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White Tiger Orchids
Hoverboards represent independence and growing up. They’re a skateboard-like toy beloved by littlies that function in much the same way that tricycles do in the reader’s world (that is, as an early introduction to independence and autonomy before one is legally able to drive a car). However, for those who continue hoverboarding throughout their teen years, the hoverboards can take this idea of independence even further. As Tally becomes proficient on a hoverboard, she notes that she stops thinking it as just a toy: her board becomes something symbolic of adulthood that’s worthy of her respect and reverence. This speaks to the idea that while hoverboards may be intended to help turn very young children into teens—and nothing more—if one is willing to take this a step further and recognize how useful they can be, hoverboards can be the things that offer teens freedom far beyond what the government wants them to think is possible. The government’s disapproval of hoverboards takes this idea of independence even further: Dr. Cable grouses that “miscreants” inevitably possess hoverboards, and it’s no coincidence that those “miscreants” are teens like Shay, Croy, and David who don’t buy into the idea that being pretty should be one’s life goal and who want to live outside of the cities’ jurisdiction. They are the cities’ most independent and freethinking individuals, and their hoverboards signify their unwillingness to conform.
Hoverboards Quotes in Uglies
The Uglies quotes below all refer to the symbol of Hoverboards. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Rapids Quotes
“I didn’t know these things weighed so much.”
“Yeah, this is what a board weighs when it’s not hovering. Out here, you find out that the city fools you about how things really work.”
Related Characters:
Tally Youngblood (speaker), Shay (speaker)
Related Symbols:
Hoverboards
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
57
Explanation and Analysis:
During their journey to the Rusty Ruins, Shay leads Tally through an area that doesn’t have metal in the ground, meaning that they must carry their hoverboards (which are magnetic and require metal to function). For the first time in Tally’s life, she learns how heavy the board is when it’s not hovering, which introduces Tally to the idea that the city is a carefully and strategically constructed place where residents never have to learn the truth about anything or face consequences for their actions. For instance, people can move around using hoverboards and jump off of buildings safely using bungee jackets (which rely on the same magnetic technology). Everyone becomes pretty so that they never have to experience hardship—but living in the city also means that they never get the opportunity to learn how the world actually works. Shay implies that this is a very negative and undesirable thing: it’s detrimental to grow up and live in a world where people are coddled and naïve. Rather, she implies that it’s far more important to venture out in the world and begin to make discoveries and decisions for oneself, which she and Tally do by running away to the Smoke.
Spagbol Quotes
Mountains rose up on her right, tall enough that snow capped their tops even in the early autumn chill. Tally had always thought of the city as huge, a whole world in itself, but the scale of everything out here was so much grander. And so beautiful. She could see why people used to live out in nature, even if there weren’t any party towers or mansions. Or even dorms.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The Oil Plague Quotes
“They carried electricity from a wind farm to one of the old cities.”
Tally frowned. “I didn’t know the Rusties used wind power.”
“They weren’t all crazy. Just most of them.” He shrugged. “You’ve got to remember, we’re mostly descended from the Rusties, and we’re still using their basic technology. Some of them must have had the right idea.”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Hoverboards Symbol Timeline in Uglies
The timeline below shows where the symbol Hoverboards appears in Uglies. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Shay
...time so that Shay can have fun too. Tally agrees. Shay asks Tally where her hoverboard is. Tally is shocked—all flying things have minders to keep users in bounds, but Shay...
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Wipe Out
Tally falls off her hoverboard and remembers to relax like Shay told her to. The crash bracelets around Tally’s wrists...
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Facing the Future
...she never made any. Everyone, even littlies, make morphos, but Shay says she’d rather go hoverboarding. She points out that the doctors do what they want anyway, so morphos are pointless.
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...stop but Shay refuses to run the software herself. She says she wants to go hoverboarding and that she thinks her face is already “right.” Tally rolls her eyes and says...
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Pretty Boring
Tally and Shay let the breeze carry them along as they hoverboard at the treetop level at the edge of town. From there, they can see New...
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...Tally wants to tell Shay that she already feels like Tally’s best friend and that hoverboarding is the coolest thing she’s ever learned. Tally agrees to go, and Shay swoops in...
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Rapids
...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...
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...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...
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The Rusty Ruins
...that the cars here couldn’t hover. Shay assures Tally that they’ll be able to keep hoverboarding—the Rusties loved to waste metal. Thinking about school again, Tally remembers that the Rusties didn’t...
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...factories and try to escape when their civilization met its end. Shay suggests that they hoverboard on the roller coaster and then tells Tally that doing so is dangerous unless she...
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Waiting for David
...She wonders if David is real or just an urban legend. This time, carrying the hoverboard doesn’t seem so difficult. Tally has always thought of the board as a toy, but...
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Last Trick
...it is they’re going. Shay says it’s called the Smoke, and they’ll get there on hoverboards. Tally asks if people live like the Rusties in the Smoke and insists it’s wrong...
