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When’s in Society

A Review on 'Uglies' by Scott Westerfeld

By Xara B. WilliamsPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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A Review

"My name is Tally Youngblood..."

"M A K E M E P R E T T Y"

X A R A W I L L I A M S

When in Society:

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

In his "back-to-the-future" outlook on societal world transformation, Uglies, Scott Westerfeld creates a Jamais Vu-type novel in which our reality is the corruption of our society. Though the time period is not explicitly encouraged in his novel, it can easily be inferred that the story setting is years from now, but at the same time just around the corner, giving readers a spooky chill in figuring that this may actually be our future. Referring to humans today as "Rusties," the nickname thrived from our constant use of metal to build and construct, Westerfeld presents a "new world" in which our modern day commodities are almost entirely ripped from society as well as 'petty' human feelings such as "jealousy," "confidence," and "self-worth" from the mind. And in this, Westerfeld creates a prime example of Soren Kierkegaard's famous quote, "Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are."

It's safe to say that the unique outlook of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld embodies all the consequences of being brainwashed by our society, as it paints a very vivid picture of how the significant impact of the things we are exposed to or taught to believe in really affects us. In this 'new world,' you are taught to see yourselves as uglies from the moment you are born, until society says that you're not. The population is broken down into two essential groups; The Uglies, and The Pretties, and in this takes on the notion that in order to be pretty, you have to have a perfectly symmetrical face and body type. In comes female [and absolutely brainwashed], protagonist Tally Youngblood. Tally Youngblood represents the vast majority of teenagers now a day, who simply want the completely unrealistic beauty trends set by society, because of what they'd been tricked to believe about the latter, the latter being imperfection is hideous. "Maybe just being ugly is why uglies always fight and pick on one another, because they aren't happy with who they are. Well, I want to be happy, and looking like a real person is the first step."[Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld, 10. 80] What makes this case different from what we are used to is the fact that the "perfect body" and the "perfect face" is achievable all thanks to the newly set tradition which calls for everyone at the age of 16 to undergo intense surgical procedures in order to become pretty. But now when left alone waiting for her sixteenth birthday, Tally finds a new friend, and this new friend challenges everything she's taught to believe in.

Shay was the perfect contradictory character to set Tally straight from the crazy perception of what beauty is supposed to be because, unlike Tally, even labeled as an "ugly" Shay sincerely believes that she was pretty in her own little way. Sure she was aware of the little flaws here and there, but perfection is not natural. This is one of the overall messages Scott Westerfeld tries to convey through this story as overtime Shay's beliefs start to affect Tally. When placed on her adventures to find Smoke, a seemingly mythological place where uglies who don't want to conform to the rules of society run away to, Tally is placed into an environment that isn't ruled by the ridiculous beauty standards as she'd been used to, but an environment in which when everyone is 'ugly' everyone becomes pretty. And in this, she'd come to realize that it is not physical perfection that made one beautiful but rather the way they think and who they are on the inside.

The smoke was the turning point for Tally as this is where she meets David—a boy just like her who'd shown her that she'd been pretty all along. In a seemingly quick romance, Scott Westerfeld introduces the character of David, who was the official overseer of the people of Smoke, and overtime Tally's first love. As Tally begins to spend time in the aforementioned environment, it was not very quickly that her negative views on "uglies" began to deteriorate, but they surely did. Tally Youngblood had realized that she was imperfect. Her eyes were way too far apart, and her lips way too thin, but as she'd realized this, and accepted this-she found that the ideological beauty standards she had been so accustomed to was nothing but a lie. She learned that "what you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.” And in this perfected Soren Kierkegaard's philosophy... "Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are."

-X.W.

"My name is Tally Youngblood...Make me pretty."

As insignificant as the last lines said by Tally Youngblood in Uglies by Scott Westerfeld seems, the importance is quite poetic. Here you have a young lady who wanted to be pretty from the start, corrupted by the atrocious ruling of beauty in her society, and yet still, the book ends with her getting exactly what she wants. But, as avid readers, you know that these last lines of Uglies are one of the most powerful lines of the whole book as it perceives the same thoughts with different intentions. Tally Youngblood, at first, thought beauty was the key to everything she wanted in life, especially reuniting with her best friend Peris, and in the end, she gets this. But the difference is, Tally's need to become beautiful isn't selfish, and it isn't irrational, because her beauty is, quite literally, her sacrifice for the greater good. So one can say this line is the perfect example of Tally's character growing and developing into someone less shallow and brainwashed as we were introduced to, and the beginning of the new Tally Youngblood in Pretties by Scott Westerfeld who embodies values greater than physical looks.

Definitely reading the next book.

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About the Creator

Xara B. Williams

“ Creativity is Intelligence having fun “

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