Subject: English
I think a main theme in the book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield is “Authoritarian style rule is harmful to a society and its inhabitants, especially one that appeals to superficiality”. I’ll give three quotes as examples of this.
“The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.”
This quote talks about how Tally must lie to Shay, her best friend, or, at least, a friend that she had gotten close to. This reflects the fear that she feels towards this gigantic government, this authoritarian monster, and she feels the need, even, through the threat that they will never turn her into a pretty if she does not rat on The Smoke, the rebel group that refuses to conform to the strict guidelines in this society. I think this quote’s underlying meaning, and the whole situation behind it, is that people’s own personality, values, and emotions become deteriorated in a state that has so much power over the people, a state that, innumerably, harvests and uses this power to great effect.
“This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves”
This is another quote from the book, which shows the slow rotting and decrepitude of morals in this plastic, superficial dictatorship. This may be a sideline to the theme, but another thing is, through the allegorical use of the Uglies government as a society where, only figuratively, superficiality and extreme deification of beauty, a model which very well is equal to our own. This betrayal of Tally towards Shay and the rebels is the manifestation of this, one that could be tied to the sacrifices some make towards their persona and image, ones that, if this worship and complete awe of beauty did not exist, would be unthinkable, and contradicting.
“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.”
I find this to be the most important quote. This ties together the totalitarian qualities of the regime, making a slight reference to the so-called socialist totalitarian and fascist dictatorships which arose in the 20th century, and used commonly the suppression of ideas and criticism, and the mass feed of government propaganda through the seizing and tight censorship of communication. This reflects in the chase for the rebel group in the book, and shows how serious this government, which usually hides in the background throughout the story, is in handling its critics.
In conclusion, I’ll analyze my interpretation of allegory of the story, and how it fits into the theme. Basically, as I have mentioned above, this society is in many ways allegorical to our own. No longer are the times where usefulness and practicality is subverted by aesthetics and the cult of beauty. We literally worship commerciality, since, from young age, we are trained to conform our tastes and standards to the ones preconceived by society. Slowly we may turn into at least a concerning resemblance to this society, with our developing plastic surgery technology, and one day maybe it will be normal for everyone to wish to conform to this standard. Meanwhile, the authoritarian part of the theme may remind some of the increasingly oppressive laws that governments are putting up, especially in the internet, if we look recently. Although they, thanks to many concerned individuals, made the rounds over this leviathan of communication, known as the internet, many felt they did not get the attention they should have. I guess, in summary, I believe that, although aesthetics are, obviously, beautiful, they should not rule over our society, as they did in this book.
