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Special Circumstances
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
When Tally gets back to her dorm, she discovers that they’d already cleaned out her room and reset it. She sits, too surprised to cry, and thinks that everything is gone. This all feels like a cruel trick. She pulls Shay’s note out of the bag and reads it, looking for clues. It’s a poem and it mentions a long, flat roller coaster, a “side” that Tally despises, and flowers with “fire-bug eyes.” None of 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 probably wanted the note but missed it. This means that Tally kept Shay’s secret, that Tally has a bargaining chip, and that Special Circumstances makes mistakes.
Discovering her room like this reinforces that in Tally’s society, young people aren’t really thought of as individuals. Instead, they simply move through the system like cattle, with little regard for their belongings or wellbeing. As Tally begins to understand the reasoning behind David and Shay’s paranoia, she starts to become a better friend, as her own experience of being denied and devalued by her society allows her to develop a newfound sense empathy—even for David, whom she’s never met.
Themes
The other uglies return to the dorm before lunchtime. Some of them giggle outside Tally’s door and Tally wonders if they’re laughing at her. She realizes she hasn’t eaten since lunch the day before in preparation for the operation, but she waits until lunch is over and heads upstairs to get leftover food. On the roof, she finds that someone left her a sealed plate with her name on it. The sight of it makes Tally cry, but she holds her tears in until she gets back to her room. About an hour later, Tally’s parents, Ellie and Sol, arrive. Ellie wraps Tally in a crushing hug, making Tally feel young and cared for. Sol vows that they’ll get to the bottom of this. His eyes twinkle, and Tally is sure her father will make things right.
There’s little to suggest that Uglyville is a supportive, kind environment, so these uglies probably are laughing at Tally. Given the way that Tally talks about how uglies treat each other, it seems like a cutthroat environment in which teasing is to be expected—and since Tally has just done something way out of the norm, she’s an easy target. Tally’s descriptions of her parents, when considered alongside her descriptions of other middle pretties, also suggests that Ellie and Sol aren’t really all that individualistic—they’re like every other middle pretty couple and they just happen to be Tally’s parents.
Themes
Sol and Ellie say that they heard about Shay; Sol suggests that Shay’s a lot of trouble, but Ellie reminds him that Shay is missing. Sol grouses that Shay shouldn’t have dragged Tally down with her. Tally tries to defend Shay, but Ellie points out that everything will be okay once Tally finds Shay. Tally says she isn’t sure she can help Special Circumstances because she promised to keep Shay’s secret. Sol and Ellie are quiet for a moment, but then Sol says that part of being an ugly is thinking everything is exciting and important—but then growing up. Ellie asks Tally to consider Shay’s safety. Tally thinks that this makes sense, but thinking of Dr. Cable makes Tally wince.
Sol shows here that he prioritizes conforming to the way things should be over anything else. He doesn’t exhibit any empathy for Shay, and neither he nor Ellie are swayed by Tally’s insistence that she has to remain loyal to her friend. They confirm here that growing up means abandoning one’s friends and thinking selfishly about oneself. On a grander scale, this suggests that Tally’s society isn’t at all communal—it’s every person for themselves.
Themes
Tally starts to explain what the people at Special Circumstances look like, but Sol laughs and says that old people know all about them and that the Specials are just doing their jobs. Tally looks at Sol and for the first time, sees something other than wisdom and confidence. He seems to laugh off Special Circumstances too easily and it seems like he knows nothing about where Shay went. Tally wonders if most people don’t want to know. She remembers learning about the Rusties but she realizes now that her teachers never mentioned people living outside cities today. Tally announces that she’ll need to think about it, which surprises her parents, and then she asks to come home. Even more surprised, Ellie and Sol refuse. Ellie tells Tally she has no choice but to help Special Circumstances.
In this instant, Tally begins to suspect that growing up might not be all it’s cracked up to be. Sol shows her that being a grown up means not being curious, afraid, or loyal to one’s friends; possessing these qualities marks someone as a child. He also seems very trusting of his government—which in this instance reads as potentially misplaced trust, given that the government clearly has no issue blackmailing teenagers like Tally into doing their dirty work. Ellie’s insistence that Tally has no choice but to cooperate also suggests that people in Tally’s society don’t view life as a series of choices—there’s only one correct path.
Themes
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