The Maze Runner Author James Dashner’s Hypothetical Maze Run

With the DVD and Blu-ray release of The Maze Runner last week, we asked novelist James Dashner a couple of questions about how he might react to being in the maze!

Asked which Maze Runner character he was most like as a teenager, Dashner replied he was closest to Thomas.

"Thomas is basically a much, much, much braver version of me," he said. "Kind of a quiet, inquisitive guy who always wants to figure out what's going on and has this complex of trying to help others and feel responsibility for them. He goes into the maze and suddenly, for several reasons, takes on this huge responsibility."

As the novels most closely follow Thomas and the trials her faces, Dashner found the connection natural.

"I was in his head throughout writing the whole series, and he's the one I relate to the most," he said.

However, if Dashner had to face the maze as Thomas does, he said he could not have faced it with such bravery.

"I would have, as Chuck says in the movie, clunked my pants," he admitted. "I would have cried like a baby. I was a big wimp when I was in high school so I definitely would not have reacted quite like Thomas did, but he's kind of fulfilling my fantasies, being the person I wished I could have been in high school."

For even more on The Maze Runner, check out our other interviews with James Dashner, listed below! Also be sure to get the film on Blu-ray and DVD, and join our community at Sweety High!