Uglies Theme

In the first book of Scott Westerfeld's dystopian book series Uglies, the setting takes place in a futuristic society, where everyone must undergo an operation when they turn 16 to be turned from a undereducated ugly, into a beautiful pretty. The main character, Tally, is an average 15 year old girl, who can’t wait to turn pretty and live the pretty life. Two month before she turns pretty, she meets another ugly, Shay, who doesn't want to follow the cities rules and wants to stay ugly forever. As their birthdays near, Shay tries to convince Tally to come with her to Smoke, an outside town where people don’t have to follow the cities limitations and can live freely. The central theme of this novel is that people can be manipulated into thinking …show more content…
Shay was sitting on Tally’s bed, telling Tally that the game was stupid and was designed to make you hate yourself as an ugly. Tally started to say what every ugly learns in school, that “Everyone judges everyone else based on their appearance. People that were taller got better jobs, and people even voted for some politicians just because they weren't quite as ugly as everyone else.” (Westerfeld, 43). Then later in the conversation, she said “ So what if people looked more alike now. It's the only way to make people equal.” (Westerfeld, 43). In schools, they teach students that the people in society will judge you off your appearance, and that being different in you apperience will make you not successful in life. They make the uglies recite them in class, so the teachers can make sure the idea is drilled into their …show more content…
While they were looking out the windows of their dorm room, watching the fireworks in New Pretty town, Shay confirmed to Tally that she was leaving for Smoke, and how she isn't going to turn pretty. She said to Tally “It's about becoming what I want to become. Not what some surgical committee thinks I should be.” (Westerfeld, 90). Tally tries to argue back and says “You're still yourself on the inside Shay, but when your pretty, people pay more attention to you.” (Westerfeld, 90). Shay responded and said that not everybody thinks that way, but when she said that, Tally said that if Shay didn’t come back before she was twenty, they operation wouldn't work, and she would stay “wrong” forever. This scene shows that Shay wants to be independent, doesn't want to be brainwashed, and turned into a fake pretty with no natural beauty. It also shows that Tally believes that being ugly is the same as looking “wrong”, and that when your pretty, you will get more attention and become popular. Tally was manipulated into thinking that Uglies were useless and “wrong”, and that being a beautiful pretty was the only acceptable