Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts in Scott Westerfeld's 'Uglies'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tesis ini, saya akan membahas beberapa konflik yang dialami oleh
tokoh utama dalam sebuah novel yang berjudul Uglies, karya Scott Westerfeld.
Yang dibahas adalah konflik sosial dan konflik batin yang dialami oleh tokoh
utama dalam novel ini.
Tokoh utama dalam Uglies adalah seorang anak perempuan yang bernama
Tally. Dalam kehidupan masyarakat di tempat Tally tinggal, semua orang yang
berulang tahun ke-enam belas akan diubah menjadi lebih cantik atau tampan
melalui operasi yang disediakan oleh pemerintah. Konflik batin pertama yang
dialami Tally adalah apakah dia akan menghianati Shay atau menjadi buruk rupa
selamanya. Konflik batin yang kedua adalah ketika Tally berada dalam suatu
kelompok pemberontak the Smoke, ia merasa bingung: Haruskah ia memberi tahu
identitas aslinya sebagai penyusup kepada teman-teman barunya atau tidak.
Konflik batin yang ketiga adalah tentang perasaan Tally kepada David: akankah
Tally mempertimbangkan perasaan temannya Shay, yang juga menyukai David,
atau memilih tidak peduli dan berusaha memiliki David.
Selain konflik batin, Tally juga mengalami konflik sosial. Konflik sosial
pertama adalah antara Tally dan pemerintah. Tally tidak setuju dengan operasi
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yang dilakukan pemerintah setelah mengetahui rahasia di balik operasi
tersebut. Konflik sosial yang kedua adalah antara Tally dan Shay; Tally setuju
adanya operasi untuk membuat orang terlihat cantik atau tampan tetapi Shay
tidak setuju.
Dari analisis terhadap konflik-konflik yang dialami Tally, saya berpendapat
bahwa benang merah antara konflik batin dan konflik sosial di atas adalah
ditemukannya arti yang lebih dalam
mengenai perbedaan pendapat dan
pengkhianatan, yang dikaitkan dengan penerimaan
terhadap diri sendiri,
penerimaan terhadap orang lain dan penerimaan oleh kelompok teman sebaya
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ......................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................ 3
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................... 3
Method of Research ................................................................................ 3
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................... .. 4
CHAPTER TWO:
ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS
IN SCOTT WESTERFELD’S UGLIES
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ............................................................. 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 19
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Uglies .................................................................................. 20
Biography of Scott Westerfeld ................................................................ 21
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of Uglies
This story is about a world where everyone has an operation to make them
beautiful when they turn sixteen. Tally Youngblood is a young girl who is about
to turn sixteen and she looks forward to becoming pretty. While she is waiting for
her birthday, she meets a girl named Shay. They share the same birthday and
become good friends. Shay does not want to become pretty and she has a plan to
run away to a hidden place called the Smoke just before her birthday. When Shay
invites Tally to come to the Smoke with her, Tally refuses. Shay leaves her alone
but gives Tally a note of cryptic clues to the Smoke location, in case Tally
changes her mind. Tally promises that she will never reveal where the Smoke is to
anybody.
Unfortunately, the authorities find out about Shay’s running away and ask
Tally to reveal the Smoke. Tally is told to find the Smoke by using Shay's
directions, but she refuses to do so. They say that she cannot become pretty until
she reveals the Smoke’s location so she decides to help the authorities to find
Shay and the Smoke’s location. However, Tally changes her mind shortly after
she has arrived and met David, with whom she starts to fall in love. Tally learns
from David’s once-pretty parents, that the pretty operation does more than just
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change appearances as it also makes people docile and more compliant with the
authorities by creating lesions in the brain. Tally accidentally sends for the
authorities, who then destroys the Smoke and captures all the people but Tally and
David, who manage to escape. Tally and David rescue their friends and hide in the
Rusty Ruins city.
Shay has turned into a pretty person with lesions in her brain. Maddy,
David’s mother, discovers a cure for the lesions but Shay refuses to take it. Maddy
needs a willing subject to test the cure’s efficiency and safeness. Meanwhile,
Tally feels guilty for what happened to Shay and decides to sacrifice herself to be
turned pretty to help find the cure by becoming the test subject.
