The Maze Runner, #1
The Maze Runner
by James Dashner
Contents
Chapter 5
Overview
Chuck pranks Gally, provoking a confrontation that cements Gally as Thomas’s enemy and renews the mystery of the Changing. Later, as the boys bed down outside, Thomas grapples with his missing past but suddenly feels the Maze is familiar. He resolves to become a Runner and suspects he’s been here before.
Summary
Chuck leads Thomas behind the Homestead at night and taps on a bathroom window for a prank. When Gally opens it, Chuck screams, causing a crash inside and sending Gally storming out. Gally confronts Thomas, warns him to choose allies carefully, and threatens violence if it happens again.
Gally adds that he saw Thomas during the Changing and vows to learn who Thomas is, deepening Thomas’s hostility toward him. After Gally leaves, Chuck apologizes, but Thomas admits Gally deserved it, the brief humor easing his tension.
Later, Thomas and other boys sleep on the lawn near the gardens due to limited space in the Homestead. Staring at the stars, Thomas struggles with fragmented memories, recognizing everyday concepts but lacking specifics about the world. He questions the Gladers’ slang and wonders how long Chuck has truly been there.
A sudden calm washes over Thomas: the Glade and Maze feel familiar. Acting on this epiphany, he tells Chuck he wants to be a Runner, despite not fully understanding what Runners do. Chuck dismisses the idea as impossible and urges sleep.
Thomas doubles down on his conviction, sensing something out in the Maze calls to him. As drowsiness returns, he realizes he may have been in the Glade before. He withholds further explanation, protecting his fragile optimism, and finally falls asleep.
Who Appears
- ThomasNew arrival; drawn into Chuck’s prank, threatened by Gally, feels Maze familiarity, decides to become a Runner.
- ChuckYounger Glader; orchestrates prank on Gally, apologizes, doubts Thomas’s Runner ambition, shares bedtime conversation.
- GallyHostile Glader; victim of prank, threatens Thomas, claims he saw Thomas during the Changing.