The Death Cure Part 2: Thomas is a Suspicious Little Shit

Sorry for posting this so late in the day. I slept late, shit needed to be accomplished, and it's about 4000 degrees outside. It seriously shouldn't be this hot in Washington. It's just rude. Anyway, on to the reading.

Chapters 5-7

So Rat-Man has just told everyone that they are going to get their memories back. Thomas is suspicious about the intentions behind this. Then again, Thomas is suspicious of everything. The real title of this series should be Thomas is Suspicious. Anyway, Thomas, Newt and Minho all protest having their memories

Like it said, super suspicious. Great work, Thomas. You finally figured it out.

returned, thinking that it could be a trick. They also assume that their memories will be bad ones, so they want no part of them. Seems like a logical reaction after everything they have been through.

Rat-Man tells the Gladers and Group B that they have a choice. They don't have to have their memories returned if they don't want them. He reveals to them how their memories were taken in the first place. There is a mechanical device (the Swipe) that has been placed in the part of their brains that controls long-term memories. This device is also what allows WICKED to control them (remember Gally killing Chuck in book one?) and allows Thomas, Teresa, and Aris to communicate telepathically. Taking the device out means that none of this will be possible. No more control and no more telepathy.

Minho is the best.

Everyone is all for having their memories returned except for Minho, Newt, and Thomas. They think that there is something more to the story and they just plain don't trust WICKED. They think that it could be another trick and WICKED could implant false memories into them. They talk it over with Teresa, who wants to have her memories returned. Minho says that because Teresa is for it, he is even more against it.
The then flat out tells Teresa that he doesn't like her. Finally, so honesty in this series. It's nice to have concrete facts, even trivial ones.

The whole group is lead out of the auditorium and into a smaller room with six beds that have weird contraptions that look like helmets dangling over them. Rat Man (whose name is Assistant Director Janson)

reveals to the whole group what Thomas already knows, that some of them are not immune to the Flare. He begins to read off the names. The very first one he reads is Newt. Thomas is shaken and disturbed, naturally. Newt is one of his best friends. One of the only people he feels he can trust. And he has this awful disease that's going to slowly drive him insane. These books are fun, aren't they?

Newt's not being immune is rough for Thomas.

Doctors come in and Rat Man then starts calling peoples names and assigning them to beds in order to get their Swipes removed. They move from room to room, leaving more people behind in those rooms until there's just a few left. In the final room, Thomas notices someone familiar is there. Brenda is dressed like the other doctors. She runs up to hug Thomas and whispers in his ear, "Don't trust them. Do not trust them. Only me and Chancellor Paige, Thomas. Ever. No one else." That's cheerful. We don't know yet who Chancellor Paige is. Maybe Jorge? Thomas and the others then come to the conclusion that Brenda was part of WICKED the whole time (you don't say).

Rat Man is kind of a dick.

The only people to refuse are, you guessed it, Thomas, Minho, and Newt. They plot to fight their way out of WICKED at the first opportunity. As if they are overheard, Rat Man announces that armed guards are on their way. They march in with high-tech weapons and are told to escort the boys out.

Analysis

The refusal of their memories is important. Thomas, Minho, and Newt are all refusing to have their old selves restored. Thomas's motivation lies in the fact that he knows enough about who he was before the maze to know that he doesn't want to be that person anymore. We are not yet let in on the complete motivations for Minho and Newt and, knowing this series, we probably never will. What is important here is the shift from wanting to have knowledge to rejecting that knowledge. This is based on the issue of trust. They don't trust WICKED and because of that, they believe that everything is a trick. Thomas has been conditioned to not trust anyone but Minho and Newt. The three jointly decide to forego their memories because they will never be able to know if they are real.

This shift between wanting to know and not wanting to know is important. It goes to show that Thomas has finally figured out that knowing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Knowing won't necessarily make anything better.

That's it for now. Leave your thoughts in the comments. Or really leave anything in the comments. Sarcasm, mischief, brownie recipes. Anything. I'm starting to feel like I'm talking to myself here.

Until next time, happy reading.