Biography of Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld is an American-born author of science fiction. He was
born on May 5, 1963, in the U.S. state of Texas and now he lives in Sydney, New
South Wales, Australia, and New York City. Westerfeld’s father was a computer
programmer. He dealt with planes, submarines and the Apollo missions.
Westerfeld graduated from Vassar College in 1985 and spent his early career
as a composer whose musical compositions have been performed in dance
productions both in the United States and in Europe. Scott Westerfeld moved into
writing as a ghostwriter and creator of educational software programs for children.
Now, as a fiction writer working primarily in the science-fiction genre, he writes
novels and short stories for both adults and younger readers.
Westerfeld is the author of five science fiction novels for adults. In 2000,
Westerfeld won a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award and his
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book Evolution's Darling became a New York Times Notable Book. The Risen
Empire and The Killing of Worlds are parts one and two of the same book,
originally titled Succession. In 2005 the book was published in the UK as one
book under the title The Risen Empire.
Westerfeld has written three sets of books for young adults. The first is
called Midnighters (2004), the second is Uglies (2005) and the third set of books
is three stand-alone novels, So Yesterday (2004), Peeps (2005) and The Last Days
(2006). Westerfeld has also written a few short stories that can be found online for
free. The Uglies series was optioned by Twentieth Century Fox as a possible film
series in 2006. It is going to be released in November 2012.
Westerfeld married an Australian author, Justine Larbalestier, in 2001.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
This thesis presents an analysis of social and inner conflicts in Scott
Westerfeld’s Uglies. This novel belongs to science fiction, which is “a genre of
fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible (or at least nonsupernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology,
space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities” (“Science Fiction”). I am interested
in analyzing the novel because I like to think of how the world will look like in
the future. The analysis will also help people have possible images of the future
and give them ideas about development in technology.
The author of Uglies, Scott Westerfeld, is best known as a science-fiction
writer both for adults and young readers. In his fiction-writing career, Westerfeld
began with his novel Polymorph. His next novel for adults is Evolution’s Darling,
which earned him a Philip K. Dick Award special citation, and “was praised by
Trevor Dodge, who wrote a review for the Review of Contemporary Fiction”
(“Scott Westerfeld”). He has also won many other awards from his works. In
Uglies,
he
creates
a
futuristic
world
where
cosmetic
surgery
1
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is a required step for everyone to take at the age of sixteen. Uglies was published
in 2005 and named Best Book for Young Adults 2006 by the American Library
Association and CCBC Choices (Bouret).
Uglies is a futuristic story which is interesting to read and gives the readers
an image of what might happen in the future. “This book is for everyone as it
deals with human’s feelings in general and tells about what young people go
through and it is also connected to the issues of conformity, self-worth, body
image and individuality, as well as the impact of strong peer pressure” (“Uglies”)
so readers can learn from the book that it is fine to be themselves and that they are
supposed to accept differences in people. The book Uglies is sold all around the
world and has become the number-one New York bestselling book; the book has
also been adapted into a movie which will be released in late 2012 (“Scott
Westerfeld”).
The protagonist of the novel, Tally, experiences many conflicts, specifically
social and inner conflicts, which I will analyze in my thesis. Conflicts have
important roles in a story. “Conflict is something that makes a story worth
reading. Without struggles, moral choices, tension, and opposing forces, a story
would be nothing but a boring discussion of facts” (Richards). In Dictionary of
Literary Terms, Harry Shaw states five kinds of conflicts, but only three of them
are commonly found, namely physical, social and inner conflicts. Physical
conflict is a struggle between man and the physical world. “It represents man
versus forces of nature, the difficulties and dangers, for cold, heat, wild beasts in
the jungle; these are constant obstacles to mankind” ( 91). “Social conflict means
struggle between man and man” ( 91). The last kind of conflict is inner or
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psychological conflict, which means “a struggle between desires within a person”
(Shaw 91-92).
Statement of the Problems
The problems of this study are formulated as follows:
1. What conflicts does the protagonist in Uglies experience?
2. What are the causes of the conflicts?
3. What are the resolutions of the conflicts?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problems presented earlier, the study is conducted
1. to identify the conflicts experienced by the protagonist in Uglies;
2. to identify the causes of the conflicts;
3. to identify the resolutions of the conflicts.
