Huzij 1
Lori Huzij
May 16 2014
Ms. Daoust
ENG4U
Theme Analysis: Uglies
In the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, the story focuses on the theme of friendship and how it is necessary for happiness. Tally Youngblood is the central character whose tricks become much more serious when her intense relationships get her into a series of problems. Westerfeld allows his audience to truly connect with his story by using various elements involving setting, symbolism, and character relationships. Westerfeld also makes a point about beauty and appearance, how they tie into friendship, and how they make people happy.
A writer for The New York Times, James Hynes, describes what dystopian literature is; “It mirrors the experience of venturing from the relative safety of childhood into the harsher realities of adult life. The story's psychological underpinning is the adolescent's shock at learning that some of what you're taught isn't true, your parents are flawed human beings and the world isn't constructed for your benefit.” This relates to the theme of friendship because the characters in the book turn to their friendships when everything else they have known seems to be a lie.
Setting is an important aspect that Westerfeld focus' on, using descriptive language to really paint of picture of the unusual world they live in, and the very significant differences between Ugly and New Pretty Towns. Uglies takes place in a society where everyone is obsessed with beauty, and until the character receives their operation to become a pretty, they are nothing. Westerfeld tries to make it apparent that it is important for the characters to bond and establish relationships with one another in order to keep sane in this unusual world that they live in....
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...David. “He still had the look in his eye, the pretty look. Maybe he really could see past her ugly face. Maybe what was inside her did matter to him more than anything else.” (279) By developing this relationship with David, it not only made Tally extremely happy; but she is able to understand the true meaning of what it is to be beautiful.
Overall Scott Westerfeld did an excellent job at creating a theme of friendship and how it is necessary for happiness in his book Uglies. Throughout the book the audience is able to see how the characters opinions and actions change based upon what friendships they had at the time. By using devices of setting and atmosphere, various elements of symbolism, building intense character relationships, and tying it all together with an inspiring message about beauty, Westerfeld allows his audience to truly connect with his story.
The Uglies is a book about a futuristic look of America. There are a lot of futuristic things like hover boards. But this society isn’t perfect like people think. The narrator in this book is tally Youngblood who will be on a journey to find her best friend. In this society everyone is obsessed with beauty. And the Uglies are the people between the ages of 12 and 16 they live in a remote community far from the beautiful people. In this community the Uglies anxiously wait for their 16th birthday. At the age of 16 they go through a mandatory plastic surgery in order to live up to society’s standards. After they go through plastic surgery they will be known as pretties, and they will also live with all of the other gorgeous people. After changing communities they will party all the time and spend most of their time drinking champagne. But then Tally find out that the government is hiding a scary secret about becoming a pretty and she will risk her life and her friends to save them from becoming pretties.
The type of narration, the plot’s rising action, and the overall imprint that is left on the reader, pushes this book above and beyond. Whaley creates a picture for the reader by using third- person omniscient point of view. This method helps the reader better understand the main characters. The rising action development was extremely easy to follow. The descriptions of the characters and the background information helps explained how the story was laid out. Also, the author seemed like he wanted the reader to realize the purpose of the three-way friendship. It represented how a relationship allows everyone to learn from their flaws and unwarranted decisions from other’s reactions. This book is truly unique, from the composure to the character’s
According to Psychological Today,“Psychologists find that human beings have a fundamental need for inclusion in group life and for close relationships.” Without people that others need for fundamental reasons, the effects can change them as a person. In Of Mice and Men, the two main characters, George and Lennie, are working at a new ranch. They meet new people and try not to get into trouble. However, not everyone is included in the group. Some are left out and may become lonely. George and Lennie on the other hand have each other in a compelling friendship. In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel, a girl with cancer, has been impacted by the one and only Augustus Waters. They are both cancer victims and end up falling for each other. They go on a trip to Amsterdam and meet Peter Van Houten, who is getting a little lonely. Throughout the novel, they are at their strongest and weakest points in life and need each other to get through it. Of Mice and Men and The Fault in Our Stars are similar in how they demonstrate themes such as the negative effects of loneliness and the value of friendship.
