Comparing Scott Westerfeld's Uglies And Leviathan

Imagine a dystopian future where brainwashed people are made to believe in a biological standard of beauty. Imagine another world where the events of World War One have been altered to include fabricated beasts and steampunk-like machines. Scott Westerfeld has created these worlds with his distinct style. His style is clearly evident in Uglies and Leviathan.. Westerfeld’s style is made up mainly of simile, imagery, and characterization through a character’s thoughts.

Similes are the most pronounced element of Scott Westerfeld’s style. Westerfeld uses similes to help the reader imagine the descriptions of these wild, mystical worlds. In Uglies, during a visit to the Rusty Ruins, a city abandoned years ago, Tally Youngblood, the protagonist,

Westerfeld compares the buildings to dead animals to describe how ancient the buildings are and to describe the scary characteristics that Tally feels when viewing them. When Tally is climbing up a mountain, she takes in the view: “The sea of white orchids could still be glimpsed from this side of the mountain, glowing like an encroaching desert in the sun” (Uglies 208). The orchids are an invasive species in the world of Uglies. Westerfeld describes them as an intruding desert because of the waste that they lay. In Leviathan, Deryn Sharp,a protagonist, is climbing on the side of the giant airship, Leviathan, feeding bats: “[...]the bats covering it[the bow] like iron filings on a magnet” (107). Westerfeld uses this simile to emphasize how close-knit the bats are. The ironic thing is that the bats eat metal flechettes. Alek, another protagonist, is waiting for the sun to set. Westerfeld writes, “The last rays still shone like pearl on the snowy peaks in the distance” (Leviathan 167). Westerfeld uses this simile to

He develops his characters through their thoughts to help readers understand their thoughts. In Uglies, Tally is confused as to why Shay wants to rebel against the operation that turns people into pretties: “Tally tried to imagine her growing old, wrinkled, gradually ruined, all without ever having been truly beautiful” (Uglies 95). Tally can’t imagine being ugly forever, so she does not join Shay in leaving the city. The reader knows that Tally values beauty over loyalty to her friends. Later in the novel, Tally has to make the decision on whether to betray her friends or never become pretty. She finally makes a decision. Afterwards, she feels relief: “She was free. Dr. Cable would never come her now, and no one could ever take her away from David or the Smoke[...]” (Uglies 283). Tally has changed from being obsessed with vanity to caring about her friends. Westerfeld uses her thoughts to convey this because it gives the readers a better insight. In Leviathan, Alek starts out with a bias against the fabricated beasts that the British use. Westerfeld writes, “The whole wreck was overrun with godless vermin. The awful six-legged dogs swarmed its wilting gasbag[...]” (Leviathan 258). Alek finds these beasts disgusting and wrong. Westerfeld uses Alek’s thoughts in order to best tell the readers Alek’s revolt. When Alek finds out that the Leviathan needs to head to the Ottoman Empire, he