Scott Westerfeld`s trilogy Uglies – Pretties – Specials tells us about the 15-year-old girl Tally who lives in a society whose citizens (have to) undergo an operation in order to be made pretty as soon as they get 16 years old. The books could easily be taken for prominently criticizing callomania, i.e. the excessive love of and craving for beauty and the respective extreme efforts people make to appear beautiful and thus correspond to a certain ideal. It is widely acknowledged that Western countries have developed into societies whose citizens spend remarkable amounts of time and money in the “improvement” or “maintenance” of their fitness and body appearance. Since the 1980s, an increasing number of so-called body image disorders is reported. More and more and even younger people suffer from a systematic depreciation of their bodies as they compare them to ideal and imaginative body images (Menninghaus, Winfried: Das Versprechen der Schönheit. Frankfurt a. Main: Suhrkamp, 2007: 250-251). It therefore seems a first and logical approach to see Westerfeld`s books as a major criticism of today`s (Western)societies and media which make people perceive their bodies as negative and inferior. As they are considered to be dystopian fictions, we anticipate Westerfeld`s novels to carry a warning reference to the reader`s present society. In this sense, Westerfeld`s books offer a most sinister view on how far we could get if we are advancing technologies like aesthetic surgery and genetic engineering without reconsidering how, why and to what extent we use them. We assume this critical warning to be embodied in the protagonist Tally who tries to succeed in disengaging from the ideology indoctrinated by her city.
This paper wants to “track” the critical approaches we find in the novels and examine whether the narrations really live up to the criticism apparently promised. It will look at the concepts of beauty the protagonist Tally is confronted with and refer to current scientific and popular discourses
about these respective concepts. Finally, a connection shall be drawn between the issues raised in the novels and the genre chosen to work on them. Why are “beauty” and “body” relevant topics to be treated in Young Adult fiction? And how does the genre Young Adult literature change the portrayal and reception of the issues? Questions like these shall be dealt with in order to review the books` message in the context of their intended readership.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Beauty in the city
2.1. Why Tally wants to be pretty
2.1.1. Social stability and equality through uniform prettiness
2.1.2. Survival of the prettiest: Social Darwinist ideas
2.2. Beauty politics – The operation
3. Natural Beauty - Tally and the Smokies
4. More than pretty – Being special
5. Be yourself! – The role of the body for adolescent independence
5.1. Pretty happy – The promise of being beautiful
5.2. Ugly adolescence – The teenager as inferior
6. Conclusion
7. Works Cited
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines Scott Westerfeld's *Uglies* trilogy to investigate how the novels critique contemporary Western beauty politics, social stratification, and the institutionalization of bodily perfection in Young Adult fiction. It explores the tension between individual agency and state-mandated modification, questioning whether the protagonist’s journey truly offers resistance or reinforces societal indoctrination.
- Analysis of Social Darwinism and its influence on beauty ideals.
- Critique of aesthetic surgery as a tool for political control.
- Exploration of adolescence, body image, and the desire for belonging.
- Investigation into the portrayal of character agency versus systemic conformity.
- Examination of the "beauty trap" and the institutionalization of moral judgements based on appearance.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1.2. Survival of the prettiest: Social Darwinist ideas
At school, they explained how it affected you. It didn`t matter if you knew about evolution or not – it worked anyway. On everyone. There was a certain kind of beauty, a prettiness that everyone could see. Big eyes and full lips like a kid`s; smooth, clear skin; symmetrical features; and a thousand other little clues. Somewhere in the backs of their minds, people were always looking for these markers. No one could help seeing them, no matter how they were brought up. A million years of evolution had made it part of the human brain. The big eyes and lips said: I`m young and vulnerable, I can` t hurt you, and you want to protect me. And the rest said: I`m healthy, I won`t make you sick. And no matter how you felt about a pretty, there was a part of you that thought: If we had kids, they`d be healthy too. I want this pretty person…. It was biology they said at school. (Uglies 16-17)
In these words, certain convictions about the nature of beauty are expressed. They all root in Social Darwinism, an ideology trying to apply Darwin`s biological concepts about evolution on human beings in order to explain sociological and political phenomena.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the societal context of the trilogy and the central research focus regarding the criticism of callomania and Western body politics.
2. Beauty in the city: Explores the societal structure of the city, focusing on the mandatory "pretty" operation as a means for social stability, political indoctrination, and the application of Social Darwinist principles.
3. Natural Beauty - Tally and the Smokies: Examines Tally's transition into the Smoke, contrasting her city-indoctrinated perceptions with the diversity and natural beauty encountered among the rebels.
4. More than pretty – Being special: Discusses the transition to the "Special" phase, analyzing the shift from human to machine-like precision and the resulting implications for agency and identity.
5. Be yourself! – The role of the body for adolescent independence: Analyzes the link between adolescence and the city's control, arguing that the operation stifles the natural process of growing up and developing an autonomous identity.
6. Conclusion: Synthesizes the analysis, concluding that Tally's character remains conflicted and that the novels serve as a critical reflection on the enduring power of body images.
7. Works Cited: A collection of secondary sources and literary references used for the analysis.
Keywords
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld, Beauty Politics, Social Darwinism, Adolescent Identity, Aesthetic Surgery, Body Image, Young Adult Fiction, Agency, Dystopia, Control, Conformity, Callomania, Kindchenschema, Social Stratification
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on the critical analysis of the *Uglies* trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, examining its critique of Western beauty ideals, institutionalized body modification, and the impact of these factors on individual autonomy within a dystopian framework.
What are the central thematic fields addressed?
The central themes include the intersection of Social Darwinism and beauty, the political use of aesthetic surgery, the struggle for adolescent identity, and the influence of societal indoctrination on body perception.
What is the core research question of the study?
The study investigates whether the narrations in the *Uglies* trilogy effectively serve as a critique of contemporary beauty politics or if they inadvertently uphold the very ideologies they seem to challenge through the portrayal of the protagonist.
Which scientific methods or theoretical frameworks are employed?
The paper utilizes cultural and social history perspectives, including theories on aesthetic surgery and post-humanism (notably by Sander L. Gilman, Winfried Menninghaus, and Victoria Flanagan), to analyze the social and political dynamics represented in the novels.
What topics are covered in the main section of the paper?
The main section covers the stratification of society in the novels, the "pretty" operation as an instrument of control, the contrast between city-life and the Smoke, the transition to "Special" status, and the psychological impact of the operation on adolescent independence.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include Uglies, beauty politics, Social Darwinism, adolescent identity, aesthetic surgery, body image, dystopia, and agency.
Does the paper argue that the operation successfully grants happiness to the citizens?
No, the paper argues that the "happiness" experienced by "pretties" is artificial and systemic, enforced by brain lesions and the suppression of critical thinking, rather than being a result of genuine personal fulfillment.
How does the author characterize Tally's development?
The author portrays Tally as an ambivalent and inconsistent character who remains deeply integrated into the city's power structures even while attempting to rebel, making her a "deeply morally conflicted" and authentic protagonist rather than a faultless hero.
Why is the "Smoke" significant to the narrative analysis?
The Smoke serves as a site of resistance and an alternative to the city's aesthetic standards, forcing Tally to confront different dimensions of beauty and recognize the artificiality of the categories imposed upon her by the city.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Thérèse Remus (Autor:in), 2013, Pretties with Ugly Thoughts, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/233043