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...that they’re directions, in code, in case Tally wants to follow. She hops onto her hoverboard and Tally imagines Shay growing old and ruined. She says she wishes she could see...
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Peris
...and her small eyes look angry. At night, she sneaks out and rides her new hoverboard, which is tricked to function at night like Shay taught her. The fourth night after...
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...Tally, and she collapses in tears. Peris gently brushes her hair and asks her about hoverboarding and her current trick—that is, the fact that she’s not pretty yet. He says his...
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Infiltrator
...filled with survival items like what Shay had. Tally says that Shay also had a hoverboard and enough dehydrated food to feed two people for two weeks. Dr. Cable grouses that...
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Leaving
Tally leaves at midnight. She finds a long-range hoverboard that Dr. Cable left for her under the dam. Tally rides as fast as she...
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Spagbol
Tally unfolds her hoverboard so it can charge in the sun, pulls out her sleeping bag, and realizes she...
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The Worst Mistake
Tally dreams that she’s hoverboarding and plummets off the cliff into the ocean. She wakes up at sunset, gathers her...
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The Side You Despise
...finds that she only lost two SpagBol packets, but her sleeping bag is shredded. The hoverboard is ready to go, so Tally folds it up, packs her things, and heads off....
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...the river splits in two. It’s only been three days, but Tally wonders if her hoverboard is fast enough to make up a day of time. She tries to figure out...
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...directions says to “look in the flowers for fire-bug eyes,” so Tally gets off her hoverboard to inspect the flowers. Tally notices a small bird putting its beak in the flowers....
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Firestorm
...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....
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The machine’s wind knocks Tally off her hoverboard, blows it away, and sends Tally crashing into the deep middle of the river. She...
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Bug Eyes
...and he shoves a mask over Tally’s face. Tally breathes gratefully and asks for her hoverboard. The pretty says it’s on the helicopter, asks Tally’s name, and then helps her in....
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...if Tally changes her mind, she can volunteer to become a ranger. Tally grabs her hoverboard, crouches as the helicopter takes off, and looks around at the orchids in every direction....
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Lies
Hours after dawn, Tally sees four people carrying hoverboards hiking toward her. They all wear white hats that would render them invisible if they...
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The Model
...this and that Tally will get used to it. Shay happily explains that there’s a hoverboard path in places—she’s been working on that project. They follow a painted orange path down...
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Work
...the bell rings, signaling the return to work. Shay tells Tally about railroads as they hoverboard up a river. They’re headed for tracks that don’t go anywhere useful, so they’ll be...
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Suspicion
...of alternation like a pretty operation. One morning, David rides up beside Tally as they hoverboard to the railroad tracks. Tally knows now that David’s jacket is real leather, but that...
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In Case of Damage
...confused Special where it is. He pulls her up and warns her to leave the hoverboards alone. Tally sees that hers is far away—but Croy’s is close, charged, and mostly ready...
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Run
Tally has never hoverboarded barefoot before and she struggles to stay on. She also realizes that she’s not wearing...
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Amazing
...arrived, and Tally says that she cut her handcuffs and was able to steal a hoverboard. David praises her, and Tally can’t believe she’s lying—she wishes she’d told the truth so...
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Ruin
...they kill a rabbit back at the Smoke, and then they ride double on David’s hoverboard. They smell the Smoke before they get there and discover that everything is burned. They...
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Maddy and Az
...first chance David gets, he leaps off and races to the house. Tally unfolds the hoverboard to charge and then follows. Soon, she smells smoke and they see the house, charred....
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The Oil Plague
At sunset, Tally and David leave. They each ride two hoverboards sandwiched together, both of which carry bags. They embark on a 10-day route to Tally’s...
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Accomplices
...jackets. David looks nervous and admits that he’s never seen this many people before. They hoverboard quickly back to Uglyville and when they reach the art school, Tally discovers that it’s...
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Over the Edge
...and then wakes up at dusk. David packs knapsacks and then they each ride two hoverboards. At the hill overlooking Special Circumstances, they stop and look back toward New Pretty Town....
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At the top of the jump, Tally’s hoverboard falls away, and she meets David’s eyes as they start to fall. Tally’s bungee jacket...
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Rescue
...alone, and the other two ride together. Tally activates her crash bracelets to call the hoverboards. David begs for Maddy to try to cure Az, but Maddy softly tells him that...
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Getaway
...a piece from her jumpsuit. On the roof, they can hear sirens and see the hoverboards coming. David looks dazed, so Tally catches him and offers her condolences. She tells him...
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...and thinks of how difficult this night will be for the Specials—they’ll be chasing four hoverboards, four trackers, and all of Dex, Sussy, and An’s friends. At a calm part of...
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Down the River
...that it’s her fault that Tally isn’t pretty already. Tally finally agrees. They take a hoverboard together back to the city, accompanied by Croy so he can take their hoverboard back....
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