Summary Of Uglies By Scott Westerfeld

‘Uglies’ by Scott Westerfeld, explores the theme of appearance, exemplified through the main character, Tally Youngblood and the setting of Uglyville. Tally is just another fifteen year old ugly, waiting for the day she turns sixteen. She lives in Uglyville, in a dorm shared with all the uglies aged from twelve to sixteen. Once Tally’s birthday comes, she will finally be able to get her surgery, to become pretty. Once her procedure is done, her new, pretty life awaits her in New Pretty Town. The introduction of Tally Youngblood directly reflects the main theme of appearance and the setting of the dystopian city, Uglyville. This is exemplified through the image of the Tally, the inequality between Tally and the pretties and finally, the morals of the Tally.

To begin with, Tally’s image is portrayed through the main theme, setting and herself;

Although this state decided that the pretty surgery would make everyone as equally pretty or in other words make everyone look the same, which therefore solves a problem of violence, the uglies are not treated equally, and Tally seems oblivious to this. In this society, “nobody ever seemed to get punished, and Tally's promise to Peris seemed ages ago. Once she was pretty, nothing she'd done in this last month would matter. (10.29)” Peris is one of Tally’s friend who was turned pretty. This quote exemplifies the inequality between the different classes because the pretties seem to get their way out of trouble and not suffer any consequences, but Tally, an ugly gets penalized for harmless pranks on younger kids. As a consequence, the uglies and pretties are split up into two cities, almost two different worlds due to the amount of injustices the uglies get simply for their appearance. This setting and inequality due to appearance of Tally create the insecure but rebellious character she becomes as Tally discovers the unfairness of her state's