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 sneaks out of her room and thinks that New Pretty Town looks farther away than ever. She quietly says that she’ll see Peris soon and then looks back at her dorm building. She thinks the shadows are so perfect that it almost makes it seem like uglies are supposed to sneak out. Tally heads for the dam and meets Shay. Shay insists that her method of tricking the safety governor so the hoverboard won’t tattle will work, and she assures Tally that nobody’s after them. Tally apologizes for sounding wimpy and then admits that she didn’t want to go because Peris made her promise to not take risks, on the off chance that Tally gets in so much trouble that they won’t make her pretty. However, Tally admits she’s never heard of that happening.
Tally’s suspicion that uglies are supposed to sneak out is important, as it shows that she’s beginning to question the environment she’s grown up in—something the novel suggests is a major part of coming of age. In this moment, Tally is trying to be loyal to both Shay and to Peris. However, it’s worth considering that each of them represent a different version of growing up: Shay has implied that she wants to forge her own path, while Peris, as a pretty, represents conformity.
Themes
Shay asks if Peris made Tally promise so she wouldn’t bother him anymore and assures Tally that it’s fine if she doesn’t want to go. Tally can’t answer but she agrees to go. Ten minutes later, Tally and Shay hit the rapids, which are surrounded on either side by ancient trees like Tally has never seen before. Gradually, Tally gets used to it. Shay stops and points back toward where they came from. The sight of the bright city makes Tally gasp, and she agrees that this is better than sneaking around in New Pretty Town. Shay is thrilled and says she’s wanted to come for a while, but not alone. Tally shudders, thinking that the wilderness is no place for human beings.
Shay’s question about Peris’s intentions is a good one, and it shows that she’s also questioning the structure and the environment in which she’s grown up. Meanwhile, Tally’s insistence that humans don’t belong in the wilderness speaks to how much Tally’s society has cut itself off from the natural world. Tally has never been able to see the city from far away—that is, she’s never been able to get any distance from the place she calls home. Getting this new look gives her a new perspective on her home, something that will also help her mature.
Themes
Shay says that from here, they’ll walk until they reach a vein of iron a half kilometer away. Noting Tally’s confusion, Shay reminds her that their hoverboards work with magnetic levitation, so they need to find metal in order to ride. In town there’s a steel grid everywhere, but in the wilderness they need to be careful. After a few minutes, Tally comments that her board is very heavy without magnets to lighten it. Shay says that the wilderness has shown her how the city fools people as to how things really work. A few minutes later, Shay says they should feel the vein of iron in their crash bracelets and they hop on their boards again. Tally asks how they can ride over the river, and Shay says that rivers bring minerals up from inside the earth and then points down to the Rusty Ruins.
Learning the truth about how heavy her hoverboard is means that for the first time, Tally has to confront how contrived everything is in the city. It’s designed to make life easy and comfortable—people don’t have to work too hard or worry too much. Out in the wilderness, however, people have to pay attention to their surroundings, be aware of possible danger lurking around them, and understand how the world works. This, the novel suggests, helps people come of age, while remaining in the city keeps them in a childlike, dependent state.
Themes