The book Of Mice And Men has very many themes within it, some good and uplifting, others sad and depressing, but through all of the themes to me one theme shines and shows itself more than any other, and that theme is friendship.
Candy, an aging swamper and former ranch worker, is a character that experiences the heartbreak of becoming lonely. Many can attest to having an extremely good friend that they lose whether it be because of work, personal reasons, and in Candy’s case death. When occurrences like Candy’s incident transpire one can feel as if the world is crumbling all around them. A gaping hole is left in Candy’s heart after his dog was shot, and regret is present because he did not do it himself. Candy loses the only friend he has, and his disability and age hinders his chances of gaining new friends. Loneliness can envelope an individual and make their logic warped and more susceptible to the idea of utopia and serenity. This can be seen in people today especially in teenagers who are willing to please others in exchange for friendship and similar concepts which mostly ends in bullying and broken hearts. In this circumstance Candy is willing to believe i...
...arding their personal experience with loneliness. In the end, the novel comes to say that humans are most happy when they are able to confide in others for protection and advice.
Dystopia, a word that inflicts feelings of malcontent, fear, a place where abysmal conditions are the new normal, this genre describes a society where everything has and continues to go wrong. This genre has gripped the hearts of many readers and is compelling for people of all ages. The dystopian book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a thrilling book that introduces the reader to a world where the society tries to force everything to be perfect, and danger lurks around every twist and turn. The meaning of dystopia, the characteristics of the genre, and how it is presented in Fahrenheit 451, contributes to how one could understand the dystopian style of literature.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
The power of love is often portrayed as a tool to develop characters and their bonds with others. In Johns Steinbeck’s novella of Mice and Men and John Lee Hancock’s The Blind Side are no exception to this and uses the power of love and all its varieties to strengthen the bonds between their characters. Both authors use the power of friendship, the power of romance and the power of family to strengthen the relationships between characters but also to develop their characters as well.
Theme: Situations and surroundings can shatter the innocence of friendship, but more the identity of the individuals.
“Choose your friends wisely,” my mother told me as a child. One’s friends are a reflection of who one is. Therefore, I value honesty, loyalty, and compassion in my friendships. These qualities are valued in Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen. He develops the unlikely friendship between Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, two teenage boys who live very different yet similar lives. Through their growth both individually and as friends, Potok conveys that honesty, loyalty, and compassion are qualities that should be valued in all relationships, especially friendships.
Have you ever made any friends via Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat that you have never met before? I know I have through Twitter due to having the same interests. Some may say those friends are not really your friends, but virtual ones instead. In the article, “The Limits of Friendships,” by Maria Konnikova, she talks about friendships that are made virtually and in reality. The author argues that the use of social media has hindered friendships and face to face connections within one’s social circle, however, she does not address that they have met their closest support group through social media. Face to face connections help identify who one’s true friends are and they are more realistically made when it is in person rather than over social media, but there Konnikova fails to address the fact that social media has allowed many to connect
Of Mice and Men and Death of a Salesman are two novels that incorporate living off the land, chasing the american dream, and conflicting relationships that end in a character's death. Both novels include important lessons about morals and relationships in life, while keeping readers in suspense as they watch the tragic outcomes of the inefficient relationships between characters. It can be noted that there are negative relationships, or relationships that hold negative elements, which ultimately lead to an avoidable death of a character. These negative relationships can be seen with George and Lennie, Willy and Happy, and Willy and Biff.
Dystopian Literature is a type of fiction literature that represents a bad view of the future and its people on it. It is basically a not so perfect world, where the people in charge and the government control everything in the general public; also where the conditions of life are really horrible from depression and everything else that comes along. Three famous works of dystopian literature include Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.