relates with the analysis.

1.6.3 Procedure of data collection

Here this study explained the technique of data collected as follow:

1. Reading and understanding whole the novel entitled The Maze Runner by

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2. Reading and understanding some books about Postmodernism, Simulation

and Simulacra theory and related sources to support the research

3. Selecting and collecting the data from narration and conversation in the

novel entitled The Maze Runner by James Dashner

1.6.4 Procedure of data analysis

This study analyzes the data collected by categorizing the data into two part

sdealing with the statements of the problem. Then, each point is analyzed using

the hyper reality theory that refers to the object of the study. The last, making the

conclusion based on data analysis.

1.7 Definition of key term

1. Dystopia : A non existent society described in considerable detail and

normally located in time and space that the author intended a

contemporaneous reader to view as worse than contemporary society

(Baccollini and Moylan 7).

2. WICKED ( WORLD IN CATASTROPHE: KILLZONE EXPERIMENT

DEPARTMENT) : A company concern in simulation world experiment

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents of theoritical framework and previous studies to

support the study.

2.1 Postmodernism

The term of post modernism is hard to define, for some people, its term is

used to against modernism theory which stresses on something rational, fixed

knowledge, universality and myths rejection. In fact, postmodernists criticize

modernists’ perspective which is monotonous, positivistic and rationalistic.

Further, postmodernism, generally, respects on something real, various

knowledge, questionable and local wisdom (Selden 197). In postmodernism the

modernist perspective is rejected, because the concept in postmodernism, focus on

the reality and rationality.

Postmodernism is also often considered by many to refer, in general, to the

role of media in late tweentieth century capitalist society. Whatever usage one

prefers, it is clear that ‘postmodernism theory’ implies certain critical stances that

the attempts to explain social and cultural development by means of ‘grand

narratives’ are no longer feasible or acceptable, and that ideas can no longer be

closely related to a historical reality (Carter 119). Postmodernism is influenced by

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influences are both negatives and positives. It can be seen as positive because of

the relation between language, history and society. Then, postmodernism appears

with breaking down of traditionally literary modes. Its break down boundaries

between different discourses, between fiction and non-fiction, history and

autobiography. Two theorist that have close relations with posmodernism is Jean

Baudrillard with his Simulation and Simulacra and Jean-Francpis Lyotard concept

about figural (Carter 122).

2.1.1 The Precision of Simulacra

Jean Baudrillard is a French philosopher who was born in Reims on 27 July

1929. He is influenced by German romantics and philosophers, such as Arthur

Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Martin Heidegger (Gane in Lane 3).

Nietzche’s views in marxism is about seeing the world as will to power as

balance active and reactive forces, he believes that arts is the key to

understanding the world

(www.openculture.com/2013/04/friedrich_nietzche_marx.html). Like Nietzsche

and Heidegger, he also comments on Marxism, but in a different perspective. He

focuses himself to attack consumerism by combining the concept of the ‘old’

Marxism with structuralism and semiotics. He then infers that the individual

subject is preceded by the social system (Lane 76). Furthermore, he argues that

people are only ever given their identities by the social systems that precede

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updating themselves in social media are considered some degrees higher than

those who do not, or a man is considered as a ‘real’ man when he rides a sports

car and dates a beautiful woman.

Overall, it is the social system that determines individuals’ identity.

Baudrillard talks about media as the benchmarks of someone identity in the real

life. Nowadays, media is a representation of technology which changes people to

life in representation of reality, not in the reality. People are marked by the way

they are used media as often as possible, and media become the most important

thing in life more than life in reality. People are addicted in using media as the

priority in their life, it will lead into consumerism of media which leads into

hyper reality, or the representation of the real is being real than the real itself.

Another criticism written by Baudrillard is the criticism of technology. He is

interested in criticising gadget and automatism as he thinks that the technological

object becomes designed according to human fantasy and desire (Lane 27). He

connects the development of technology to the emergence of consumer society.

He takes the huge American cars of the 1950s as his example, with massive ‘tail

fins’ that only became the illusion of speed as the tail fins could not make the car

run faster. He sees this phenomenon as representative of a fantasy of

aerodynamics. Further, Baudrillard (in Lane 29-30) mentions:

Tail fins were not a sign of real speed but a sublime, measureless speed.

