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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
Tally falls into the Smoke’s routine after a few days. For once in her life, she sleeps easily thanks to the hard work. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do but she decides to put it out of her mind. This proves easy, as life in the 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 kind 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 the Smokies only kill foreign or invasive species. David says that he has a gift for Tally: he offers her leather gloves. This is major—gifts are rare in the Smoke. Tally thanks him and says that the gloves have history, unlike everything in the city.
As the weeks wear on, Tally begins to see just how unhealthy life was in the city. Finally, she can sleep and she feels like she has a purpose, which the novel implies she never would’ve experienced in the city. Further, spending time in the Smoke helps Tally rethink some of her preconceived notions about how things should be. Leather seems more palatable, for instance, when she learns that it only comes from invasive species. She also begins to see the value of old things like the gloves. The gloves are, in some ways, the exact opposite of pretties: they convey history, while pretties’ looks are a way to escape from history and prevent the natural aging process.
Themes
At the tracks, David announces that they have to use vibrasaws to cut through vegetation. Croy and Tally ask about the trees, and David shrugs that they can take the scrub trees back to the Smoke to burn. Tally looks to Shay, hoping she’ll support leaving the trees, but Shay looks carefully neutral. Croy and Astrix continue to push back on cutting down the trees, and finally, David agrees that they’ll only cut into the ones they have to. The saws cut easily through everything but the trees, and Croy, Tally’s work partner, stands a ways back. Tally cuts through a root and then Croy begins to ask Tally how much SpagBol she traded for her sweater and her sleeping bag. He assures Tally he wouldn’t really have taken all her stuff when she first arrived.
Though Tally doesn’t offer any more assessments of Croy’s physical appearance, she genuinely seems to enjoy working with him. It’s likely that after Tally’s few weeks in the Smoke, she understands that Croy isn’t any less valuable because he’s less attractive. In other words, she’s likely learning to value him for his humor, his kindness, and the help that he can offer the group. These are all things that don’t matter much in the cities, which drives home the idea that life in the Smoke is the exact opposite of life in the city.
Themes
They move along to the next section, and as Croy cuts, he does the math out loud for how many SpagBols Tally would’ve had left if it took her nine days to get here. Tally struggles to come up with math that makes sense and then says that she has to share a secret: she exaggerated her story to make it more interesting. Croy doesn’t seem to believe her, though he says that he does. At lunch, the crew sits down at their worksite. Tally sits next to Shay and says they need to talk. Shay says they don’t need to talk about “him,” and they realize they’re talking about different guys—Shay is very confused when Tally mentions Croy’s theory.
Croy’s suspicion means that Tally may have to tell the truth sooner rather than later, as it’s likely he’s not the only one who suspects her of lying. Out in the Smoke, people have to be skeptical to survive, and this isn’t a quality Croy would likely possess if he were still in the city. This again suggests that no society is perfect—after all, undue suspicion isn’t a great thing to feel all the time, as it can damage a community’s sense of trust.
Themes
Tally notices that Shay has been crying. Shay holds out her hand to Tally’s to prove that they’re the same 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 David doesn’t talk to her about important things anymore, and asks if Tally has told David about whomever gave her the pendant. Tally sighs that maybe David has seen the pendant and doesn’t care, or that this is all in Shay’s head, but Tally can see that Shay’s right—David showed Tally the cave and shared the secret about his parents. On one level, Tally hopes that Shay isn’t overreacting. Shay asks Tally to tell David the truth, and Tally promises she will. Shay looks hopeful.
Even if Tally doesn’t want to admit it, she is clearly developing romantic feelings for David, which means that Tally has to think even harder about how to be a good friend to Shay. Now, Tally isn’t just going to potentially betray Shay to the government—she may also “steal” the person Shay has a crush on. This begins to complicate what loyalty means for Tally, especially considering the fact that David’s feelings matter as much as both of the girls’ feelings do. Because of this, it may not be possible for Tally to make Shay as happy as she’d like to.
Themes
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