Uglies - Major Themes

Major Themes

Identity

According to critics Uglies, contains themes of identity, particularly in the cases of teenagers. Phillip Gough said the government of Tally’s city, which controls what happens within the operation, “removes responsibility for identity, ” thus creating sameness and uniformity. By placing heavy emphasis on the role of individualism, the novel shows the importance of teen’s self-concept, according to Gough. Because identity is formed by “displacement, ” and all citizens are carefully sheltered, there is no chance for them to branch out into independence. “Physical identity is determined by committees, ” noted Gough in his essay discussing Westerfeld’s novel. Due to the lack of choice, all “markers of physical identity” are destroyed by their government.

Beauty

Kristi N. Scott and M. Heather Dragoo note in their collaborative essay on Uglies, that another recurring theme in the “image-obsessed society, ”was beauty, and its recurring relationship with individuality. Gough agreed, commenting that “when everyone is equal, beauty loses its meaning”. As depicted in his essay, beauty went hand in hand with identity. Uglies were taught to think of their bodies and faces as “temporary, ” something that would be replaced later with cosmetic surgery. A strong line was drawn to connect features with personality, and one critic stated that they developed “ugly” and “pretty” personalities with each stage of their operations.

Dystopian Society

A “utopia resting on ruthless suppression of individual freedom” was Amanda Craig of The Times’s description of Tally’s city. Many critics identified the trend of a controlling government in the novel, with descriptions akin to Craig’s from many. People in the protagonist’s world are “programmed and designed by the Pretty committee, ” with no say-so in their operation, and identity is placed firmly “in the hands of the state”. In the essay The Baroque Body: A Social Commentary on the Role of Body Modification in Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies Trilogy, Dragoo and Scott pointed out how segregated the city was, with pretties, uglies, middlies, and crumblies neatly divided into different sections. Many reviewers commented on the way in which the city manipulated its inhabitants, including the supposedly rebellious uglies, who were nothing more than “docile bodies”.

Humanity

Various critics also found a theme of humanity within Uglies. Phillip Gough commented heavily on how pretties and specials, those who worked for Special Circumstances, were “posthuman” because of their operations. Others, such as Scott and Dragoo, argued against it, claiming “the human body provides an artistic and political canvas for intentional manipulation, ” and that this physical transformation can be an “outlet for humanity”. The novel Uglies seems to take no definite stance on it, though clearer points are shown in Pretties and Specials, the books after Uglies in the trilogy.