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of these fins that in our imagination propelled the car, which, thanks to them,

seemed to fly along of its own accord...

That phenomenon is closely similar to today’s sports car that is used in a

public road. The car actually will go at the same speed with other cars, even old

cars, or it maybe slower when there is a heavy traffic jam. The person who uses

the car is only attracted by the representation of fastness or speed in the sports

car, not by the real performance in the real road. That is what Baudrillard tries to

attack that now people are more interested in the representations or the symbols

while the representations do not represent the reality. He calls this phenomenon

as a simulacrum (plural: simulacra). Baudrillard explains simulacrum (plural:

simulacra) in semiotic terms as representational doubles or signs of real entities

(4). Simulacra are representational images that deceive us (qtd. in Baudrillard).

In the other hand, simulacra are something that replaces reality with its

representation or imitation. There are three orders of simulacra:

1. Counterfeit

It is the first order of simulacra which is the dominant scheme of the

“classical” or pre-modern period, from the Renaissance to the Industrial

Revolution. It is based on the natural law of value in which the value is still

considered as a value, not as a reality, so that it is based on the natural law of

value. It is an obvious copy of reality, e.g. novel, painting, or map. In other

words, it does not precede the reality as it is only an obvious copy of reality. For

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Another best example is a map of country which only shows the territory of the

country and all inside it and it is based on a scientific study that will not include

any fictional place as it is usually used to study about geographical condition of

the country (Lane 77). In this first order of simulacra, baudrillard tells that reality

in this part is conterfeited into another forms of reality, it is reflected the reality

but still not as real as the reality itself.

2. Production

It is the dominat scheme of the industrial era. Also, it is based on the

commercial law of value in which the simulacra are productive and its

materialization is created by the machine and in the whole system of production.

This second order of simulacra is aimed to reach continuous globalization and

expansion. It is a good copy of reality.

Baudrillard uses borges fable to represent production as the second part in the

precisions of simulacra. In his story entitled ON Exactitude in Science, Borges

draws a story about empire that makes a fictional map in which cartographers of

the Empire draw up a map so detailed that is ends up covering the territory

precisely. In other words, the map and reality are no longer discernible as the

map has become as real as the reality (Lane 86). Another example that is going

on to be developed today is robot, because it has mimetic capabilities of being

human as it can do what human can do, including reproduction of the species

(Lane 35), which is a key characteristic of human being. So, it blurs the

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second order of simulacra, Baudrillard’s talks about the proccess of reality which

is represented into another forms of reality (representation of reality) which

reflect the original reality. Thus, reality in this part is blended with the

representation of reality and fading out the reality itself, but still the reality can

divide from the representation of reality.

3. Simulation

Simulation for Baudrillard brings us into a circular world in which the sign

is not exchanged for meaning, but merely for another sign (10), as a result

simulation is the active process of replacement of the real (qtd. in Baudrillard).

The procreation of simulacra leads to what Baudrillard saw as a new era of

simulation in which all referents have been abolished, and the distinction

between the real and its representational has collapsed.

According to Baudrillard’s theories in “Simulacra and Science Fiction,”

the “SF imagination is dead.” There is no longer enough distance between the

real and the imagined for science fiction to exist. We exist in a state of

hyperreality: “the implosive era of models.” Models previously existed as “an

imaginary domain with reference to the real.” However, these models have now

grown indistinguishable from the real. Because the real has been lost, the model

now stands in for the real.

The principle of reality has been replaced by the principle of simulation.

The real “has become the pretext of the model in a world governed by the

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In this condition, fiction transitions from “a mirror held to the future” that

reflects reality to “a desperate rehallucinating of the past.” The “original essence”

of reality is lost. Reality continues to function on traditional ideologies, yet these

ideologies have become “defunct” and “empty of meaning.” In order to

reestablish meaning and come to an understanding of reality in relation to the

“events persons…ideologies” that compose the real, it is necessary to turn to the

past in search of some kind of “retrospective truth” (Baudrillard 310).

