David Character Analysis in Uglies

David functions as the Smoke’s ringleader and figurehead, though he’s not the one who started the civilization—his parents, Maddy and Az, did. However, because Maddy and Az are old enough to scare young uglies who have never seen adult uglies, David is the one tasked with traveling to the cities and bringing in new recruits. He’s 18 years old, and though he’s an ugly, he exudes a confidence that Tally has never seen before. This confidence makes him kind of handsome, despite having scars, being too strong for pretty standards, and having an asymmetrical face. At first, Shay is in love with David and it’s possible that David reciprocated Shay’s feelings at some point, but he quickly falls in love with Tally. Tally is attractive to David because David is mature, and in turn he prizes maturity and sensible, clear thinking in others. He understands that the Smoke is more than just an extended camping trip—it’s a way of life for those who commit to living there, and he doesn’t have much time or patience for people who struggle to grasp this. To Tally’s horror, David wears a leather jacket and leather shoes, something she initially finds disturbing. She begins to see that it suits David, however, when she learns that the Smokies only kill invasive species. When David ascertains that Tally isn’t sure she wants to stay in the Smoke, he takes her to meet his parents, and they tell Tally the truth about pretty surgery. David believes it’s imperative that people who can handle the information have it and are able to make decisions for themselves. When, later that night, he insists that he finds Tally beautiful, Tally decides to stay in the Smoke but inadvertently alerts Special Circumstances to where she is. The Specials raid and destroy the Smoke, but David is prepared to handle such a disaster. David is overcome with grief when he discovers that Az died from a medical experiment, and his grief and sense of betrayal deepens when Tally finally admits that she inadvertently betrayed the Smoke. David disappears at the end of the novel and it’s left ambiguous as to whether he forgives Tally or not.

David Quotes in Uglies

The Uglies quotes below are all either spoken by David or refer to David. 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:

The boy smiled again. He was an ugly, but he had a nice smile. And his face held a kind of confidence that Tally had never seen in an ugly before. Maybe he was a few years older than she was. Tally had never watched anyone mature naturally past age sixteen. She wondered how much of being ugly was just an awkward age.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood, Shay, David

Page Number and Citation: 181

Explanation and Analysis:

The physical beauty of the Smoke also cleared her mind of worries. Every day seemed to change the mountain, the sky, and the surrounding valleys, making them spectacular in a completely new way. Nature, at least, didn’t need an operation to be beautiful. It just was.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood, Shay, David

Page Number and Citation: 219

Explanation and Analysis:

Then Tally trembled inside, realizing what the feeling was. It was the same warmth she’d felt talking to Peris after his operation, or when teachers looked at her with approval. It was not a feeling she’d ever gotten from an ugly before. Without large, perfectly shaped eyes, their faces couldn’t make you feel that way. But the moonlight and the setting, or maybe just the words he was saying, had somehow turned David into a pretty. Just for a moment.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood, David, Peris

Page Number and Citation: 236-37

Explanation and Analysis:

Tally remembered crossing the river to New Pretty Town, watching them have their endless fun. She and Peris used to boast they’d never wind up so idiotic, so shallow. But when she’d seen him... “Becoming pretty doesn’t just change the way you look,” she said.

“No,” David said. “It changes the way you think.”

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood (speaker), David (speaker), Maddy, Peris, Az

Page Number and Citation: 254

Explanation and Analysis:

For that matter, shallow and self-centered was how brand-new pretties were supposed to be. As an ugly, Peris had made fun of them—but he hadn’t waited a moment to join in the fun. No one ever did. So how could you tell how much was the operation and how much was just people going along with the way things had always been?

Only by making a whole new world, which is just what Maddy and Az had begun to do.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood, David, Maddy, Peris, Az

Page Number and Citation: 258

Explanation and Analysis:

“That’s not what’s important to me. What’s inside you matters a lot more.”

