The Synthesized Labyrinth : Eco Authoritarianism, the Anthropocene, and Biomechanical Anxiety in James Dashner

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the book The Maze Runner by James Dashner through the perspectives of ecocriticism and Anthropocene. The study will explore the themes of anti-ecological authoritarianism and the violence of technocratic control in the novel. The main argument will be that the Labyrinth in The Maze Runner is the manifestation of an eco-terrorist project of totalitarian control dressed in the rhetoric of technological salvation. The paper will examine the political and ecological dimensions of the antagonist forces in the novel, including the creation of the Grievers and the Flare virus as the means of population control. Particular attention will be paid to the themes of resource extraction and violence in the context of the Anthropocene and the eco-critical perspective. Finally, the paper will argue that the author writes about the anti-ecological violence committed by the ruling elites and the brutal revolution against the technocratic system in the name of returning ecological sovereignty to humanity.

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