Tally Youngblood Themes
In a dystopian world masquerading as a utopia, a soon to be sixteen-year-old heroine, Tally Youngblood, embarks upon a journey that will change her world in Scott Westerfield’s young adult novel Uglies. The book revolves around a futuristic totalitarian state that relies heavily upon technology and one in which individuals are divided into different age groups, upon turning twelve children known as Littlies leave their parents homes to live in the dorms of Uglyville where they continue to grow and learn in preparation for the Surge—a procedure that is performed on the sixteenth birthday transforming the ‘ugly’ young adults into Pretties (Westerfield). The goal of citizens is to become Pretty and move to New Pretty Town where they have the next ten years to party and fall in love which is almost what Tally succeeds at doing until she meets, Shay, who teaches Tally of the Smoke after befriending her and then running away; Tally is forced to follow Shay’s obscure directions under threat of never becoming Pretty to find Shay and her fellow rebels in
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the Smoke (Westerfield). During her journey, Tally learns the harsh truth of what it really means to become Pretty when she works as a spy for the governmental wardens known as Specials and infiltrates the Smoke (Westerfield). Uglies by Scott Westerfield can be categorized as postmodern based on the use of intrinsic themes throughout the story such as the breakdown of grand narratives, cultural theory, and postproduction.
The grand narrative or metanarrative can be described as a socially constructed modernist theory—it is something society expected of everyone and was therefore usually was responsible for making order out of chaos in meaning, knowledge, or experience; such as the way in which society groups people or the supposed ‘cliques’ that might serve as a self-made division of students in an American High School in the twenty-first century. Joodaki quotes Walmsley's work when talking about the grand narrative or the metanarrative: "Throughout history, Lyotard argues, society has been founded upon metanarratives which legitimate the social bond and the relationship of science and knowledge to it. These metanarratives (Marxism, Liberalism, Fundamentalism, the progress of Man) are stories or principles that give credibility to a society and justify its actions and visions of the future…" (pg 128-129). In postmodernism, a breakdown of these metanarratives created by man is seen as going against society or embracing an alternate lifestyle, in Westerfield’s novel Uglies the people choose to break away from their established society and become rebels by leaving Uglyville and deciding to become rebel’s by joining the obscurely located Smoke, which can only be found by following word of mouth directions from person to person. Tally Youngblood, though forced to act as a rebel and follow her friend Shay is left with a solitary poem that is catered to the memories they shared together in the three months they became friends:
“Take the coaster straight past the gap,
Until you find one that's long and flat.
Cold is the sea and watch for breaks,
At the second make the worst mistake.
Four days later take the side you despise,
And look in the flowers for fire-bug eyes.
Once they're found, enjoy the flight. Then wait on the bald head until it's light.” (Westerfield, 112).
Once she arrives at the Smoke, Tally gets to know her fellow ‘renegades’ and falls in love with a boy name David, who was born outside of the city and whose parents are doctors who founded the Smoke after they learned that the operations they performed to turn individual Pretty involved involuntary brain lesions—to make citizens easier to control (Westerfield). The society that Westerfield imagines in Uglies consists of a division of the people by age groups: Littlies (infants to age eleven), Uglies (ages twelve to fifteen), Pretties (ages sixteen to twenty-six), Middle Pretties (the time following being a pretty where individuals become parents and join the workforce), and Crumblies (the elderly). Fischer says that, “… postmodernism is tied strongly to cultural theory. As an example, it explores how our society has viewed stereotypes throughout history and how the cultures of our world are intermingling in a globalized society to become hybrids of each other…” (29). The culture of Westerfield’s novel revolves around stereotyping adolescents with the label of ‘Ugly’, this is seen not only in the name given to this age group but also to the way in which the children refer to themselves and in the way the New Pretties scathingly refer to them as Ugly—it is a stigma from which they can never escape unless they become Pretty. The cultural theory presented by the book allows young adult readers to question the labels that society places upon them as well as gives youth the opportunity to redefine their self-established standards of beauty. The implications of such stereotypes as beauty and a search for identity are both themes that are overwhelmingly explored in Westerfield’s Uglies.
In postmodern theory, we learn of postproduction: “…it refers to the point in which society is not inventing anything new…Many contemporary artists and authors have found these ideas fascinating to explore. Through visual communication and literary methods, they have taken these ideas related to the exploration of identity, history, and culture and found new ways to represent this way of analytical thinking…” (Fischer 30). Postmodernism is a typical style for, “writers of a humanism that felt profoundly threatened.” (Bradbury 766). Westerfield shows a trend towards postproduction when he prompts his reader to think by allowing them to move past the dialogue he had given to his characters, in example we have this conversation between Tally and Shay in the months before the
Surge:
“‘And everyone’s ugly.’
‘Which means no one’s ugly.’
Tally managed to laugh. ‘Which means no one’s pretty, you mean.’” (Westerfield 92).
