Uglies - Scott Westerfeld

Westerfeld, S. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005. Print.


Summary: Tally Youngblood is an Ugly nearing her sixteenth birthday.  On this day she will undergo an operation that will turn her into a Pretty: the biological standard of attractiveness.  Living in Uglyville, separated from her friends in Prettyville, who have recently been turned pretty themselves, Tally longs for her birthday so she can join them in their constant partying.  During her period of limbo, she meets another almost-sixteen Ugly, Shay.  As it turns out, they even have the same birthday.  Shay and Tally become fast friends, pulling their last pranks as Uglies before they are expected to grow up.  When Shay tells Tally that she is running away to the Smoke, a place where no one is forced to become pretty, Tally is shocked and refuses to go with her.  She just wants to be pretty and party with her best friend Peris.  When she is taken to the hospital on her birthday, however, Tally does not get the operation but is transferred to Special Circumstances.  Here she is given an assignment.  She must follow the directions Shay left her to find the Smoke and activate a tracking device so Special Circumstances can destroy the Smoke.  If she refuses to take this assignment or fails to fulfill it, she will never be turned pretty.  When Tally arrives at the Smoke however, she realizes that there may be something better about life outside of Prettyville, and decides not to activate the signal.  In the Smoke Tally learns the true meaning of being pretty: tiny lesions in a Pretty's brain which cause them to be complacent and dull-minded.  Things go wrong when Tally accidentally activates the beacon, and although she was able to escape capture, she decides to turn herself in and become pretty.  She must make this sacrifice because there may be a cure to pretty-mindedness and they members of the Smoke need a Pretty to test it on.


Dystopia: The society in Uglies has set up a futuristic world that no longer exploits the earth in the way the "rusties", modern day humans, did.  The rusties were wiped out by a plague that targeted the world's oil.  This plague changed the composition of oil to instantly ignite when exposed to oxygen.  Due to this, the rustie's world was wiped out completely, leaving the ruins of giant cities, and a new order was put in to place with smaller cities all run locally with large expanse of wild between them.  This new population of people remain "ugly," or unaltered by operation, until they are sixteen years old.  At this time they are surgically altered to be "pretty."  This means that all people are modified to the standard of what is biologically attractive.  What the characters in this novel discover is that becoming pretty does not only alter your physical appearance.  It changes the way you think as well.  During the operation, tiny lesions are made in the person's brain.  This causes the patient to become more complacent and less critically minded.  This is the set-up for the dystopian society found within this novel.  With these lesions, Pretties are perfectly happy with their way of life.  The government need not set up alarms in forbidden areas.  Keep out signs work because the Pretties blindly obey everything they are told.  The life of a new Pretty also consists of constant partying and drinking, which further dulls their minds.  In this way, the government in Prettyville is able to enforce order, and the people blindly follow whatever rules are put in place.


Like the other Young Adult dystopias, this novel contains the five components that I listed earlier.  The role of the leader who knows the secrets of the dystopia is played by Dr. Cable -- the head of an organization known as Special Circumstances.  This organization maintains the society and rule found in Prettyville, and protects against "threats" from outside sources.  The Smoke, a village of people who have escaped the operation, represent the hero and the knowledge that the society of Prettyville is based on lies.  With the knowledge she gains from the Smoke, Tally acts as the protagonist and sacrifices herself in order to work for a cure for the lesions.  Like the other novels, this one ends with a feeling of hope.  It is a series, however, so the novel does end with a bit of a cliffhanger.  Uglies like Across the Universe was a very satisfying read, and also contains elements of science-fiction and romance.  I did like the emphasis on environmental issues, and found that this also appears to be a common theme.  Just like 1984 captured the issues of its time, and warned against the possible outcomes, this novel is a, perhaps hyperbolic, example of what may happen if today's society does not care for the environment and maintains an emphasis on physical beauty.  Imagine America's Next Top Models at a healthy weight and all over the place, and you'd pretty much have Prettyville.  This novel warns against what may have with issues of our time, and does so in entertaining fashion.


I did enjoy Westerfeld's writing for the most part, and found the story in Uglies rather compelling.  While I have read other books that begin a series and found myself unwilling to go on, I did want to continue reading this series when I was finished with Uglies.  This book is very popular: many of the students at the camp where I work have seen me with this book and asked me about it.  I do think that it's a quality book, and I'd definitely recommend it to any teen.  


-Zach O