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Uglies By Scott Westerfeld Sparknotes

762 Words4 Pages

In today’s society, teenagers are thought to be lazy and unmotivated. However, that is not the truth. There are many examples in the text that represent grit and determination in characters such as Tally Youngblood. Uglies is a dystopian type novel set in the future, written by Scott Westerfeld. It features an about to be sixteen year old girl, named Tally Youngblood. Tally, had lived in a society where most people have cosmetic surgery to enhance beauty when they reach sixteen-years-of-age. So when Special Circumstances took away her privilege of having the surgery, she reluctantly agreed travel through the barren land to find Smoke.Throughout her journey and her brief life living in Smoke, she has to make many difficult decisions that will …show more content…

Her acts of bravery, such as turning herself into Special Circumstances, is a very important turning point in the story. At the end of the book, she proclaims to Special Circumstances, “I’m Tally Youngblood, she said. Make me pretty (425).” After all of the trouble escaping Special Circumstances, Tally decides to turn herself in. She acts very selflessly and was willing to use her brain as a test subject for the cure of the brain lesions. She is fully aware of all the certain consequences of her actions, yet she does it anyway. During a key turning point in the story, Tally gave up her precious necklace, which was the only connection to go back to New Pretty City, to become a Pretty. When she realized what really happens when a person gets the pretty surgery, she wanted to prove to David that she cares about him and that she wants to stay in Smoke forever. So, “she opened her hand and threw the necklace into the center of the fire (281).” She showed a lot of courage by simply believing in her own choices and making a decision she thinks is the right one, no matter the consequences. It was a difficult decision for her to make, but she managed to commit to a choice. The main character in the book Uglies, shows incredible determination which also makes her very brave and

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“The best time to cry it at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help” (Myers 1). Having to clean disgusting floors, “You throw up, you clean it up!” Eating with strangers, sleeping with strangers, going to the bathroom in front of strangers. This is real life, not a movie; this is the real life of being in jail. Steve Harmon, the main character in the novel, Monster, written by Walter Dean Myers, experienced this.

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