Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

 

Summary

In this world, everyone has to undergo a mandatory plastic surgery in order to transform them from "Ugly" to "Pretty". This operation is performed on everyone once they reach their 18th birthday. Tally Youngblood, the main character of the novel, is currently living in Uglyville which is right outside Pretty town. Her best friend Peris just recently turned 18, underwent his transformation and now lives in Pretty town. Throughout the novel, Tally is learning to adjust to her new life without her best friend. During this period of Tally's life, she meets a girl named Shay. Shay has a different opinion on the surgery than most people in the community, she does not support the surgery and is searching for a way to run before her 18th birthday. Her opinion on the surgery starts to sway Tally's opinion, making Tally also want to run. The two girls make a plan to run away to a city named the Smoke, which contains a group of people who have successfully ran and are now living in the wild. On Tally's 18th birthday she wakes up in a cell of sorts where Dr.Cable, a pretty, tells her to follow Shay to the Smoke and give away the location or she will withhold Tally's surgery. While Tally is in the Smoke, she meets a boy named David. He tells her how the plastic surgery doesn't just make you pretty, it also renders your intelligence, this is the communities way of keeping peace. Tally wakes up and finds that the Specials, or military for the Pretties, have invaded the Smoke. Her and David look to find a way to rescue the other people in the community, where the people then find a cure or alteration to the plastic surgery. They find out that Shay was forced to go through with the surgery, which causes Tally deep remorse. Tally decides that she will go through with the surgery and become a test subject for the cure when the people of the Smoke rescue her. 

Dystopian and Gender

The book is placed in a time line that is about 300 years after our current era. The technology is advanced and they have found ways that the community believes make everyone equal. I think it is important to notice that in this novel, the people of the community are being oppressed. The people in this novel grow up believing that life in Pretty town and after the surgery is significantly better than anything else. They are taught that the body and face they are born with are not good enough for the real world. Although, they do not see it as that. They see it as changing to be better for the community. This topic goes to show that we learn by what we are taught and sometimes, that isn't correct. It is also mentioned in both the book and movie, that once people turn pretty they start to shame the Uglies. The Uglies are seen as outcasts and are frowned upon and segregated from the pretties, even though they were once uglies themselves. 

I do not believe that this novel has a specific gender placement. I would personally say that this book shows more about cultural beauty standards and the levels that people will go to meet those standards. It is also important to realize that these beauty standards are enforced. While people wait 18 whole years just for this surgery, they have no choice on if they get the surgery or not. The only way out of the surgery is to run and even then it is difficult to get away without getting caught. Again, I do not believe this story is about gender, but more about physical differences. Once everyone is pretty, no one is left out or separated from the community leading to peace and happiness. 

Work Cited 

Uglies (The Uglies) Summary. Grade Saver. https://www.gradesaver.com/uglies/study-guide/summary