“But first you see my face. You react to symmetry, skin tone, the shape of my eyes. And you decide what’s inside me, based on all your reactions. You’re programmed to!”

“I’m not programmed. I didn’t grow up in a city.”

“It’s not just culture, it’s evolution!”

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood (speaker), David (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 263

Explanation and Analysis:

She scanned the captives, looking for Shay and David. The familiar faces in the crowd were haggard, dirty, crumpled by shock and defeat, but Tally realized that she no longer thought of them as ugly. It was the cold expressions of the Specials, beautiful though they were, that seemed horrific to her now.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood, Shay, David

Page Number and Citation: 286

Explanation and Analysis:

“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: Tally Youngblood (speaker), David (speaker)

Related Symbols: Hoverboards

Page Number and Citation: 326

Explanation and Analysis:

It was hard to think of the Rusties as actual people, rather than as just an idiotic, dangerous, and sometimes comic force of history. But there were human beings down there, whatever was left of them after a couple of hundred years, still sitting in their blackened cars, as if still trying to escape their fate.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood, David

Page Number and Citation: 330

Explanation and Analysis:

David nodded. “It’s kind of creepy how well preserved it is. Of all the ruins I’ve seen, it looks the most recent.”

“They sprayed it with something to keep it up for school trips.” And that was her city in a nutshell, Tally realized. Nothing left to itself. Everything turned into a bribe, a warning, or a lesson.

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood (speaker), David (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 334

Explanation and Analysis:

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But that was all ugly stuff. Crazy love and jealousy and needing to rebel against the city. Every kid’s like that. But you grow up, you know?”

“You grew up because of an operation? Doesn’t that strike you as weird?”

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood (speaker), Shay (speaker), David

Page Number and Citation: 376

Explanation and Analysis:

“Why did we even have to ask? They didn’t get her permission when they did this to her!”

“That’s the difference between us and them,” Maddy said. “After Az and I found out what the operation really meant, we realized we’d been party to something horrible. People had their minds changed without their knowledge. As doctors, we took an ancient oath never to do anything like that.”

Related Characters: Tally Youngblood (speaker), Maddy (speaker), Shay, David, Dr. Cable, Az

Page Number and Citation: 393-94

Explanation and Analysis:

David Character Timeline in Uglies

The timeline below shows where the character David appears in Uglies. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Beauty, Science, and Influence Theme Icon

The Natural World, History, and Growing Up Theme Icon

...creeps down Tally’s spine and she asks who they’re meeting. Shay says his name is David, which sounds like a made-up name to Tally. Shay explains that he lives far away... (full context)

Tally hopes that David won’t show up; she’s heard that in other cities, people do weird things like speak... (full context)

...like freaks, even as Shay suggests that the uglies are the normal ones. Shay mentions David again, which annoys Tally. She’s not sure David is real, but Shay seems obsessed with... (full context)

...person for four weeks. Shay says it won’t take that long to get to where David lives, where they don’t separate uglies from pretties and where nobody has to get the... (full context)

...alone anymore and felt safer going back to the ruins. She admits that she met David a few days ago in the ruins and asks Tally to come with her now.... (full context)

...it makes any sense, but Tally thinks that after meeting Dr. Cable, Shay’s paranoia and David’s desire to keep his camp a secret make more sense. Tally realizes that Dr. Cable... (full context)

...then begins her questioning. Tally tells Dr. Cable that Shay talked about running away with David, a person Dr. Cable has heard about. Tally mentions the Smoke and pulls out Shay’s... (full context)

...the city, she vows not to think about the possibility that Shay shouldn’t have trusted David. Tally hikes to the Rusty Ruins and finds the roller coaster, where she tries to... (full context)

...He scans Tally with his device, declares her clean, and then Shay introduces him as David. He’s a slightly older ugly, but he has a nice smile and looks confident. Tally... (full context)

