"Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Page
7 18 25 44 109-110 116 119 |
Passage
It was too late to worry now, though. What could they do to her, anyway? In three months she'd be a pretty herself. "But we're..." She pointed at her scar.
"Take a look, Tally." He held out his own hand. The skin of his palm was smooth and unblemished. It was a hand that said: I don't have to work very hard, and I'm too clever to have accidents. The scar that they had made together was gone. "They took it away." Of course Peris didn't have the scar anymore. The two of them had only used a penknife when they'd cut themselves and held hands. The doctors used much sharper and bigger knives in the operation. They rubbed you raw, and you grew all new skin, perfect and clear. The old marks of accident and bad food and childhood illnesses all washed away. A clean start.
"Sure, great. But first let's get this right."
"What do you mean 'get it right,' Tally? Maybe I think my face is already right!" "Yeah, it's great." Tally rolled her eyes. "For an ugly." Shay scowled. "What, can't you stand me? Do you need to get some picture into your head so you can imagine it instead of my face?" "Shay! Come on. It's just for fun." "Making ourselves feel ugly is not fun." "We are ugly." "This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves." Dr. Cable bared her teeth. This time, it wasn't even a mockery of a smile. The woman became nothing but a monster, vengeful and inhuman. "Then I'll make you a promise too, Tally Youngblood. Until you do help us, to the very best of your ability, you will never be pretty."
Tally bit her lip. "I don't think I can help them... I mean, I promised Shay that I wouldn't tell anyone her plans."
[Tally's parents] were silent for a moment... "Tally, we all make promises when we're little. That's part of being an ugly - everything's exciting and intense and important, but you have to grow out of it. After all, you don't owe this girl anything. She's done nothing but cause you trouble." "In any case," Ellie interrupted, "why make a fuss? This'll all be over in no time. Just have a nice chat with Special Circumstances, tell them everything, and you'll be headed where you really want to be... Sweetheart," Ellie said, patting her leg, "what other choice do you have?"
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Reactions, Comments, Questions
In the society Tally lives in, everyone turns pretty (unless they run away) at sixteen. If she were to misbehave at all, are officials really willing to revoke her right of passage altogether, thus destroying the life plan they built? Is there any danger whatsoever in Tally's life in the city? After the operation, Tally's 3-month-older friend Peris doesn't have the scar of their friendship. Memories and symbols are abolished by the operations, allowing pretties to forget who they once were and hide from friends they once had.
What if a person requested a scar be left behind, because it helped them remember a time they held close? Would officials allow that? If they would, would people have a sense of rebellion because they held a part of them that made them ugly? If that's the case, is one of the underlying causes the society has operations is to make their citizens less human (because being human is having marks of accidents, bad food and childhood illnesses) to avoid the need for rebellion and self-worth?
When deciding on what Tally would like to look like after the operation, she tries to encourage Shay to do it too, but Shay does not agree with the operation altogether and refuses to. Shay argues that the idea of one day being what society believes is "pretty" is just making "uglies" today believe they are in fact ugly.
Shay is convinced that this "game" (a simulator for possible operation outcomes) is made to make people's one and only dream to be pretty - that the game is meant to brainwash its players. In this case, Tally's dream to be pretty is being used against her. Also, Dr. Cable is unknowingly using Tally's promises against her, making Tally decide against her will between Peris and Shay. She promised Shay not to tell anyone of Shay's whereabouts, but she also told Peris she would be pretty.
Tally is stuck between betraying Shay or breaking her promise to Peris when her parents decide to pay her a visit. When Tally briefly describes the situation her parents tell her to do what's best for herself: to become a pretty, to reach that right of passage, to have a life with no difficulty, to be like everyone else. Because these are the people that raised Tally from a "littlie' to an ugly, she may feel obligated to follow her parents directions.
Again, Tally is facing a parental influence. "What other choice do you have?" can make a person feel vulnerable and helpless, like they can only decide on one thing.
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Retell
In Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, Tally Youngblood is an 'Ugly' three months away from her 16th birthday, or rather the day she becomes a 'Pretty' by undergoing an operation like all Uglies do. Tally is excited to finally look like all the large-eyed, breathtaking Pretties and join her best friend Peris in New Pretty Town across the river from the Uglyville. But, while Peris is enjoying his life as a Pretty without Tally, Tally meets Shay who has the same birthday as Tally. The two spend their summer laughing, hoverboarding, and pulling tricks on the new Uglies until the week before their birthdays. At this point, Shay confesses that she doesn't want to be a Pretty, she wants to live as an Ugly for life in a secret community called the Smoke. Tally refuses to join her but promises to keep Shay's secret. On the day of her operation, Tally is approached by Special Circumstances who demands to know where Shay ran off to. When Tally refuses to break her promise, Special circumstances promises Tally that if she doesn't tell where Shay went, Tally will never be a Pretty. This bribery forces Tally to confess, but Special Circumstances throws in a twist: Tally must find the Smoke to the best of her ability to become Pretty. Tally agrees and she sets off for the Smoke wearing a heart necklace that would find her once activated by Tally. After a few days of deciphering the directions to the Smoke Shay had left her, Tally finds the Smoke and meets the David that Shay had talked about so much. Tally decides to wait to activate her pendant, giving her time to work as an Ugly in a place where Uglies are accepted. When David learns more about Tally he believes she should know the truth about the operation. He takes her to his parents who were previously surgeons in the society Tally had loved, and they tell Tally that the operation doesn't just change you physically. The operation also takes out your will to rebel against the society. Tally begins to like the Smoke and feels more welcome there than she ever had in the city, so she decides to burn her pendant. Little did she know, the pendant activates itself when damaged. The next morning the Smoke is taken over by Special Circumstances and Shay realizes it must have been Tally's fault. Tally escapes Special Circumstances' grasp and finds David hiding in a cave they had visited together before. They decide to try and save all of the members of the Smoke, and Tally hopes the rescue could prove to David that was no longer a hidden spy like Special Circumstances had sent her to be, but a real Smokie.
In Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, Tally Youngblood is an 'Ugly' three months away from her 16th birthday, or rather the day she becomes a 'Pretty' by undergoing an operation like all Uglies do. Tally is excited to finally look like all the large-eyed, breathtaking Pretties and join her best friend Peris in New Pretty Town across the river from the Uglyville. But, while Peris is enjoying his life as a Pretty without Tally, Tally meets Shay who has the same birthday as Tally. The two spend their summer laughing, hoverboarding, and pulling tricks on the new Uglies until the week before their birthdays. At this point, Shay confesses that she doesn't want to be a Pretty, she wants to live as an Ugly for life in a secret community called the Smoke. Tally refuses to join her but promises to keep Shay's secret. On the day of her operation, Tally is approached by Special Circumstances who demands to know where Shay ran off to. When Tally refuses to break her promise, Special circumstances promises Tally that if she doesn't tell where Shay went, Tally will never be a Pretty. This bribery forces Tally to confess, but Special Circumstances throws in a twist: Tally must find the Smoke to the best of her ability to become Pretty. Tally agrees and she sets off for the Smoke wearing a heart necklace that would find her once activated by Tally. After a few days of deciphering the directions to the Smoke Shay had left her, Tally finds the Smoke and meets the David that Shay had talked about so much. Tally decides to wait to activate her pendant, giving her time to work as an Ugly in a place where Uglies are accepted. When David learns more about Tally he believes she should know the truth about the operation. He takes her to his parents who were previously surgeons in the society Tally had loved, and they tell Tally that the operation doesn't just change you physically. The operation also takes out your will to rebel against the society. Tally begins to like the Smoke and feels more welcome there than she ever had in the city, so she decides to burn her pendant. Little did she know, the pendant activates itself when damaged. The next morning the Smoke is taken over by Special Circumstances and Shay realizes it must have been Tally's fault. Tally escapes Special Circumstances' grasp and finds David hiding in a cave they had visited together before. They decide to try and save all of the members of the Smoke, and Tally hopes the rescue could prove to David that was no longer a hidden spy like Special Circumstances had sent her to be, but a real Smokie.
Relate
Tally Youngblood wants to be what is considered pretty in her society because she thinks she will finally be respected and accepted by others. This is the same kind of pressure people - but mainly women - face today. Women and girls cannot go anywhere without seeing posters, billboards, or magazines covered by a fit celebrity plastered over it. The majority of us begin to compare ourselves to the woman that people apparently like to see, and we start thinking, "Well, I look nothing like her, people must not find me attractive." Some go on crash diets, some cover themselves in a thick layer of makeup, some even consider plastic surgery like what occurs on a regular basis in Uglies. As much as I hate to admit it, I can personally say I've felt this way before, though the only dramatic thing I had ever done was try to hide in the shadows of everything by wearing all black and looking like racoon - hoping that no one would notice that I didn't look like the cookie cutter shape.
Tally Youngblood wants to be what is considered pretty in her society because she thinks she will finally be respected and accepted by others. This is the same kind of pressure people - but mainly women - face today. Women and girls cannot go anywhere without seeing posters, billboards, or magazines covered by a fit celebrity plastered over it. The majority of us begin to compare ourselves to the woman that people apparently like to see, and we start thinking, "Well, I look nothing like her, people must not find me attractive." Some go on crash diets, some cover themselves in a thick layer of makeup, some even consider plastic surgery like what occurs on a regular basis in Uglies. As much as I hate to admit it, I can personally say I've felt this way before, though the only dramatic thing I had ever done was try to hide in the shadows of everything by wearing all black and looking like racoon - hoping that no one would notice that I didn't look like the cookie cutter shape.
Reflect
Throughout about half of the book, Tally is still very much drawn to the idea of being pretty. Does she really want the operation just to look like a dazzling pretty, or does she need to feel like she is accepted for what she looks like, even if she'll look like everyone else? Would Tally still have wanted to be pretty had her parents or best friend not been pretty? If that's the case, then I can conclude that conforming in this society is more than just being influenced by those around you. Perhaps aging into an ugly and living apart from their parents makes people in this society more susceptible to the subtle brainwashing that occurs within the schools. That makes me wonder if Uglyville and New Pretty Town hadn't existed, would people be still be drawn to the operation? Or, is isolation key to forcing people to conform?
Throughout about half of the book, Tally is still very much drawn to the idea of being pretty. Does she really want the operation just to look like a dazzling pretty, or does she need to feel like she is accepted for what she looks like, even if she'll look like everyone else? Would Tally still have wanted to be pretty had her parents or best friend not been pretty? If that's the case, then I can conclude that conforming in this society is more than just being influenced by those around you. Perhaps aging into an ugly and living apart from their parents makes people in this society more susceptible to the subtle brainwashing that occurs within the schools. That makes me wonder if Uglyville and New Pretty Town hadn't existed, would people be still be drawn to the operation? Or, is isolation key to forcing people to conform?