Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Uglies, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Conformity vs. Individuality
Beauty, Science, and Influence
The Natural World, History, and Growing Up
Friendship and Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
Tally hears roaring in her dream and then wakes up to the smell of smoke. She sees a wall of flames, grabs her knapsack, and races down the hill. When Tally catches a glimpse of sunlight, she realizes she went the wrong direction. She races around the hill, searching for the river and her hoverboard. Her face blisters and her feet sting, but she finds and hops onto the hoverboard. Tally rides over the river carefully, as her grippy shoes are ruined and can’t keep her on the board. Suddenly, Tally hears the flying machine again and sees that its wind makes the fire grow. She watches with horror as a spurt of flame shoots from the machine: these people are trying to start and spread the fire. Tally catches a glimpse of the person piloting the contraption. They look inhuman.
The fire proves once again that consequences are much more dire in the natural world—Tally could very easily die. That Tally runs right into the fire shows how little she knows about this kind of situation. Someone aware of the danger posed by being in the middle of a wildfire likely wouldn’t run to it; Tally only does because this is so far outside of her lived experience. That the people are intentionally starting the fires also makes them look less human to Tally, since their behavior aligns with the Rusties (who, according to Tally, abused the natural world).
Themes
The machine’s wind knocks Tally off her hoverboard, blows it away, and sends Tally crashing into the deep middle of the river. She relaxes for a moment and then she struggles to the surface, thrilled when her hoverboard returns to her. Terror grips Tally, however, when she sees the machine land and figures jump from it, heading for her. One calls for Tally to wait, and a masked figure tries to drag Tally off the board. Tally fights and tumbles into the river, but she is pulled out again. She pauses when she sees that the masks the people wear look like bug eyes.
When Tally begins to connect that these people might be the “fire bug eyes” from Shay’s clue, it shows that Shay’s directions may also help Tally develop a sense of community that expands far outside of the city. Now, Tally will have the opportunity to get to know people from other places, an experience that wouldn’t be available to her in the city. With this, Tally has the potential to broaden her perspective, make friends, and gather information that hasn’t been filtered through her government.
Themes