Method of Research
I apply the library research for my analysis. First, I read Uglies, a novel by
Scott Westerfeld, as the primary text. In addition, I got some supporting
information from a book and some online sources. Next, I analyzed the conflicts
experienced by the protagonist in the novel, drew some concluding remarks of the
result of my analysis, and finally wrote this thesis.
Organization of the Thesis
In my thesis, there are three chapters that are preceded by the Abstract, the
Acknowledgments and the Table of Contents. Chapter One is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problems, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis.
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Chapter Two is the Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts in Scott Westerfeld’s
Uglies and Chapter Three is the Conclusion. At the end of the thesis, there are the
Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of Uglies and the
Biography of Scott Westerfeld.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I would like to draw a conclusion from my analysis of the
novel. This thesis has presented the analysis of three inner conflicts and two social
conflicts through Tally, the protagonist in Scott Westerfeld's novel, Uglies. Tally’s
first inner conflict is whether she has to betray her friend Shay or not. The second
inner conflict happens when she is to tell the true reason why she comes to the
Smoke. She experiences the third inner conflict when she has a dilemma whether
to ignore Shay’s feeling or to ignore her own feeling for David. Moreover, Tally’s
first social conflict happens between Tally and Shay regarding their different opinions toward the authorities’ plan to force everybody to have a plastic surgery. Finally, the second social conflict occurs when Tally opposes the authorities regarding their enforced obligatory operation.
I find that all of the inner conflicts are about betrayal. In the first inner
conflict, Tally decides to betray her friend, Shay, by taking the authorities’ offer to
reveal the Smoke’s location in order for her to be turned pretty. In fact, Tally has
promised Shay that she will keep the Smoke’s location as a secret. However, the
authorities offer her the worst choice she can imagine: find Shay or never turn
pretty at all. In the second inner conflict, Tally does not have the courage to tell
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the real reason she has come to the Smoke: she has betrayed her friend by agreeing to be a spy in the Smoke. When Tally gets to the Smoke, she starts to like the
place but the idea that she is a spy there keeps bothering her. In the third inner
conflict, Tally betrays her friend, Shay, by being together with David, although
she knows that Shay has a feeling for David, too. Shay seems to suspect Tally
when she asks Tally about the special someone who has given Tally the pendant.
Nevertheless, as the feelings between Tally and David grow stronger, Tally decides to go with David.
On the other hand, both social conflicts have to do with having different
ideas. In the first social conflict, while Tally agrees with the operation to make
people pretty, Shay disagrees with it and does not want to get the operation. Tally
always admires pretty people as she thinks they are very attractive while Shay
thinks they are boring and people should keep their natural looks. Similarly, the
second conflict is about disagreement between Tally and the authorities regarding
the operation to make people pretty. At first, Tally is dying to be turned pretty.
Every night Tally look out of her window, watching the pretties partying all night
in New Pretty Town. Being pretty is what all the uglies dream for. But after Tally
gets to the Smoke and is told about the secret behind the operation, she completely changes her mind about her wish for the operation and her plan for helping the
authorities to reveal the Smoke. The authorities’ real intention of making all the
citizens have the operation is not only to make them pretty but also to make them
docile so that they are easily controlled.
The protagonist, Tally, experiences inner conflicts regarding betrayal. Tally also experiences social conflicts regarding having different ideas and opinions.
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Difference of ideas and betrayal in the novel are both connected to acceptance,
something which is very important for most youngsters. The first inner conflict is
about acceptance by peer group. When Tally betrays her friend, Shay, it is because
Tally wants to be turned pretty to join her friend Peris and to be accepted in New
Pretty Town. The second inner conflict also concerns acceptance by peer group.