Since the original real has been lost, the distinction between reality and

fiction is no longer definite or relevant. Whereas fiction has served as a reflection

of reality, there is no more reality to be reflected. In the postmodern era, “there is

neither fiction nor reality—a kind of hyperreality has abolished both.” Fiction

once stood as mirror to reality; reality has come to reflect fiction by actualizing

the imagined projections of utopia. We cannot “move ‘through the mirror’ to the

other side and find the original, in which meaning is rooted (Baudrillard 312).

Disneyland or other magic and fantasy world can be considered as an

example of simulacra in the theory of hyperreality. Baudrillard refers to an

imaginary world and he argues that this world of Disneyland magnetizes people

inside and has been presented as imaginary to make people believe that all its

neighboring are "real". He believes that the Los Angeles area is not real, thus it is

hyper-real. Disneyland is a set of device, which tries to bring imagination and

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life in a sense and "concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of

sawing the reality principle" (166-184).

Simulation is a four steps process of replacing reality: 1. Faithful: the image

reflects a profound reality. 2. Perversion: the image masks a profound reality. 3.

Pretence: the image masks the absence of a profound reality. 4. Pure: the image

has no relation to any reality, so it is pure simulacrum (Lechte 200). Baudrillard

believes that in this new era, the precession of simulacra becomes omnipresent,

completely overtaking the domain of medicine, the military, religion, politics,

cinema and television to name a few in all these examples of their totalizing

control, simulacra figure as murderers of the real (5).

2.1.2 Hyper Reality

Reality is often contrasted with what is imaginary in the mind, what is false

and what is fictional but Baudrillard believes that real is disappeared. The real is

dissapeared because the real is replaced with a representation of reality which is

feel more real than the reality itself. By real he means the appearance which

signifies a kind of disappearance that the real vanishing; in this sense,

disappearance must be consider as another form of appearance (qtd. in Smith 30).

Baudrillard’s claim that; where the real is no longer what is used to be,

nostalgia assumes its full meaning. There is profeliration of myths of origin and

signs of reality; of secondhand truth, objectivity and authencity (Simulations 12).

That is they all attempt to deter or provide alibis for the disapperance of the real at

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to increase the feel of reality are themselves simulations. Their authenticity is a

special effect. They are hyperreal than really real. This is why Baudrillard says

that ‘images precede the real’ and its representation is now inverted. The logical

order of things might be that reality expresses itself through representations, but

this has been turned upside down (Ward 75).

Hyper-reality is a post-modern philosophy which is defined by Baudrillard as

the current social condition; which is the act of creating something fake that is

perceived as being real (58). This theory says that politics, nationalism and

religion have created an environment in which we live but with an illusion (94).

Based on John Tiffin and Nobuyoshi Terashima, hyper-reality is a condition in

which what is real and what is fiction are aimlessly mixed together so that there is

no clear distinction between where one ends and the other begins. Individuals may

find themselves for different reasons more in true or involved with the hyper-real

world and less with physical real world (8). Indeed, hyper-reality become a

representaion of reality which become the reality itself. Hyper-reality is blended

the reality and the representtaion of reality become one and it seems that people

can not sees any diffrent from hyper-reality and the reality. In fact the concept of

hyper-reality brings three of Baurillard's particulars together, according to Mike

Gane:

The first one is the situation that signs already announced: hyper-reality, the

stage in which the real take in the image. The second one is the way in which

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boundaries, the more real than real". The third is the development of a popular

culture which breaks down the differences between the real and the artifice.

Baudrillard finally reaches to this point that "the hyper-real can no longer be the

mirror of reality" (95-96).

