Previous
Rescue
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
Maddy asks for a knife, and Tally gives her one. Maddy cuts 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 they need to run right now, but he can’t respond—the sound of the hovercar door trying to open against the nanotech glue is too loud. Maddy locks the elevator and tells David to glue the other hatches shut, and then Tally races for the boards. As she Tally hits the ground, Croy points to approaching Specials. Tally rides both boards at once, evades the Specials, and rides to the roof. Maddy gives her a piece of the jumpsuit with a tracking device in it to drop somewhere, and Tally pulls Shay on the boards with her.
The different qualities that Maddy, Tally, and David bring to the table allow them to better escape the Specials. This speaks to the power of individuality, as well as of community. When people work together toward a common goal and use a variety of different knowledge, they’re able to do things that otherwise wouldn’t be possible—such as evade the Specials. The Specials, meanwhile, work as a group, but they seem more like automatons than freethinking individuals—and in this case, that hinders their efforts.
Themes
Shay remarks that she doesn’t have crash bracelets and teeters dangerously. Tally asks Shay if she remembers how to ride, but Shay says she’s just rusty and that she has had too much to drink. Tally realizes that if Shay falls now, she’ll die just like Az. Tally wonders how Az died and she asks Shay to not let go if she falls—Tally is still wearing crash bracelets and a bungee jacket, so they might survive. Tally wonders if Special Circumstance will alert the wardens for help. She wonders if the wardens and if regular government even knows what the Specials have done to the Smoke or Az. Tally drops the tracking device into the river and then heads upstream, to where there’s a cave hidden by a waterfall. She has no idea what they’re going to do next.
Though the novel doesn’t answer Tally’s question about what the rest of the government knows, her recognition that this might be about a network of censorship and control shows that going forward, she’ll have to contend with the possibility that there’s more to this than just her fight. It sets Tally up to consider more broadly how her society functions and controls information, while this novel (the first in a series) focuses more on simply introducing Tally to more pressing information and ideas.
Themes
Shay asks if Tally thinks it’s true that Az is dead; she saw him a few days ago and he was fine. Tally isn’t sure. Shay shouts that she’s remembering how to ride and assures Tally that she remembers 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 stuff, but she’s grown up now. Tally asks if Shay doesn’t find it weird that she grew up because of the pretty operation, but Shay said she grew up when she realized that it’s good to be home—and that the Smoke is a crazy idea. Tally confirms that Shay fought getting the operation and asks if Shay realized these things before or after the operation.
It’s telling that Shay characterizes her very real and legitimate pain as kid stuff that doesn’t matter anymore. This shows why the uglies as a whole are treated so poorly in Tally’s city: their emotions, according to those older and “prettier” than them, don’t matter. Tally’s questions about when Shay decided these things force Shay to confront that while she may be happy now, becoming pretty isn’t what she really wanted. By doing this, Tally likely thinks she’s being a loyal friend, as she’s reminding Shay of who she truly wanted to be.
Themes
Tally checks her position-finder 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 the river, Shay asks why Tally wants Shay to hate her. Tally says she doesn’t, she just feels bad for betraying Shay. Shay points out that the Smoke wasn’t going to 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 understand that the operation changed her. Shay asks about Tally’s relationship with David, and Tally cries as she apologizes for ruining Shay’s dreams. Shay says she’s not sorry about anything, and Tally thinks of the lesions. She knows they’re making Shay forgive her.
Even if Shay might be right that the Smoke wasn’t going to last forever, it doesn’t mean that Tally shouldn’t feel remorse for what she did. It’s only through experiencing this guilt will Tally be able to understand the importance of being loyal, kind, and empathetic. Tally’s understanding that this night will be difficult, even for the Specials, shows how underprepared the Specials are to deal with an uprising like this—they’re not used to people acting like autonomous individuals, and they don’t know how to handle it.
Themes
Get the entire Uglies LitChart as a printable PDF.
