Uglies (novel series)
 |
| Uglies Pretties Specials Extras | |
| Author | Scott Westerfeld |
|---|---|
| Original title | Uglies Trilogy |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult, Science fiction, Fantasy |
| Publisher | Simon Pulse |
| Published | 2005 - 2007 |
| Media type | Softcover |
Uglies is a book by Scott Westerfeld for ages 11 and up. The story follows a teenage girl named Tally Youngblood who lives several centuries from now in a futuristic city where you're a "littlie" until you turn twelve, when you go to live in an ugly dorm. Uglies are educated into thinking they're hideous until they turn 16, when they get an operation that turns them into beautiful "Pretties." Right after the operation, they are "New Pretties": self-absorbed fools whose only purpose in life seems to be to party. "Middle Pretties" have picked their professions and gone through a second, minor operation that makes them look older and wiser; "Late Pretties," or "Crumblies," are parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. The point of these operations is to stop wars and disagreements among people just because they look different from one another, and it is later discovered that the operation gives people brain damage (e.g., brain lesions presumably similar in effect to a lobotomy), eliminating disputes, anger, unhappiness, creativity, despair, or a desire to be different.
The series, originally designed to be a trilogy, has four books, with the fourth released in 2007. If the first three covers are lined up spine-to-spine, a mouth, an ear, and an eye are visible on each book, a possible reference to the three wise monkeys. The fourth book, Extras, takes place a few years after the mind-rain brought about by Tally Youngblood, the main character of the proper trilogy (Uglies/Pretties/Specials), which ended the Prettytime. Aya Fuse's (main character of the fourth book) city now runs on a "fame economy," which was invented when it was discovered that non-bubbleheads consume way too many resources to keep the Prettytime economy afloat.
The series shares many of its themes with the 1964 The Twilight Zone episode "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You." [1] In a blog posting, the author of the books notes that he has seen the episode in his childhood and had forgotten all the details. [2]
Characters
- Tally is the first three books' protagonist. As an ugly she has frizzy hair, thin lips, a small nose, and small eyes, giving her the nickname "Squint." In Uglyville, everyone is "ugly". At the age of 16 everyone gets plastic surgery to become "pretty". All she wants is to be pretty until her friend Shay, who wants to keep her own face and not look like everyone else, challenges her world view. Shay invites Tally to run away with her to the Smoke, a place where no one has any operation to become pretty and no one is in charge. Government operatives (specifically, a department called "Special Circumstances") blackmail Tally into following Shay, but when Tally reaches The Smoke, she realizes she would rather stay than return to her city and become pretty.
- Shay is Tally's rebellious friend who runs away to the Smoke because she hates the "pretty" operation. As an ugly she is skinny with two long, dark pigtails. Before she runs away she teaches Tally to hoverboard and she also tries in various ways to convince Tally that being 'pretty' isn't good or natural. When the Smoke is invaded, Shay realizes Tally is a traitor. However, once captured, she is the first to be turned Pretty and she forgives Tally solely because her brain has been damaged (due to the surgery, New Pretties become "bubbly"). She refuses to take the pills that would cure her brain damage that David and his mom had created.
- David is Tally's love interest and the leader of the Smoke. He convinces uglies that their way of life and the "pretty" operation is corrupt. He and his family/followers live life like the "Rusties" (ancient people). They cut down trees to burn in fires for warmth, trade things for goods, and make their own clothes. Tally and Shay find their place in the Smoke. And along the way Tally teaches David about love while David teaches Tally how to live in the wild.
- Zane is the second person Tally falls in love with. On the first day they kissed, they take nano pills that were supposed to get rid of their brain lesions, but Zane took the pill with the nanos and Tally took the pill that would stop the nanos after curing the lesions (both characters did not know this at the time). This ultimately gives Zane brain damage, showed early on as constant head-aches and at one point, he stops breathing. In the end, he tries to get surgery to fix him, but makes him a vegetable and he dies in Diego.
- Aya is the main character in the fourth book. All she ever wants to do is become famous. When she goes undercover and kicks a story about the Sly Girls (a group of girls who ride the mag-lev trains' roof tops for fun) she uncovers something much more dangerous than mag-lev surfing, she uncovers a City Killer. She meets up with Tally because the "inhumans" try to kidnap her, but Tally has other plans. They escape and go to one of the inhumans cities in Singapore where they find out that all they are trying to do is set up a self-supported space station. When they finally get back home, she is the 3rd most famous person in the city.
Themes
The price of perfection
A main idea of the series is whether or not perfection can be achieved unless individuality, genuine emotions, and free choice are given up.
Body Image
Tally, and all the rest of the Uglies, are taught to hate themselves because they all have some form of physical imperfection and because of that they are not worth much as human beings . This weakness, one that everyone has, is used to turn the Uglies into beautiful, thoughtless sheep - Pretties. Exploiting self-consciousness and unhealthy body image is the way that the city runs.
Manipulative government
Throughout the series, Special Circumstances, headed by Dr. Cable, cunningly tricks Tally into doing their bidding. She ultimately realizes that they are just following the whims of a psychotic Dr. Cable and she cannot be trusted.
The environment
The books often mention the "Rusties," the civilization that existed prior to the one in the story (ours). The Rusties' downfall was caused by their dependence on oil. Someone invented a virus that turned oil extremely flammable (so much that it explodes when it touches oxygen) and when it explodes the smoke carries the virus to new oil deposits. In the pretty world, environmental protection is one reason the government brainwashes people, to keep them consuming the same amount of resources and staying inside the city; children are taught that if they want live in nature, they would have to choose between living like Rusties, "burning trees for fuel and burying their junk everywhere", or living like animals.
The world today
Scott Westerfeld has stated that the idea for the series came from his observation that our society is slowly morphing into one where physical perfection will be expected, possibly ending up with a world like that in Uglies.
Unstable future
If we don't stop using all our major resources and realize our planet is in danger, our future will be killed.
References
- Westerfeld, Scott. Specials, Simon Pulse 2007. ISBN 978-1-4169-4795-0 (pbk)