Baudrillard believes in hyper-reality "as the generation by models of a real

without origin or reality" (6). He notes hyper-reality goes further than astonishing

the symbol which represents the real; it wants to create a symbol that represents

something which does not actually exist (3). Also, in particular he suggests that

"The world we live in has been replaced by a copy world, where we seek

simulated stimuli and nothing more" (3). Mark Sayer believes, as we live in the

world of reality, we do not live in the hyper-real world because it does not really

exist and this is the problem. This world is disconnected from the sphere of human

experience. We wish our lives were as exiting and attractive as the kind of lives

guaranteed to us by the hyper-real world. But, we are weeded to the world of

reality; essentially we know that we are trapped in the world of ordinary (73). We

believe in the hyper-real world as something that can save us from the apathy of

everyday existence. "If we can just buy that product, get that luxury car, go on that

overseas trip-then we will escape reality, enter to the hyper-real world, and find

meaning" (Sayer 73), but all these things will one day end and we will always

return to reality and it shows that there is an overlap between reality and

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According to Tiffin and Terashima, " "Hyper world" is a seamless

intermixture of a (Physical) real world and a virtual world. A real world consist of

real and natural features for example real building and real objects but in virtual

world we have such things but in cods of computer or in three dimensional way or

like photos and videos although they are like real models but they are a shot by

camera and are not real" (9). Thus, hyper-real world is an ideal world for humans.

In such a world, people can escape all real things that they create for themselves.

In this world, they can reach all their wishes in a moment because hyper-real

world is based on the imagination.

2.2 Previous Studies

This study will analyzes simulation world which leads hyper reality in a novel

entitled The Maze Runner written by James Smith Dashner. So, here several

previous studies about hyper reality used by another researcher, in order to see the

similarities and the differents with this study.

First, the graduation paper from Qurrota A’yunin (2016), in Faculty of

Humanities, Airlangga University. The title of her graduation paper is “The

Potrayal of Hyper Reality in Chef Film”. She uses descriptive qualitative as her

methodology in order to analyze Chef film. In this graduation paper, she wants to

reveal hyper reality through narrative and non-narrative aspect that appears in the

movie.The results of this study show that social media influences its user by

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leads by Ramsey’s blog which makes Carl angry so they start war in Twitter.

While the positive impact is shown when Carl could promote his bussiness and

become successful through social media. This study also finds that people enjoy

the hyper reality than the reality and the uses of social medua is changes by people

existence.

Second, the graduation paper from Dwigo Biyas Tarigan (2017), Faculty of

Letters, Sanata Dharma University. He writes about “The Message Revealed

Through Thomas’ Conflict in James Dashner The Maze Runner”. The purposes of

this study are first, identify the main character, Thomas; second, identify the

conflicts faced by thomas; and third, showing the messages as revealed through

the conflicts faced by Thomas. In Tarigan’s graduation paper, he uses new

criticism in order to analysis Thomas’ character and characterization, and

messages in the novel. This study can reveal several possible messages from the

conflict faced by Thomas. Thomas has four characteristic; they are curious, smart,

brave, and selfness. Then, this study also reveal Thomas’ conflicts in the novel.

Those conflicts are divided into two, internal and external conflict.

Based on the previous studies above, this study will described about the

differences between the first, and the last previous studies with the studies that

written in this thesis. The differences between this study and the previous studies

are, first, in A’yunnin’s graduation paper, she focuses on the negative and positive

effects of hyperreality in Chef Movie, through the main characters. Next, the issue

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Thomas, from those conflicts Tarigan want to reveal the message from Thomas

Character. While, this study focus on simulation world that leads hyperreality in

the Maze Runner novel, and does not talk about Thomas character and

characterization.

Second, A’yunnin’s is used Hyperreality theory to revealed hyper reality

through narrative and non narrative aspects, in order to know the effects of hyper

reality in Carl’s life. Then, Tarigan’s is used new criticism theory in order to

reveal messages through Thomas conflicts in The Maze Runner novel. Whereas,

this study is used hyperreality theory in order to know simulation world that leads

hyper reality in The Maze Runner novel. Those explanations, make this study

differents than another previous studies that already written. So, this study

completely different with the previous studies in the theories and focus of the

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CHAPTER 3

ANALYSIS

This chapter provides the analysis of the study. This study analyzes The Maze

Runner novel using hyper-reality theory developed by Jean Baudrillard in order to

answer two research questions, about how the simulation world describes in The

Maze Runner and how simulation world leads to hyper-reality in The Maze Runner

novel.