Tally is confused whether to tell her new friends or not about her reasons why she
is in the Smoke. She does not tell the true reasons because she wants to be accepted by her new friends there. The third inner conflict is about acceptance of others
and acceptance of self. Tally and David start to like each other. David thinks that
she is beautiful and what is inside is more important than the outer looks. David
can make Tally feel beautiful without the operation. Then, Tally can see that David is somehow beautiful regardless of his imperfect look. The first social conflict is about acceptance by peer group and acceptance of self. Tally fights with
Shay over the operation. Tally wants to be pretty so as to join her previous best
friend, Peris, and to be accepted in the New Pretty Town. However, to Shay, they
should accept themselves the way they are. Shay has no problem with the way she
looks. She wants people to have self-respect for themselves. The second inner
conflict is about acceptance of others. The authorities want the citizens to have the
operation to make them look similar to one another and to make them docile. The
authorities cannot accept the people the way they are. The people cannot have
their own individualities.
I like the story because it is a very meaningful story that makes me think
about beauty, self esteem, peer pressure, appearance and individuality which, in
my opinion, are important issues that most young adults struggle with. At first, I
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find the authorities’ idea to make people equal by turning all the citizens pretty
and to look the same is appealing. There is no war, no hunger, and no poverty.
There is no racism or discrimination and no fight over religion simply because
everyone is the same. There is no basis for hatred. However, if you think it
through again, you will find it a bit frightening to imagine how people’s minds are
changed and they will live their lives by doing the same things every day without
any personal desire to do anything different.
I think the story in the book is enjoyable and easy to follow yet it is unpredictable. The story is set in a believable and well thought futuristic world.
Westerfeld’s writing is wonderful and he describes everything interestingly unique
and detailed. What I like is how Westerfeld comes up with such imaginative ideas
about a futuristic world, when everything can be recycled and anything you need
comes out of the wall in your room. I like the smart names of the places he created, like the Rusty Ruins, which is a dead city where the people used too much
metal to build their city, which now has turned rusty. The Smoke is a place all the
runaways go to settle down, where they get back to nature and cut down trees and
burn them. I think it is very creative of him. I also like the futuristic technology
devices, like the hoverboards (transportation system that looks like a flying skateboard working over a metal gird and magnets to stay up), hovercars (they work
the same way as the hoverboards but in car form), and bungee jackets (devices to
help you to escape burning buildings). My overall thought of the book is that it is
excellent. It is an easy book to get through and toward the end of the story, a lot of
things happen, such as battles, a love triangle, and tested friendships.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005. Print.
References
Bouret, Jenisse. “Uglies.” Goodreads Inc. 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2009
Richards, Elisabeth. “How to Write Conflict.” N.p. 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2009
“Scott Westerfeld.” Answers Corporation. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009
“Scott Westerfeld.” Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. United States of America: Mc GrawHill, 1972. Print.
“ Uglies.” Answers Corporation . 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009
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Dalam tesis ini, saya akan membahas beberapa konflik yang dialami oleh
tokoh utama dalam sebuah novel yang berjudul Uglies, karya Scott Westerfeld.
Yang dibahas adalah konflik sosial dan konflik batin yang dialami oleh tokoh
utama dalam novel ini.
Tokoh utama dalam Uglies adalah seorang anak perempuan yang bernama
Tally. Dalam kehidupan masyarakat di tempat Tally tinggal, semua orang yang
berulang tahun ke-enam belas akan diubah menjadi lebih cantik atau tampan
melalui operasi yang disediakan oleh pemerintah. Konflik batin pertama yang
dialami Tally adalah apakah dia akan menghianati Shay atau menjadi buruk rupa
selamanya. Konflik batin yang kedua adalah ketika Tally berada dalam suatu
kelompok pemberontak the Smoke, ia merasa bingung: Haruskah ia memberi tahu
identitas aslinya sebagai penyusup kepada teman-teman barunya atau tidak.
Konflik batin yang ketiga adalah tentang perasaan Tally kepada David: akankah
Tally mempertimbangkan perasaan temannya Shay, yang juga menyukai David,
atau memilih tidak peduli dan berusaha memiliki David.
Selain konflik batin, Tally juga mengalami konflik sosial. Konflik sosial
pertama adalah antara Tally dan pemerintah. Tally tidak setuju dengan operasi
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yang dilakukan pemerintah setelah mengetahui rahasia di balik operasi
tersebut. Konflik sosial yang kedua adalah antara Tally dan Shay; Tally setuju
adanya operasi untuk membuat orang terlihat cantik atau tampan tetapi Shay
tidak setuju.
