I never knew what pretty meant, until I read Uglies, by: Scott Westerfield. Scott Westerfield changed my mind completely. I thought that pretty meant to be thin, blonde, tall, and blue eyes; the typical “pretty” girl. As I was reading, I came to conclusion that you have to be pretty at heart, than to be pretty at all. There is one character in Uglies who is a true pretty, Tally Youngblood. Tally is considered “ugly” in her world. Tally is a typical 15 year-old, trying to fit in. Tally has a pure heart, and would do anything for anyone. She’s a lot like me.
I can relate to Tally, because she is independent. She does her own thing, and “goes with the flow”. The only thing that makes her anywhere close too average, is that she can’t wait to have the operation that will make her pretty. Pretty weird, huh? Not at all, everyone in Tally’s world goes through the operation, when your turn 16. The operation changes your facial features, and body features. It makes you”pretty”. After you go under the operation, you move to the big city called, New Pretty Town. There, you have no job, or responsibilities, except have a good time.
Everyone is required to have the operation. Tally wants the operation, but there is one person who thinks the operation is useless and avoidable, Shay. Tally meets Shay while hiding in the Pleasure Gardens one night, after Tally sneaks out to see her old friend, Paris. Shay and Tally become instant friends. Shay shows Tally the “old way” to live, and Tally enjoys it very much. One night, Shay tells Tally that you don’t have to obtain the operation, and runaway. Tally is horrified. Tally and Shay get into an squabble, and Shay leaves without Tally. This leaves a big dilemma for Tally. She can’t make up her mind to go, or wait. She wants to be pretty, but what if something else is better?
The farther and farther that I got closer to the end, I became aware that Tally’s world is just a prediction of what the future world, will be like. Uglies shows you how supermodels, actors, actresses, movies, music, and media, has stereotyped society. It makes you believe that you have to be pretty, to go somewhere in life. That’s not true. I think Uglies shows a perfect example of what society has made us out to be; one big stereotypic world.