3.1Simulation World in The Maze Runner

3.1.1 Glade reflect a basic reality

Baudrillard states about simulation in his books America:

Everything is destined to reappear as simulation. Landscape as

photography, women as the sexual scenario, though as writing, terrorism as fashion and the media. Things seem only to exist by virtue of strange destiny. You wonder whether the world itself isn’t just here to serve as advertising copy in some other world (32).

Baudrillard states that everything is a simulation to another world, another

world here is a reality that blends with the representation of reality. It is created a

simulation, its simulation become more real than its reality. The Maze Runner talks

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WICKED (World In Catatstrophe Killzone Experiment Department) a company who

makes an experiment to get the best of the best survivor in the simulation world.

The woman almost seemed in a trance as she spoke, never taking her eyes off an indistinct spot in the distance. “The sun flares couldn’t have been

predicted. Sun flares are normal, but these were unprecedented, massive, spiking higher and higher—and once they were noticed, it was only minutes before their heat slammed into Earth. First our satellites were burned out, and thousands died instantly, millions within days, countless miles became wastelands. Then came the sickness (Page 206).”

Basic reality in The Maze Runner novel describe with a world where human

live peacefully and normally, until Sun Flare become a disease, spread, and attack

human. It is implied in thebtext that Sun flares are usually in a normal condition.

When Sun flares in a normal condition it means that everything in the world going

fine, such as the weather, people, plants, animal, etc. Sun flares become higher and

higher, then it is slammed into Earth. First it is burned the satellites, the lands become

wasteland, thousand people died. In several days thousand become million, then

come a sickness called as the Flare. Those impacts make people are enjoying live in

simulation world created by WICKED. The reflection of reality in the simulation

world is a reflection before the world attack by the Sun flares, in order to make

Gladers who live in simulation world enjoying their live and trap into hyper-reality.

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them, their clothes smudged and sweaty as if they’d been hard at work, all shapes and sizes and races, their hair of varying lengths. Thomas suddenly felt dizzy, his eyes flickering between the boys and the bizarre place in which he’d found himself (Page 7).

World in Catastrophe Killzone Department (WICKED) is a company concern

in simulation world experiment on teenagers to get the best survivor. The quotation

above explains a new teenager who come into the simulation world for the first time.

He can see that everyone in the simulation world are teenagers, and there are at least

fifty person lives in the simulation world. Moreover, from fifty person he sees, all of

them are boys. Here, simulation world reflect a family, friend, by showing a group of

people who live in the same place.

“Thomas.” He barely heard himself say it—his thoughts had spun in a new direction. If Chuck was right, he’d just discovered a link to the rest of the boys. A common pattern to their memory losses. They all remembered their names. Why not their parents’ names? Why not a friend’s name? Why not their last names? (Page 12)

In The Maze Runner everyone that lives in the simulation world come into

Glade just remember their first names, and they not remember anything else except a

names, not even their last names. They know their names from a word that bump out

into their mind, when they come into Glade for the first time. Furthermore, simulation

world reflect the reality through a name that every people in simulation world has.

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memory loss was strange. He mostly remembered the workings of the

world—but emptied of specifics, faces, names. Like a book completely intact but missing one word in every dozen, making it a miserable and confusing read. He didn’teven know his age (Page 12).

They know that they have life but cannot remember anything. It is like

knowing everything but at the same times you do not know anything. Everyone who

is sent into this simulation world knowing that they are lossing their memory, but

they are not even know how they loss their memories. They remember faces, names,

but just in general such as their own names, they not remember the specific things

such their full names and what happens before they are sent into the Maze. Here,

simulation reflect about their live in general term, so they will feel confuse about

simulation and reality they have.

...The sky overhead was cloudless and blue, but Thomas could see no sign of the sun despite the brightness of the day. The creeping shadows of the walls didn’treveal the time or direction—it could be early morning or late afternoon. As he breathed in deeply, trying to settle his nerves, a mixture of smells bombarded him. Freshly turned dirt, manure, pine, something rotten and something sweet. Somehow he knew that these were the smells of a farm (Page 8).