It is a short conversation designed to make the reader question their own beliefs, do they side with Tally or Shay—would they prefer to be pretty or ugly? It makes the reader analyze their own lives and beliefs, especially when it comes to how they view other members of society. Scott Westerfield’s young adult novel Uglies is filled with topics that categorize it as being postmodernist in nature. Tally Youngblood’s naïve belief in becoming pretty is transformed throughout the pages of the novel as she comes into the knowledge of the truth and begins her journey that will conclude in changing her world forever. There is a trending upsurge towards rebellion and renegades in this novel who break down social barriers, defined as the breaking down of the grand narrative or metanarrative. Cultural theory is the socially constructed grouping of people which reflects on how individuals are seen within and outside of their own society. Westerfield shows the recurrent theme of postproduction as his chosen dialogue impacts the characters as well as the readers, thus leading them to question themselves and their realities. The combining themes of the broken metanarrative, cultural theory, and post production lead to the classification of Westerfield’s Uglies, the first book in a trilogy, to be categorized as postmodern.
the Smoke (Westerfield). During her journey, Tally learns the harsh truth of what it really means to become Pretty when she works as a spy for the governmental wardens known as Specials and infiltrates the Smoke (Westerfield). Uglies by Scott Westerfield can be categorized as postmodern based on the use of intrinsic themes throughout the story such as the breakdown of grand narratives, cultural theory, and postproduction.
The grand narrative or metanarrative can be described as a socially constructed modernist theory—it is something society expected of everyone and was therefore usually was responsible for making order out of chaos in meaning, knowledge, or experience; such as the way in which society groups people or the supposed ‘cliques’ that might serve as a self-made division of students in an American High School in the twenty-first century. Joodaki quotes Walmsley's work when talking about the grand narrative or the metanarrative: "Throughout history, Lyotard argues, society has been founded upon metanarratives which legitimate the social bond and the relationship of science and knowledge to it. These metanarratives (Marxism, Liberalism, Fundamentalism, the progress of Man) are stories or principles that give credibility to a society and justify its actions and visions of the future…" (pg 128-129). In postmodernism, a breakdown of these metanarratives created by man is seen as going against society or embracing an alternate lifestyle, in Westerfield’s novel Uglies the people choose to break away from their established society and become rebels by leaving Uglyville and deciding to become rebel’s by joining the obscurely located Smoke, which can only be found by following word of mouth directions from person to person. Tally Youngblood, though forced to act as a rebel and follow her friend Shay is left with a solitary poem that is catered to the memories they shared together in the three months they became friends:
“Take the coaster straight past the gap,
Until you find one that's long and flat.
Cold is the sea and watch for breaks,
At the second make the worst mistake.
Four days later take the side you despise,
And look in the flowers for fire-bug eyes.
Once they're found, enjoy the flight. Then wait on the bald head until it's light.” (Westerfield, 112).
Once she arrives at the Smoke, Tally gets to know her fellow ‘renegades’ and falls in love with a boy name David, who was born outside of the city and whose parents are doctors who founded the Smoke after they learned that the operations they performed to turn individual Pretty involved involuntary brain lesions—to make citizens easier to control (Westerfield). The society that Westerfield imagines in Uglies consists of a division of the people by age groups: Littlies (infants to age eleven), Uglies (ages twelve to fifteen), Pretties (ages sixteen to twenty-six), Middle Pretties (the time following being a pretty where individuals become parents and join the workforce), and Crumblies (the elderly). Fischer says that, “… postmodernism is tied strongly to cultural theory. As an example, it explores how our society has viewed stereotypes throughout history and how the cultures of our world are intermingling in a globalized society to become hybrids of each other…” (29). The culture of Westerfield’s novel revolves around stereotyping adolescents with the label of ‘Ugly’, this is seen not only in the name given to this age group but also to the way in which the children refer to themselves and in the way the New Pretties scathingly refer to them as Ugly—it is a stigma from which they can never escape unless they become Pretty. The cultural theory presented by the book allows young adult readers to question the labels that society places upon them as well as gives youth the opportunity to redefine their self-established standards of beauty. The implications of such stereotypes as beauty and a search for identity are both themes that are overwhelmingly explored in Westerfield’s Uglies.
In postmodern theory, we learn of postproduction: “…it refers to the point in which society is not inventing anything new…Many contemporary artists and authors have found these ideas fascinating to explore. Through visual communication and literary methods, they have taken these ideas related to the exploration of identity, history, and culture and found new ways to represent this way of analytical thinking…” (Fischer 30). Postmodernism is a typical style for, “writers of a humanism that felt profoundly threatened.” (Bradbury 766). Westerfield shows a trend towards postproduction when he prompts his reader to think by allowing them to move past the dialogue he had given to his characters, in example we have this conversation between Tally and Shay in the months before the
Surge:
“‘And everyone’s ugly.’
‘Which means no one’s ugly.’
Tally managed to laugh. ‘Which means no one’s pretty, you mean.’” (Westerfield 92).
It is a short conversation designed to make the reader question their own beliefs, do they side with Tally or Shay—would they prefer to be pretty or ugly? It makes the reader analyze their own lives and beliefs, especially when it comes to how they view other members of society. Scott Westerfield’s young adult novel Uglies is filled with topics that categorize it as being postmodernist in nature. Tally Youngblood’s naïve belief in becoming pretty is transformed throughout the pages of the novel as she comes into the knowledge of the truth and begins her journey that will conclude in changing her world forever. There is a trending upsurge towards rebellion and renegades in this novel who break down social barriers, defined as the breaking down of the grand narrative or metanarrative. Cultural theory is the socially constructed grouping of people which reflects on how individuals are seen within and outside of their own society. Westerfield shows the recurrent theme of postproduction as his chosen dialogue impacts the characters as well as the readers, thus leading them to question themselves and their realities. The combining themes of the broken metanarrative, cultural theory, and post production lead to the classification of Westerfield’s Uglies, the first book in a trilogy, to be categorized as postmodern.