54 pages • 1 hour read
James DashnerThe Kill Order
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Technology
The Kill Order takes place in a dystopian society that is still in the middle of rebuilding after a natural disaster. Most of the past society is gone, and technology symbolizes that lost society in addition to signifying hope for the future. For instance, when a Berg—an airship—appears in the sky above the settlement where the main characters live, it is instantly a symbol of hope to most of the survivors. This Berg is a technological relic that reminds the survivors what life was like before the world was altered by the solar flares and electricity became a thing of memory. In this same way, when Mark and Alec find a workpad on the Berg, this is also a symbol of a time gone by. The programs on the workpad imply it is meant to be both used for work and entertainment, but this kind of device is no longer relevant to most people in post-flare society.
Toward the end of the novel, Mark and Alec find several weapons they call Transvices. These items are also symbolic of the society Mark and Alec once lived in because they are clearly advanced, elite weaponry; Alec confirms the Transvice is an expensive item that most people would not have been able to access. The Transvice destroys targets on a molecular level, reducing them to dust. Not only is this weapon a symbol of the society Mark and Alec lived in, but it is also a symbol of the technological advancement of that society.
The Flare
The Flare virus is a motif of not only this novel, but in most of the novels in the Maze Runner series. In this novel, the Flare symbolizes the danger of hubris and the thinking that humans can control life and death. The Flare is the result of the PFC’s attempt to play God; they choose who should live and who should die with the goal of reducing the burden on the available resources. However, they have no idea what they are dealing with and release an uncontrollable viral strain on the population. Now, the PFC has to fix the problem it caused, making finding a cure for the Flare the motivation of the entire Maze Runner series. The magnitude of the PFC’s miscalculation is highlighted by the PFC’s belief that the virus that became the Flare was only supposed to be contagious for a short time; however, the virus’s mutation has caused it to be highly contagious for a very long time, as the first three novels unfold 13 years after the end of The Kill Order.
Teen Romance
In addition to being dystopian science fiction, the Maze Runner series is about teenage romance. In the core novels, Thomas and Theresa are the protagonist love interests, and in The Kill Order, their counterparts are Mark and Trina. The series’ focus on teen romance makes it relatable to readers and brings the highly conceptual world and storyline down to earth. The motif of teen romance shows the enduring power of love: Even after society’s destruction, Mark still has a crush on Trina. The solar flares and the damage they cause severely alter Mark and Trina’s life paths, but the intensity of their situation only draws them closer together. While their relationship remains a small sub-plot of the novel, teen romance is part of the greater themes of Survival and Found Kinship and hope for a better future. As long as it is possible to love, it is possible for people to be happy, regardless of their circumstances. This belief motivates both Mark and Alec’s actions, though Alec’s relationship with Lana is based primarily on mutual respect rather than romantic love. If not for Trina, Mark might have given up. The same is true for Thomas and Theresa in the rest of the Maze Runner series.
Related Titles
By James Dashner