The simulation world in The Maze Runner novel describes with the cloudless

and blue sky and here is no sign of the sun despite the brighthness day. The creeping

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late afternoon. So, there is no measuration to know the exact time in the simulation

world. Here simulation world reflect the same weather as the real world before Sun

flares attack Earth. People here, have no memories about Sun flares at all, so they still

think that this is jut the same as the memories they have.

3.1.2 Glade masks and perverts a basic reality

They stood in a vast courtyard several times the size of a football field, surrounded by four enormous walls made of gray stone and covered in spots with thick ivy. The walls had to be hundreds of feet high and formed a perfect square around them, each side split in the exact middle by an opening as tall as the walls themselves that, from what Thomas could see, led to passages and long corridors beyond (Page 7).

The quotation above talks about how big simulation world describes, with

four enormous wall. They live in a place that surrounded by walls, it is wrap with

thick ivy. The walls have hundreds of feet high, and it is impossible for everyone to

climb over the walls. Each side is splited by the opening walls, such as a door, it leads

into long corridors outside the walls. In this part simulation world mask the basic

reality about Sun flares. Here, they live in a place surrounded by walls. So, when they

look at this simulation world, the reality about Sun flares is pervert into the place they

live without Sun flares.

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way to the top, far above. The edges that bordered the vast opening were smooth, except for one odd, repeating pattern on both sides. On the left side of the East Door, deep holes several inches in diameter and spaced a foot apart were bored into the rock, beginning near the ground and continuing all the way up (Page 17).

The simulation world in The Maze Runner novel is surrounded by walls. The

walls split into four parts, they are called them as Doors. They are called it as Doors

because they can open and close in certain time. First, Chuck shows Thomas as

Newbie the East Door. It is so big, at least twenty feet across, with some patterns on

both sides. Although, Gladers do not know about the function of the patterns on the

both sides of the walls. In order to protect the truth about Sun flares, here simulation

world perfect the reality by build an enormous walls suround the wall. Those walls to

make Gladers focus on the way they survive, and step by step forget about come back

to their old life.

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Alby shows another door to Thomas. It is called as the South Door; the two

walls bracketing the exit towered above them with thick slabs of grey stone and

covered with ivy. The South Door is the same such as an East Door, both of them

have at least twenty feet accross, so people will cranes his neck to see the top of the

door.

Alby spread his arms out, palms up. “This place is called Glade, all right? Its where we live, where we eat, where we sleep—we call ourselves Gladers. That’s all you—” (Page 9).

They live in a place called as Glade. People who live in Glade are

called as Gladers. Alby explains about the place they live right now, Glade.

simulation world pervert the reality about the world who attack by Sun flares by a

place called as Glade. There is no Sun flares in Glade everything going normally.

That must be their leader, Thomas realized. Hating how everyone gawked at him, he concentrated on studying the place the boy had called Glade (Page 7-8)

Alby is the leaders in Glade, because he is the first comer in Glade. Every

Greenie who comes into the simulation world will get confuse of everything there.

So, it explains that Thomas is a Greenie ( a name for new person who is sent into

Glade) and as a Greenie he needs a lot of explanation, such as a place he lives right

now. So, Thomas will focus on Alby’s explanations.

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day had brightened considerably, the shadows stretching in the opposite direction from what Thomas had seen yesterday. He still hadn’t spotted the sun, but it looked like it was about to pop over the eastern wall at any minute. Alby pointed down at the doors. “This here’s the Box. Once a month, we get a Newbie like you, never fails. Once a week, we get supplies, clothes, some food. Ain’t needin’ a lot—pretty much run ourselves in Glade (Page 26).”

Teenagers who live in the simulation world appears from the Box. The Box

have double doors make from metal, it is covered in white paint, faded, and cracked.

Alby gives a brief explanation to Thomas about the way he come into the simulation

world. Alby explains that the Box is coming once a month with a new people, Alby

called them as Newbie. Then, it is coming again once a week with clothes and some

food for people in the simulation world. So, this Box is so important for the people

live in the simulation world to continue their life.

Alby kept talking, never bothering to look Thomas in the eye. “Glade’s cut into four sections.” He held up his fingers as he counted off the next four words. “Gardens, Blood House, Homestead, Deadheads. You got that?” (Page 27).

