English project 1 FNBE 0814

1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: Lim Yang Kang
STUDENT ID NO: 0320538
FILMS SELECTED: “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner”
WORD COUNT: 884 words
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: APRIL 3RD, 2015

2. Divergent vs The Maze Runner
What is science friction film? Science friction film is a film genre that uses science
fiction: speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully
accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds,
extrasensory perception and time travel, along with futuristic elements such as spacecraft,
robots, cyborgs, interstellar space travel or other technologies. And recently, I have
watched two famous and popular science film about extraterrestrial: “Divergent” and “The
Maze Runner”. I find these two movies are really awesome although they are different in
storyline, main character’s characteristics, theme and ending.
The storyline of the movie “Divergent” is Beatrice “Tris” Prior lives in a futuristic
world in which society is divided into five factions. As each person enters adulthood, he or
she must choose a faction and commit to it for life. Tris chooses Dauntless, those who
pursue bravery above all else. However, her initiation leads to the discovery that she is a
Divergent and will never be able to fit into just one faction. Warned that she must conceal
her status, Tris uncovers a looming war which threatens everyone she loves. On the other
hand, the storyline of “The Maze Runner” is about Thomas, a teenager, arrives in a glade
at the center of a giant labyrinth. Like the other youths dumped there before him, he has
no memory of his previous life. Thomas quickly becomes part of the group and soon after
demonstrates a unique perspective that scores him a promotion to Runner status, those
who patrol the always-changing maze to find an escape route. Together with Teresa, the
only female, Thomas tries to convince his cohorts that he knows a way out.
The main character in these two movies have different characteristics. The main
character in “Divergent” is Beatrice “Tris” Prior. Tris is very intelligent. She uses this skill to

3. get herself put off trouble. She is also a very skilled fighter. She learned several forms of
martial arts and kick boxing while living in Dauntess. Tris uses these skills to fight Peter,
Molly, Four, and several faction less people. She is also proficient with a hand gun. While
the main character in “The Maze Runner” is Thomas. Thomas is a pretty simple dude.
Being simple in a complex world is kinda refreshing, though. His decisions are mostly
based on a single driving factor: he wants to figure out the Maze. He wants to be a Runner
because it'll help solve the Maze and help the Gladers escape.
Next, the most difference between “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner” though, is
the theme. The main theme in “Divergent” is identity. Besides getting into Dauntless and
stopping a war, Tris's other big adventure in Divergent is figuring out who she is. But
identity isn't just about what's inside Tris —it's also about her relationships with family and
friends. A big part of identity here is figuring out where you fit in. Which is pretty hard for
most young people, including Tris. Instead of being able to be happy in one of the factions,
Tris's main identity is that she's Divergent. That means that no matter how hard she tries,
she's never going to fit into her world. However, the main theme of “The Maze Runner” is
manipulate. Manipulation might as well have been the alternative title for “The Maze
Runner”. Everything that happens to these poor kids is a direct result of someone at one
end pushing a button and then sitting back to see how they will all react. Each variable in
the experiment, whether it is killing someone in a gruesome manner or simply moving the
maze walls, is done to provoke responses for their research. Throughout the book our
characters are manipulated by an amoral entity, leading us to wonder whether it will all be
worth it in the end.
Last but not least, “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner” possessed different settings
as well. The setting of the movie “Divergent” is a futuristic, dystopian Chicago. For all its

4. Chicago-ness, the city where Tris lives isn't the Chicago we know and love. For one thing,
there's a giant fence that locks everyone into the city and for yet another other thing, large
parts of the city are crumbling or in ruins. It's now "a patchwork of new, clean buildings and
old, crumbling ones”. On the other hand, the setting for the movie “The Maze Runner” is
the Glade, a post-apocalyptically future. The Glade was built by a group of scientists from
WICKED as a sort of evaluation for some of the best and brightest orphans they could pick
from the millions that were left as a result of the Flare, a devastating epidemic that spread
unchecked throughout the world. So even though the boys spend all of their energy trying
to escape from it, the Glade is heaven compared to the real world. When they finally do
escape, it is to a plague-ridden, fire-ravaged wasteland.
In conclusion, “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner” have different between the
storyline, the characteristics of main character, theme and settings. Both of these movies
have interesting storyline and imaginative setting. Not only that, I really enjoyed watching
both movies as the main characters and the theme are really amazing and great.

5. References:
1. Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). The Maze Runner Setting. Retrieved
April 7, 2015, from http://www.shmoop.com/the-maze-runner/setting.html
2. Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Divergent What's Up With the Ending?
Retrieved April 7, 2015, from http://www.shmoop.com/divergent/ending.html
3. Definition of Science Fiction Movies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2015, from http://
www.explore-science-fiction-movies.com/definition-of-science-
fiction.html#axzz3WeWMcKGK
4. Thomas. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2015, from http://mazerunner.wikia.com/wiki/
Thomas#Physical_Appearance_and_Personality