...she needs to keep her things to trade, a foreign concept to Tally. Tally notices David’s hand on Shay’s shoulder as they hike through the orchids to the beginning of the... (full context)

...for hiking. She wonders how one gets new shoes in the Smoke and notices that David’s shoes look handmade and crude, though he moves gracefully. Tally reminds herself that it doesn’t... (full context)

...were clearly cut from tree centers. This disturbs Tally, so she’s happy when Shay and David take her outside to the cooking fire. Shay’s friends, Astrix, Ryde, and Croy join them.... (full context)

David asks how it felt to wait alone in the orchids for days, but Tally says... (full context)

...take six people to carry back. Tally’s hands are raw and blistered. Tally admits to David that she just noticed them, which makes him laugh. He says that hard work is... (full context)

David admits that he’s worried the boulders will collapse if they mess with the rails. He... (full context)

David suggests that the cities are like boulders in that they seem solid but they might... (full context)

...from the rangers in the river. Astrix asks why they didn’t pick Tally up, but David interjects that the rangers don’t pick up runaways anywhere but in the orchids. Picking someone... (full context)

...says it’s okay—she broke the same rule when she left directions for Tally. People like David are still suspicious of Tally, but things will be fine once they get to know... (full context)

...glad she came but she knows she has to decide whether to betray Shay and David. (full context)

...Smoke is intense. Tally feels stronger than ever and she loves working on the railroads. David teaches her how to repair her clothes, and the natural landscape is spectacular without any... (full context)

At the tracks, David announces that they have to use vibrasaws to cut through vegetation. Croy and Tally ask... (full context)

...size, and Tally sees that Shay’s hands are in worse shape. Tally tries to defend David and give Shay the gloves, but Shay insists she doesn’t want them. She says that... (full context)

...of time before everyone knows she’s a spy and she feels awful for coming between David and Shay. Tally feels like one of the orchids, choking everything else around her. David... (full context)

David leads Tally to a ridge where they can look down on the Smoke. Tally notices... (full context)

David compliments Tally for her bravery in coming to the Smoke all by herself and specifically... (full context)

David’s words make Tally feel warm, but then she trembles—this warmth isn’t something she’s ever felt... (full context)

David leads Tally down the far ridge. Tally struggles to keep up and organize her thoughts.... (full context)

...Maddy and Az say they haven’t heard of Shay, Tally wonders what the relationship between David and Shay was really like before she arrived. The conversation turns to what Tally knows... (full context)

...Az don’t have lesions and says that if they had them, they wouldn’t be here. David clarifies that the lesions are a part of the operation, and Maddy adds that the... (full context)

...enjoyed the Smoke, but the new Peris probably wouldn’t. Tally asks what the lesions do. David, Maddy, and Az explain that they have ideas, but Special Circumstances forced Maddy and Az... (full context)

Tally, David, Maddy, and Az stay up late talking about the Smoke. Finally, Tally asks how Az... (full context)

Tally wonders if the lesions or the pretty operation came first. Then, David and Tally leave Maddy and Az’s house. As David and Tally hike, David says he... (full context)

Tally is shocked and lists all of her facial features that are ugly. David runs his finger over her cheek, and even though the finger is callused, it feels... (full context)

Tally steps up on a stone so she’s at David’s eye level, asks again if he thinks she’s beautiful, and then surprises herself by saying... (full context)

...and gives her the pepper instead. She pauses for a moment, thinks of never seeing David again, and then races for the Special. The Special trips Tally and handcuffs her. As... (full context)

...when she didn’t show up for breakfast, but Tally shares that she was out with David. Croy admits he hasn’t seen David, Shay, or the Boss. Tally says that she and... (full context)

...to tell herself that she couldn’t have done this. Tally tells Shay that she and David were just talking last night as a Special scans her eye. The Special confirms Tally’s... (full context)

...reaches the river, and crouches down to try to hide in the trees, wondering where David is. One of the hovercars seems to spot Tally, so Tally leaps over to the... (full context)

