Maslows Hierarchy of needs analysis on Maze Runner.

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs analysis on The Maze Runner

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is used throughout the movie 'The Maze Runner'. The hierarchy suggests that humans need all of the following in which I will talk about in this analysis of 'The Maze Runner'.

These are following needs included in the hierarchy:
Note - to look at the specifics within each category, feel free to check my recent post about Audience and Theorists.

Physical needs:

In 'The maze runner' physical needs such as water, food and sleep are extremely important as the movie is set in a enigmatic area where people who are placed there have to live together on rations of food that is delivered every month, uncomfortable to sleep and little water. From the movie it is then evident to say that all humans do need these needs, also this can give an uncomfortable feeling towards the audience.

Safety and security needs:

The safety and security needs include being safe and healthy. These are used in the movie to connote the place they are in this then denotes that their safety and health is in danger. The audience is able to see this in a part of the movie when they are getting chased by what they call 'grievers', this scene builds up the tension of being chased to seem like the audience is felling what the characters feel in the movie.

Here is a screen grab of the main character running away,

Love and Belonging and Esteem:

Love and belonging includes a sense of belonging and a community however this movie contain very little of that which is exactly why it connotes the reason why all humans need love and belonging. The audience is able to see this in the movie as firstly the characters are deemed to be quite young in movie and so were obviously very close to their family in which they were taken away from this then denotes their lack of belonging, however as most of the characters had lived together for some time they are in some ways able to discover belonging and a community again. Also its is evident that the characters esteem is quite respectful to one another as they work together and listen to what each other have got to say which is important in the sort of situation they are in as they need to work together to survive.

This screen grab connotes the young age of the characters. The audience can see that the character on the right is very young.

Self actualization:

 Lastly, in the movie the audience is able to see the creative, independent side of these young characters as they are seen battling through different tough scenarios throughout the movie, some may also say that without their family they are now very independent which in some cases is important as they now know how to live without help.

In this screen grab, creativity is shown as this character used sticks to create the layout of a whole maze meaning that they can find a way out.

Here is the trailer for the movie in case you are more interested in it, enjoy!