The Scorch Trials
Chapter 65
by Dashner, JamesThomas wakes up disoriented in a stark white, padded room, immediately sensing that something is terribly wrong. The sterile environment, with its spongy floor and bright lights, feels eerily familiar, reminiscent of the Box from his past. Despite the unsettling surroundings, he remains oddly calm, refusing to panic. He notices a solitary brown desk and a door, but an invisible barrier prevents him from reaching them. Resigned to his situation, Thomas decides to wait, convinced this is another phase of the Trials orchestrated by WICKED.
Attempting to reach out telepathically, Thomas calls for Teresa, Aris, and even Brenda, but receives no response. The silence deepens his isolation, and he begins to question whether his memories of Brenda are real or fabricated. His frustration grows as he realizes he’s trapped, yet he suppresses his fear, choosing instead to sit and rest. Eventually, he falls asleep, only to be abruptly awakened by Teresa’s voice in his mind, revealing that days have passed since their separation.
Teresa explains that WICKED has taken Thomas away, claiming the Flare has driven him violent. Thomas, however, suspects this is another manipulation tactic. The revelation that he’s been unconscious for nearly a week unsettles him, and he struggles to trust Teresa, given her past deceptions. His confusion and anger simmer as he questions her motives and the authenticity of their connection. The emotional weight of their fractured friendship becomes unbearable, fueling his resentment.
In a burst of rage, Thomas demands Teresa leave him alone and cuts off their communication, refusing to participate further in WICKED’s games. Teresa’s final words, “WICKED is good,” leave him grappling with doubt and betrayal. The chapter ends with Thomas alone, consumed by anger and determination to break free from the cycle of control, signaling a turning point in his resolve to resist WICKED’s influence.
FAQs
1. How does Thomas initially react to waking up in the white room, and how does his reaction evolve throughout the chapter?
Answer:
When Thomas first wakes in the white room, he immediately senses that “everything was wrong” and that he had lost everything again. Despite his instinct to panic or scream for help, he feels an unexpected calm, rationalizing that this is another phase of the Trials and vowing to fight for freedom. However, as he learns from Teresa that he’s been isolated for nearly a week and that WICKED claims he’s “crazy and violent,” his calm gives way to fear and anger. By the chapter’s end, his rage peaks, leading him to sever ties with Teresa and reject WICKED’s games entirely.2. Analyze the significance of Thomas’s communication with Teresa in this chapter. What does it reveal about their relationship and his trust in WICKED?
Answer:
Thomas’s telepathic exchange with Teresa highlights the fractured trust between them. While he initially reaches out to her for answers, her revelation about WICKED’s claims and the time gap triggers his suspicion. His internal monologue acknowledges her past lies, and his anger culminates in cutting her off entirely. This breakdown reflects his growing disillusionment—not just with Teresa but with WICKED’s manipulations. Teresa’s final words, “WICKED is good,” underscore the ideological divide between them, leaving Thomas isolated and defiant. The communication serves as a turning point where he rejects passive compliance for active resistance.3. How does the setting of the white room contribute to the chapter’s themes of control and psychological manipulation?
Answer:
The sterile, padded white room symbolizes WICKED’s absolute control over Thomas. Its design—uniform whiteness, unreachable light, and an invisible barrier—mirrors the Maze’s psychological traps, reinforcing his powerlessness. The lone brown desk, a stark contrast, may represent a false hope of agency. The room’s cleanliness (“ammonia and soap”) and isolation evoke clinical detachment, suggesting WICKED views Thomas as an experiment rather than a person. This environment intensifies the theme of manipulation by stripping him of sensory stimuli and social contact, leaving him vulnerable to doubt and fear, which WICKED exploits to break his resolve.4. Why does Thomas’s emotional state shift from calm to rage, and what does this reveal about his character development?
Answer:
Thomas’s initial calm stems from his determination to “end” the Trials, showing his growth from a reactive survivor to a strategic rebel. However, Teresa’s news—that he’s been imprisoned for days and labeled unstable—triggers his rage because it exposes WICKED’s gaslighting tactics. His fury reflects his refusal to be manipulated further, marking a pivotal moment in his arc: where he once sought answers from Teresa and WICKED, he now rejects both. This shift highlights his growing autonomy and moral clarity, as he prioritizes self-preservation and defiance over blind trust in systems or people who’ve betrayed him.5. Evaluate Teresa’s final statement, “WICKED is good.” How might this impact Thomas’s future actions?
Answer:
Teresa’s declaration is a loaded ideological claim that starkly contrasts with Thomas’s experiences. For him, WICKED’s cruelty (memory wipes, isolation, and false narratives) invalidates any purported “good.” This phrase likely hardens his resolve to resist WICKED, as it confirms Teresa’s alignment with their agenda. Future actions may involve him seeking allies outside WICKED (like Brenda) or sabotaging their plans. The statement also deepens the thematic conflict between utilitarian “greater good” justifications (Teresa’s view) and individual autonomy (Thomas’s stance), setting up a broader philosophical clash in the narrative.
Quotes
1. “He sat straight up, covered in sweat. Even before he could fully compute his surroundings, before all the information traveled through the nerve wires and cognitive functions of his brain, he knew that everything was wrong. That everything had been taken from him all over again.”
This opening passage powerfully captures Thomas’s visceral disorientation and the recurring trauma of being reset within WICKED’s experiments. It establishes the chapter’s tone of psychological struggle and institutional control.
2. “I’m not going to panic, he told himself. It had to be another phase of the Trials, and this time he’d fight to change things—to end it all.”
This quote shows Thomas’s developing resolve against WICKED’s manipulations, marking a turning point from passive subject to active rebel. His internal monologue reveals both his coping strategy and growing determination.
3. “Tom, it’s been almost a week.”
Teresa’s revelation about the lost time creates one of the chapter’s most unsettling moments, exposing the depth of WICKED’s control and manipulation. This temporal dislocation fundamentally shakes Thomas’s understanding of his reality.
4. “Thomas couldn’t control it anymore. Rage pulsed inside of him. Luckily, he only had to think the words, because he could never have spoken them aloud.”
This intense emotional moment captures the climax of Thomas’s breaking point with Teresa and WICKED. The restrained fury demonstrates how the Trials have transformed his character relationships.
5. “WICKED is good.”
Teresa’s final, ambiguous statement serves as the chapter’s chilling conclusion, encapsulating the central ideological conflict. This paradoxical claim lingers as both propaganda and potential truth, leaving readers to question the organization’s true nature.