Dari analisis terhadap konflik-konflik yang dialami Tally, saya berpendapat
bahwa benang merah antara konflik batin dan konflik sosial di atas adalah
ditemukannya arti yang lebih dalam
mengenai perbedaan pendapat dan
pengkhianatan, yang dikaitkan dengan penerimaan
terhadap diri sendiri,
penerimaan terhadap orang lain dan penerimaan oleh kelompok teman sebaya
iv
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ......................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................ 3
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................... 3
Method of Research ................................................................................ 3
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................... .. 4
CHAPTER TWO:
ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS
IN SCOTT WESTERFELD’S UGLIES
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ............................................................. 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 19
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Uglies .................................................................................. 20
Biography of Scott Westerfeld ................................................................ 21
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of Uglies
This story is about a world where everyone has an operation to make them
beautiful when they turn sixteen. Tally Youngblood is a young girl who is about
to turn sixteen and she looks forward to becoming pretty. While she is waiting for
her birthday, she meets a girl named Shay. They share the same birthday and
become good friends. Shay does not want to become pretty and she has a plan to
run away to a hidden place called the Smoke just before her birthday. When Shay
invites Tally to come to the Smoke with her, Tally refuses. Shay leaves her alone
but gives Tally a note of cryptic clues to the Smoke location, in case Tally
changes her mind. Tally promises that she will never reveal where the Smoke is to
anybody.
Unfortunately, the authorities find out about Shay’s running away and ask
Tally to reveal the Smoke. Tally is told to find the Smoke by using Shay's
directions, but she refuses to do so. They say that she cannot become pretty until
she reveals the Smoke’s location so she decides to help the authorities to find
Shay and the Smoke’s location. However, Tally changes her mind shortly after
she has arrived and met David, with whom she starts to fall in love. Tally learns
from David’s once-pretty parents, that the pretty operation does more than just
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change appearances as it also makes people docile and more compliant with the
authorities by creating lesions in the brain. Tally accidentally sends for the
authorities, who then destroys the Smoke and captures all the people but Tally and
David, who manage to escape. Tally and David rescue their friends and hide in the
Rusty Ruins city.
Shay has turned into a pretty person with lesions in her brain. Maddy,
David’s mother, discovers a cure for the lesions but Shay refuses to take it. Maddy
needs a willing subject to test the cure’s efficiency and safeness. Meanwhile,
Tally feels guilty for what happened to Shay and decides to sacrifice herself to be
turned pretty to help find the cure by becoming the test subject.
Biography of Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld is an American-born author of science fiction. He was
born on May 5, 1963, in the U.S. state of Texas and now he lives in Sydney, New
South Wales, Australia, and New York City. Westerfeld’s father was a computer
programmer. He dealt with planes, submarines and the Apollo missions.
Westerfeld graduated from Vassar College in 1985 and spent his early career
as a composer whose musical compositions have been performed in dance
productions both in the United States and in Europe. Scott Westerfeld moved into
writing as a ghostwriter and creator of educational software programs for children.
Now, as a fiction writer working primarily in the science-fiction genre, he writes
novels and short stories for both adults and younger readers.
Westerfeld is the author of five science fiction novels for adults. In 2000,
Westerfeld won a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award and his
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book Evolution's Darling became a New York Times Notable Book. The Risen
Empire and The Killing of Worlds are parts one and two of the same book,
originally titled Succession. In 2005 the book was published in the UK as one
book under the title The Risen Empire.
Westerfeld has written three sets of books for young adults. The first is
called Midnighters (2004), the second is Uglies (2005) and the third set of books
is three stand-alone novels, So Yesterday (2004), Peeps (2005) and The Last Days
(2006). Westerfeld has also written a few short stories that can be found online for
free. The Uglies series was optioned by Twentieth Century Fox as a possible film
series in 2006. It is going to be released in November 2012.
Westerfeld married an Australian author, Justine Larbalestier, in 2001.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
This thesis presents an analysis of social and inner conflicts in Scott
Westerfeld’s Uglies. This novel belongs to science fiction, which is “a genre of
fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible (or at least nonsupernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology,
space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities” (“Science Fiction”). I am interested
in analyzing the novel because I like to think of how the world will look like in
the future. The analysis will also help people have possible images of the future
and give them ideas about development in technology.
