Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Book Analysis

Have you ever felt like you were being excluded from a special event? That heart-wrenching feeling it creates, as you watch all your friends abandon you? No one ever wants to experience such depressing feelings, so we try to fit in. But the strong demand to fit in is sometimes not worth the effects towards yourself and your loved ones. Sometimes, people can only imagine the benefits of fitting in to the majority of people. In this world of beautiful people, the ugly people can only dream of fitting in. In this story, the main protagonist, Tally, is about to turn pretty, with her upcoming sixteenth birthday. An operation is held during the sixteenth birthday for all the ugly people to turn into an attractive beauty. Tally’s only wish is to become pretty, but after meeting Shay, a girl who opposes the operation, Tally is questioning her dream and learning the truth about the secrets her society holds of this operation. One important theme in Uglies is that the desire to fit in can sometimes lead to dangerous situations and the betrayal of trust. 

In the beginning of the story, Tally risks her friendship, as well as herself, in order to undergo the operation and to be pretty. Tally decides to agree with Dr. Cable’s offer to find Shay, Tally’s friend who ran away, she messages Dr. Cable and Tally says, “‘Message to Dr. Cable, or whomever. I’ll do what you want. Just let me sleep for a while. Message Over’” (Westerfeld 128). Tally has a burning desire to fit in with the rest of the people her age, who are going under the operation to become pretty. With the fear of never becoming pretty, Tally decides to call out her best friend’s actions for her sake of finally reaching her dream, despite Shay being a sister-like figure to her. Eventually, Tally follows Shay’s instructions to get to the Smoke, and Tally reminisces about her dream of falling: “Making a mistake shouldn’t be hard. But what was the worst mistake? She’d almost killed herself once today already” (158). Acknowledging the immense possibility of death, Tally is desperate to follow Shay’s instructions to find her. With the journey of traveling to the Smoke being excruciating, Tally has no idea how one minor mistake can cause major injuries. Tally dedicates her life to finding Shay, even though she has to face the fears of never reaching her dreams, as well as the harsh pains of reality throughout her journey. On the quest to find Shay, Tally finds herself to be in a life-threatening issue: “Billowing clouds of smoke surrounded her, blotting out the sky. A ragged wall of flame moved through the flowers, giving off a wave of blistering heat” (172). Because Tally agreed with Dr. Cable’s terms to find Shay, Tally has to go through extreme conditions, like surviving off of the same food and facing the disasters nature causes. Knowing that Tally has to go according to Dr. Cable’s plan, Tally has determination to survive through the fire, and puts aside the risk of dying. Tally’s final choice to take on the challenge of finding Shay becomes a test of endurance and survival, with Tally suffering in the wild to reach her dream of becoming pretty. 

After arriving at the Smoke, Tally has a change of heart, making her want to stay in the beautiful place she came to. As a result of Tally wanting to stay with the Smokies, she unintentionally ends up sending the Specials to ruin the Smoke. Tally burns the necklace Dr. Cable gave her to send the Special Circumstances to her, and thinks that she has proven her trust to David and the Smokies, but she does not know that it was a huge mistake: “The next morning she awoke to chaos, the sounds of running, shouting, and the scream of machines invading her dream. Out the bunkhouse window, the sky was full of hovercars. Special Circumstances had arrived” (284). With Tally’s need to not look like an outcast to the Smokies, she finally takes action on it. Tally finally notices that her biggest mistake was to expose Shay and the people from the Smoke, so she tries to fix her fault by disposing of the necklace that Dr. Cable gave her, but she does not expect the consequences of intentionally damaging the necklace. The Special Circumstances arrives and keeps the people from the Smoke locked up: “They marched to the rabbit pen, where about forty handcuffed Smokies sat inside the wire fence. A dozen or so Specials stood in a cordon around them, watching their captives with empty expressions'' (297). Consequently, the people from the Smoke must suffer the consequences of being held in captivity, while Tally looks like a traitor. With this one mistake from Tally, the Smokies must endure misery. On the other hand, Dr. Cable gets her priorities managed accordingly, even if that was not what Tally intended on happening after seeing the beauty of the Smoke. Tally grows a bond with the people from the Smoke, but she never knew that her fear of becoming ugly would interfere with her close friends and the bond she created with the Smokies. 

On the contrary, Shay urges to be with David, the Smokies, and also Tally at the same time, but she does not know the threat of her strong demand for friendship. Shay gives Tally an opportunity to accompany her while running away together to the Smoke, and Shay says, “‘Yeah. Get it? Only you could figure it out, in case someone finds it. You know, if you ever want to follow me’” (94). Shay wants to run away to the Smoke to join the rest of her friends that ran away before her, like David, so Shay finally faces her reluctance and sneaks away. Shay never had the courage to run away before meeting Tally, but after mustering up the courage to run away, Shay takes the chance to be with David without any regrets. Even though she offers Tally the opportunity to come with her, Shay does not know the threat that Tally is going to bring. Weeks after Tally’s arrival to the Smoke, Shay finally finds out Tally’s scheme and regrets ever giving her directions to the Smoke: “‘You did this!’ Her whole body writhed like a snake in its death throes. ‘Stealing my boyfriend wasn’t enough? You had to betray the whole Smoke?’” (301). Despite Tally and Shay becoming friends in such a short amount of time, Shay finally notices the betrayal from Tally when everyone from the Smoke were being captured by the Specials. Because Shay wanted Tally to stay with her friends in the Smoke, Tally caused Shay more trouble than fun. Shay was originally blinded by her demand to be with David, but Shay’s friendship with Tally and David slowly starts to drift away, as she finally realizes the betrayal of trust Tally has caused between the friends and the Smokies.

Overall, a theme that develops in Uglies is that the desire to fit in can sometimes lead to dangerous situations and the betrayal of trust. Tally risks losing her best friend, her new close friends, and people’s homes for her own sake and dreams to become pretty. Shay is also blinded by her goals and hopes, making her jeopardize her friendship with David and the Smokies. This story speaks out to many readers. People may have various demands for their dreams, but these demands can lead to bigger issues, and essentially, these problems can be a betrayal or a broken friendship. We must understand the consequences that our hopes can cause for not just ourselves, but the people that surround us and the people we care about or love. We must see the bigger picture, by thinking more about our choices and its effects, before our requests turn into regrets. Your strongest desire can always find a way to turn negative, leading to big regrets.