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The Secret
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
Az and Maddy explain that they were cosmetic surgeons. When they met, Maddy had just been named to the Pretty Committee, the global group that decides what pretty means. Az says that at that time, he was researching how to make the operation safer. Tally is disturbed to hear that people still die from the operation. Az explains that he found complications from the anesthetic: lesions in the brain. Maddy says that she started investigating and she discovered that almost everyone had the lesions, that the lesions weren’t cancerous, and that they were always in the same place. Only pretties had them, meaning they definitely came from the operation.
Discovering that people still die from the pretty operation shows Tally that there’s already more to the surgery than she thought—and that young people like her aren’t informed of all the risks, as medical ethics might suggest they should be. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that there’s really no point for the government to talk about risks if nobody has a choice in whether to receive the operation or not. This begins to cast the government in a decidedly sinister light.
Themes
Tally asks if they discovered what caused them. With a sigh, Maddy says that they kind of did. They looked at all the pretties who didn’t have lesions and found that they were all professionals like firefighters, politicians, doctors, and Specials. Maddy confirms that she and 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 lesions disappear in some or are cured in others who have to face conflicts and danger in their jobs. Tally asks about rangers and remembers how sure they’d looked, and how different they were from the new pretties she and Peris made fun of.
The revelation that the lesions are a feature of the operation, not a mistake, shows Tally that there’s definitely a lot wrong with her government. Though the novel doesn’t entirely answer why Tally’s government would do this, it likely has to do with the fact that those who have the lesions are easier to control and manipulate. As Tally thinks of the new pretties, she begins to realize that they did lose something when they had their operation: their ability to make their own choices.
Themes
Tally thinks of meeting Peris at Garbo Mansion and remembers that he seemed distant and disconnected. She thinks that the old Peris would’ve 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 to stop researching, which is why they ran away. Tally turns to David and asks what he thinks. He asks her to recall that the Rusties were war-hungry and almost destroyed the world, which convinced people to build the cities and retreat from nature. Now, he says, everyone is happy because everyone looks the same. He suggests it’s not complicated: people stopped fighting once they became pretty, and now just a few people run things. Tally and David say together that becoming pretty changes how a person thinks.
At this point, Peris becomes a case study of how the operation changes a person. Because Tally knew Peris so well, she’s able to easily track how he changed after surgery and see that Maddy and Az are telling the truth. When David mentions the Rusties, he then asks Tally to think about this in a much broader context. The Rusties may have had their problems, but Tally’s society “fixed” those problems by creating a society of unthinking, childlike people who can’t make decisions or be independent. The lesions force those people to conform and give up any sense of individual thought.
Themes