The author of Uglies, Scott Westerfeld, is best known as a science-fiction
writer both for adults and young readers. In his fiction-writing career, Westerfeld
began with his novel Polymorph. His next novel for adults is Evolution’s Darling,
which earned him a Philip K. Dick Award special citation, and “was praised by
Trevor Dodge, who wrote a review for the Review of Contemporary Fiction”
(“Scott Westerfeld”). He has also won many other awards from his works. In
Uglies,
he
creates
a
futuristic
world
where
cosmetic
surgery
1
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is a required step for everyone to take at the age of sixteen. Uglies was published
in 2005 and named Best Book for Young Adults 2006 by the American Library
Association and CCBC Choices (Bouret).
Uglies is a futuristic story which is interesting to read and gives the readers
an image of what might happen in the future. “This book is for everyone as it
deals with human’s feelings in general and tells about what young people go
through and it is also connected to the issues of conformity, self-worth, body
image and individuality, as well as the impact of strong peer pressure” (“Uglies”)
so readers can learn from the book that it is fine to be themselves and that they are
supposed to accept differences in people. The book Uglies is sold all around the
world and has become the number-one New York bestselling book; the book has
also been adapted into a movie which will be released in late 2012 (“Scott
Westerfeld”).
The protagonist of the novel, Tally, experiences many conflicts, specifically
social and inner conflicts, which I will analyze in my thesis. Conflicts have
important roles in a story. “Conflict is something that makes a story worth
reading. Without struggles, moral choices, tension, and opposing forces, a story
would be nothing but a boring discussion of facts” (Richards). In Dictionary of
Literary Terms, Harry Shaw states five kinds of conflicts, but only three of them
are commonly found, namely physical, social and inner conflicts. Physical
conflict is a struggle between man and the physical world. “It represents man
versus forces of nature, the difficulties and dangers, for cold, heat, wild beasts in
the jungle; these are constant obstacles to mankind” ( 91). “Social conflict means
struggle between man and man” ( 91). The last kind of conflict is inner or
2
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psychological conflict, which means “a struggle between desires within a person”
(Shaw 91-92).
Statement of the Problems
The problems of this study are formulated as follows:
1. What conflicts does the protagonist in Uglies experience?
2. What are the causes of the conflicts?
3. What are the resolutions of the conflicts?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problems presented earlier, the study is conducted
1. to identify the conflicts experienced by the protagonist in Uglies;
2. to identify the causes of the conflicts;
3. to identify the resolutions of the conflicts.
Method of Research
I apply the library research for my analysis. First, I read Uglies, a novel by
Scott Westerfeld, as the primary text. In addition, I got some supporting
information from a book and some online sources. Next, I analyzed the conflicts
experienced by the protagonist in the novel, drew some concluding remarks of the
result of my analysis, and finally wrote this thesis.
Organization of the Thesis
In my thesis, there are three chapters that are preceded by the Abstract, the
Acknowledgments and the Table of Contents. Chapter One is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problems, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis.
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Chapter Two is the Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts in Scott Westerfeld’s
Uglies and Chapter Three is the Conclusion. At the end of the thesis, there are the
Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of Uglies and the
Biography of Scott Westerfeld.
4
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I would like to draw a conclusion from my analysis of the
novel. This thesis has presented the analysis of three inner conflicts and two social
conflicts through Tally, the protagonist in Scott Westerfeld's novel, Uglies. Tally’s
first inner conflict is whether she has to betray her friend Shay or not. The second
inner conflict happens when she is to tell the true reason why she comes to the
Smoke. She experiences the third inner conflict when she has a dilemma whether
to ignore Shay’s feeling or to ignore her own feeling for David. Moreover, Tally’s
first social conflict happens between Tally and Shay regarding their different opinions toward the authorities’ plan to force everybody to have a plastic surgery. Finally, the second social conflict occurs when Tally opposes the authorities regarding their enforced obligatory operation.
