The Uglie Critical Analysis

I mean, I am smart and funny, and I know I’m a good person. But this is high school, and nobody seems to care about that. Why couldn’t I be tall and elegant like Diondra, or have Judianne’s perfect complexion, all smooth, super-rich fudge? Better yet, why couldn’t I look like Tanisha, or Gloria?” (Grimes 46). This showcases inner conflict as Janelle’s character is shown insecure about her physical appearance. Even though Janelle is aware of her good qualities, she makes her physical appearance overshadow them. Janelle compares herself to others which make it hard for her to embrace herself and realize her self worth. This tells the reader how society is so attentive to the outer beauty of a person, that one isn’t giving importance to the inner qualities of themselves. On the other hand this is evident in Freedom Writers when Andre Bryant who is characterized as a tough and aggressive guy, agrees to a failing mark in Mrs. Erin Gruwell’s class. When asked why he did not try he says “It's what I feel I deserve, that's all” (LaGravenese). This made Mrs. Gruwell question this behaviour and tried to consult him by insuring that he can do it. This

Westerfield perfectly portrays how we, as a society, see beauty. We see beauty as perfection, not a line out of place, and this judgement came about due to our desire for perfection. When picking up any magazine the front page is bound to be altered to show us how we should look. Gone are the days where voluptuous, well rounded women are considered to be goddesses. People in today’s society see models and movie stars starve themselves until they believe they are beautiful and Westerfield plays on this throughout the entire text. Tally sees herself as ugly because she does not notice anything good about her, until she meets David. When anyone compliments Tally she refuses to believe it as the truth, and it is unlikely that she has ever felt attractive in her whole life. Westerfield only describes Tally the way she sees herself and although it is in the third person the reader is given certain knowledge about what goes on through Tally’s mind which the reader does not have for any other character. At the beginning of the text the reader is led to believe that Pretties have the idealistic life; beautiful with not a care in the world but the reader may feel discomfort with how superficial it all seems. Nothing is wrong with the way Tally looks and the reader can presume that she is quite naturally attractive after receiving several compliments from two

Abraham Maslow’s meaning of self actualization is one to reach his full potential or of one’s true self. From a humanistic standpoint, Claire’s

Early then goes on with his essay by describing the hardships his daughters have faced when trying out hairstyles. He appeals to the mournful emotions of the audience by describing a real life account of his daughter being made fun of at school. When his daughter Linnet got an afro style haircut one group of black girls at her school refused to play with her. She was told,”You look so ugly with that hair.” Early adapts a sad tone when Linnet describes herself as, “I don’t think I am beautiful at all. I think I am just ordinary.” Early uses an emotional appeal along with a sad tone in order to inform the nation of what many African American girls deal with. He does this to inform the reader of self-consciousness a particular “African- American” disease.

As I read Uglies, I consider the topic of acceptance because the message the author is trying to get across is that everyone should just be accepted for who they are. When I read this book, I see a society that needs to change. The place the characters live in forces them to get a surgery to change into what society considers “attractive”. You are called “ugly” or a “pretty” and treated differently based on your looks. In my opinion, this is very wrong. No one should be judged based on the way they look. Everyone should just be accepted for who they are and not be judged by who they are on the outside. Tally says in the book, “What’s inside you, matters more.” I think the author had Tally say that to prove his point even more; that

Tally Youngblood is the main character in the story Uglies, and her character changes various times throughout the story. In the novel, Tally faces numerous issues and decisions. Many of these issues and decisions affect how Tally changes later in the story. In Uglies, Westerfeld illustrates to readers how Tally’s character changes from wanting to be pretty to realizing her looks are not everything.

Research shows that only four percent of women think of themselves as beautiful. While this is a very small amount of people, it was even worse in the world of Tally Youngblood from Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. In the future time that she lives in, Tally, and all other people, not only thought of themselves as ugly but, were told that they were ugly. Every person was forced to become pretty through surgery at the age of sixteen and were treated differently until then. Throughout the story, Tally is doing things to change her world or how her life is. Tally made many difficult decisions during the course of the book, including going to the Smoke and betraying Shay, staying in the Smoke, and purposely being found in the city in order to become pretty.

When writing the book Uglies, the author, Scott Westerfeld, used a sufficient amount of details to emphasize the differences in social classes and how each class is distinctly separated. By labeling the citizens in the colonies, Westerfeld was able to show how each class was viewed. The novel follows a character named Tally, who is a teenager living in a time set ahead of our own. In this community there are different stages a person goes through while growing up. All citizens first start out as "littlies," or kids younger than twelve. Once over twelve the kids move to their own town, called Uglyville, away from their parents and are

By Tally quickly turning down the idea of not being pretty, shows how strong-minded and determined she is to get the operation. Even if it means losing her new best friend and missing out on a life adventure, Tally is determined not to miss her beauty surgery. Why is she so set on being pretty? Because if she is not, her society will be there to critic her appearance. “. .

Self-actualization is the greatness achieved by someone through his or her full potential. This can be done through one’s creativity, a deeper understanding of the real world and gaining independence. In Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Dreams, The story focuses on the journey of self- actualization with the main character Codi. She was able to connect with peacocks to aid in finding her true self. She was also able to become more confident in herself through the love she receives from a boyfriend. Lastly, through the kidnapping of Codi’s sister, she was able to learn how to become an independent woman.

Mrs. Turpin does the same thing when she judges Mary Grace, a young woman, in the doctor’s waiting area “The poor girls face was blue with acne and Mrs. Turpin thought how pitiful it was to have a face like that at that age” (319). Mrs. Turpin refers to Mary Grace as the “ugly Girl” throughout the rest of the story.

The protagonist in Uglies, Tally Youngblood at first believes nothing is wrong  with the society of turning into a pretty and she believes the government is doing the right thing. This all changes when her friends show her the downfalls of becoming a pretty though. Tally discovers that the operation not only changes how you look but also how you think, it makes you "pretty-minded".  Your thoughts change and everything seems different, you look at things in a different way that you never would have before. Tally believes that doing this to people without them knowing is wrong, and thus her opinion changes. She no longer agrees with the government, nor with the society of pretties and uglies.

In a world where all things are judgmental, it becomes hard to value one’s self. The mirror instantly becomes the archenemy of the imperfections embedded on the artwork the man, himself, has painted so eloquently. In J.Cole’s uplifting song “Crooked Smile,” he speaks about how everyone has their imperfections, and they must be embraced in order to be valued. The purported theme throughout this song is to embrace one’s self by not conforming to the supposed ideals of beauty in society, ignoring what others think, and staying true to their self.

Any individual’s desire for an improved sense of self-perception would have the power to convince people living in an illusion and delusions is more fulfilling than facing the reality of their situation. Facing negative light, individuals, as a result of normal human nature to their own self- perception and to ignore their own ability which can tell them the difference between illusion and reality. Blanches Dubois wants to attain the image of being a pure woman, who is worthy of love. she dreams big but ends up with shattered dreams. Her illusion leads her to a lack of awareness and increase amount of ignorance in which reality seems to fade away from.

Retell: Have you ever heard of the song”Pretty Hurts”?if not you came to the right place. When I first heard this song, it made me understand that being pretty doesn't matter the inside of you is all that matters. I used to listen to this song when people call me “fat”,”ugly”,”nasty”, and etc. This song is about how girls are forced to be pretty. I know this because in the song there are some lines that say “brush your hair, fix your teeth…