The Scorch Trials Suffering

This seems to be one of the central ethical issues surrounding the whole WICKED experiment: even if the kids do emerge safe and victorious, they're all going to be pretty messed up as a result of all of the trauma they've experienced.

The amount of suffering these kids go through actually messes with their emotions, causing them to be confused in situations in which their instincts should tell them, Hey, you should be scared right now, or Hey, you should be excited right now.

The whole world sucks. Hmm, that's a pretty nice outlook—but how can you blame Thomas for thinking so? Is there anything good about the world he's been placed into?

Here is another example of how Thomas is truly put through horrible circumstances. Hope can sometimes be the one force that can keep someone going; without hope, giving up seems like a pretty viable option. What does Thomas hope for?

Traumatic suffering can be worse than physical suffering—just ask Winston, whose head was attacked by a gigantic silver blob.

Sometimes suffering doesn't always happen to the person who is harmed; it can also happen to the person who is doing the harming. Thomas is super traumatized when he kills Mr. Nose, and we have a feeling that'll haunt him for some time.

That's a pretty accurate way to sum everything up for the Gladers. Thanks, Thomas, for the insight.

Thomas thinks about Ben right while he himself is being closed off by Teresa and Aris. Understanding someone else's suffering—in this case knowing Ben's—is a direct path to feeling empathy.

Yeah, we should probably keep in mind that all of this suffering is being experienced by kids. It's one thing for a bunch of grown adults to be suffering through WICKED's trials, but these are just kids—their brains haven't fully developed, and their lives haven't really been lived yet.

Thomas feels like everyone's suffering has gone too far, so he can't bear to see more death. He says this to a WICKED officer, pretty much demanding that he not kill Brenda.