It’s David. Tally pulls him to her and shakes her head when he asks if there’s anyone... (full context)

Tally reassures David that they’ll rescue everyone. David is skeptical, but Tally says she’s been to Special Circumstances.... (full context)

David and Tally leave the cave the next morning. Tally is thirsty and cold after spending... (full context)

Tally and David continue their tour of the Smoke and discover the library burning with the books still... (full context)

As Tally and David ride over the ridge, Tally tells him that the Boss only died because he fought... (full context)

David says his parents didn’t escape—Az would’ve taken this knife if they had. He looks less... (full context)

At sunset, Tally and David leave. They each ride two hoverboards sandwiched together, both of which carry bags. They embark... (full context)

...desert before. She asks if this is the Mojave, the only desert she knows of. David says this desert is unnatural—it’s where the orchid first took over. It might come back... (full context)

...never really said how the Rusties’ world ended, just that their mistakes kept adding up. David shares that the Boss had books about it: a bacterium infected the oil that the... (full context)

Tally and David follow a river for three days until they reach the sea and then turn south.... (full context)

...their things in a decrepit building and then Tally leads the way down the river. David assures her that after they rescue Shay, Shay will forgive Tally, but Tally isn’t so... (full context)

Tally and David ride to the greenbelt, and Tally reminds David that there’s a grid everywhere—they can ride... (full context)

...if they hurry, they can drop by the Uglyville art school and steal bungee jackets. David looks nervous and admits that he’s never seen this many people before. They hoverboard quickly... (full context)

...that the Smokies may be imprisoned elsewhere. She says she wishes they had help, and David stops her and points: they see a safety sparkler at the ruins. David suggests they... (full context)

Tally sleeps all day in the Rusty Ruins and then wakes up at dusk. David packs knapsacks and then they each ride two hoverboards. At the hill overlooking Special Circumstances,... (full context)

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 only catches her a split second... (full context)

Tally looks around. She suggests they glue the hovercar door closed, so David does so with nanotech glue. Then, Tally uses a powerjack to open the elevator doors.... (full context)

Tally and David walk past the morgue and then decide to head down. They figure the next floor... (full context)

...Tally’s still a troublemaker and then points to where the other Smokies are locked up. David runs to free the others while Shay beams at Tally. Tally asks Shay what they... (full context)

...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 they need... (full context)

...everything from before her operation. Tally points out that Shay hated her because she stole David and betrayed the Smoke. Thoughtfully, Shay says that that was just ugly stuff and kid... (full context)

...last forever anyway. Tally says that she didn’t mean to betray them, and that stealing David from Shay was just an accident. Tally trails off; she can’t understand how Shay doesn’t... (full context)

...getting him confused with the other uglies riding there. Croy also shares that Maddy and David went to the ruins to be alone for a while, which makes Tally’s stomach drop.... (full context)

They reach the Rusty Ruins after midnight. David stands outside the hiding spot, looking exhausted. He and Tally embrace and kiss, and he... (full context)

...leads Tally onto the roof and says that they can’t sneak the pills to Shay. David notes that Shay is happy and can make her own decisions. (full context)

...change Shay back, but Maddy says that Az died because Dr. Cable thought like that. David explains that Dr. Cable was concerned that Maddy and Az would talk about the lesions... (full context)

...the city, get caught, and receive the pretty operation. In a few weeks, Maddy and David can fetch her and test the pills that cure the brain lesions. David is distraught,... (full context)

Tally admits that she came to the Smoke to betray Shay and she tells David everything. She says she didn’t mean to call Special Circumstances, but she’s the reason Shay... (full context)

...consent in writing, so Tally asks Shay to write it since Tally never learned penmanship. David is still gone when Tally is done, and she realizes that no matter what, David... (full context)

...if she’ll believe the truth when she returns as a pretty. She also wonders how David will look to her after she’s a pretty, and if she’ll still remember that people... (full context)