Alby explains that Glade is cut into four sections. They are Gardens, Blood

House, Homestad and Deadheads. Each sections has their own function. Alby is

trying to introduce Glade to Thomas as the Greenie (new comer) in Glade.

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time ago. Never rains here. Never.” He pointed to the southeast corner, at the animal pens and barn. “Blood House—where we raise and slaughter animals.” He pointed at the pitiful living quarters. “Homestead—stupid place is twice as big than when the first of us got here because we keep addin’ to it when they send us wood and klunk. Ain’t pretty, but it works. Most of us sleep outside anyway (Page 26).”

Alby is giving an explanation about the function of each sections in Glade.

First, he is pointed in the northest, there are the fields and the fruit trees are located.

Alby is called that place as Garden, the place their grow crops. Then, he continues to

show how they get water, the water comes into the pipes in the ground, because there

is no rain in Glade. Next, he points on the southeast corner, he is called that place as

Blood House, a place to raise and slaughter animals. Afterthat, he shows Thomas a

Homestead, a place where all people in Glade are sleeping. It is made by the wood

which is sent by the people who sends them in the simulation world.

Having had his tour cut short, he decided to take a walk around Glade on his own and get a better look and feel for the place. He headed out for the northeast corner, toward the big rows of tall green cornstalks that looked ready to harvest. There was other stuff, too: tomatoes, lettuce, peas, a lot more that Thomas didn’trecognize (Page 38).

There are several plants planted in Garden. There are big rows of tall green

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Garden Gladers plant several plants in order to fulfill their daily meal, because they

cannot depend their life on the Box everyday.

Next was the southeast corner, where shabbily built wooden fences held in several cows, goats, sheep, and pigs. No horses, though. That sucks, Thomas thought. Riders would definitely be faster than Runners. As he approached, he figured he must’ve dealt with animals in his life before Glade. Their smell, their sound—they seemed very familiar to him (Page 38).

Blood House is a place in Glade to slaughter animal. In the Blood House,

Gladers build wooden fences contain of several cows, goats, sheep, and pigs. The

wooden fences build in order to keep the animals in one place. So, they are not going

around Glade.

Alby pointed to the southwest corner, the forest area fronted with several sickly trees and benches. “Call that the Deadheads. Graveyard’s back in that corner, in the thicker woods. Ain’t much else. You can go there to sit and rest, hang out, whatever.” He cleared his throat, as if wanting to change subjects. “You’ll spend the next two weeks working one day apiece for our different job Keepers—until we know what you’re best at. Slopper, Bricknick, Bagger, Track-hoe—somethin’ll stick, always does. Come on (Page 26).”

The last explanations about four sections in Glade is Deadheads. It is placed

in the southwest corner, the forest area with several sickly trees and benches. Alby

says that back in the corner of Deadheads area is a Graveyard. In this simulation

world, a Newbie will try so many job to see what job that suits in him. There are

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Bagger, Track hoe. Thomas as a newbie will trying all of them until he finds what

kind of work he suits in.

3.1.3 Glade masks the absence of a basic reality

Thomas once again felt a pressing ache of confusion—hearing so many words and phrases that didn’tmake sense. Shank. Shuck. Keeper. Slopper . They popped out of the boys’ mouths so naturally it seemed odd for him not to understand. It was as if his memory loss had stolen a chunk of his language—it was disorienting (Page 7).

In Glade, Gladers using their own languages. There are several language, a

slank language using by Gladers such as, Shank, Shuck, Keeper, Slopper, and more.

Each slank words used by Gladers refer to something, it can be part of job, place or

something else. The absence of basic reality show by how Gladers use their own

language to communicate with each other. They are already accept that this is what

they must do to live. Simulation world become their own world and home. There is

no a reality about real world anymore.

“Pipe it, shuck-face,” Alby grunted, pulling Newt down to sit next to him. “At least he can understand half my words.” There were a few scattered laughs, and then everyone gathered behind Alby and Newt, packing in even tighter, waiting to hear what they said (Page 9).

Gladers have their own slang language to mention something. The example of

slang language used by Gladers is shuck-face. Shuck-face itself likes a swear words.