I find that all of the inner conflicts are about betrayal. In the first inner
conflict, Tally decides to betray her friend, Shay, by taking the authorities’ offer to
reveal the Smoke’s location in order for her to be turned pretty. In fact, Tally has
promised Shay that she will keep the Smoke’s location as a secret. However, the
authorities offer her the worst choice she can imagine: find Shay or never turn
pretty at all. In the second inner conflict, Tally does not have the courage to tell
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the real reason she has come to the Smoke: she has betrayed her friend by agreeing to be a spy in the Smoke. When Tally gets to the Smoke, she starts to like the
place but the idea that she is a spy there keeps bothering her. In the third inner
conflict, Tally betrays her friend, Shay, by being together with David, although
she knows that Shay has a feeling for David, too. Shay seems to suspect Tally
when she asks Tally about the special someone who has given Tally the pendant.
Nevertheless, as the feelings between Tally and David grow stronger, Tally decides to go with David.
On the other hand, both social conflicts have to do with having different
ideas. In the first social conflict, while Tally agrees with the operation to make
people pretty, Shay disagrees with it and does not want to get the operation. Tally
always admires pretty people as she thinks they are very attractive while Shay
thinks they are boring and people should keep their natural looks. Similarly, the
second conflict is about disagreement between Tally and the authorities regarding
the operation to make people pretty. At first, Tally is dying to be turned pretty.
Every night Tally look out of her window, watching the pretties partying all night
in New Pretty Town. Being pretty is what all the uglies dream for. But after Tally
gets to the Smoke and is told about the secret behind the operation, she completely changes her mind about her wish for the operation and her plan for helping the
authorities to reveal the Smoke. The authorities’ real intention of making all the
citizens have the operation is not only to make them pretty but also to make them
docile so that they are easily controlled.
The protagonist, Tally, experiences inner conflicts regarding betrayal. Tally also experiences social conflicts regarding having different ideas and opinions.
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Difference of ideas and betrayal in the novel are both connected to acceptance,
something which is very important for most youngsters. The first inner conflict is
about acceptance by peer group. When Tally betrays her friend, Shay, it is because
Tally wants to be turned pretty to join her friend Peris and to be accepted in New
Pretty Town. The second inner conflict also concerns acceptance by peer group.
Tally is confused whether to tell her new friends or not about her reasons why she
is in the Smoke. She does not tell the true reasons because she wants to be accepted by her new friends there. The third inner conflict is about acceptance of others
and acceptance of self. Tally and David start to like each other. David thinks that
she is beautiful and what is inside is more important than the outer looks. David
can make Tally feel beautiful without the operation. Then, Tally can see that David is somehow beautiful regardless of his imperfect look. The first social conflict is about acceptance by peer group and acceptance of self. Tally fights with
Shay over the operation. Tally wants to be pretty so as to join her previous best
friend, Peris, and to be accepted in the New Pretty Town. However, to Shay, they
should accept themselves the way they are. Shay has no problem with the way she
looks. She wants people to have self-respect for themselves. The second inner
conflict is about acceptance of others. The authorities want the citizens to have the
operation to make them look similar to one another and to make them docile. The
authorities cannot accept the people the way they are. The people cannot have
their own individualities.
I like the story because it is a very meaningful story that makes me think
about beauty, self esteem, peer pressure, appearance and individuality which, in
my opinion, are important issues that most young adults struggle with. At first, I
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find the authorities’ idea to make people equal by turning all the citizens pretty
and to look the same is appealing. There is no war, no hunger, and no poverty.
There is no racism or discrimination and no fight over religion simply because
everyone is the same. There is no basis for hatred. However, if you think it
through again, you will find it a bit frightening to imagine how people’s minds are
changed and they will live their lives by doing the same things every day without
any personal desire to do anything different.
I think the story in the book is enjoyable and easy to follow yet it is unpredictable. The story is set in a believable and well thought futuristic world.
Westerfeld’s writing is wonderful and he describes everything interestingly unique
and detailed. What I like is how Westerfeld comes up with such imaginative ideas
about a futuristic world, when everything can be recycled and anything you need
comes out of the wall in your room. I like the smart names of the places he created, like the Rusty Ruins, which is a dead city where the people used too much
metal to build their city, which now has turned rusty. The Smoke is a place all the
runaways go to settle down, where they get back to nature and cut down trees and
burn them. I think it is very creative of him. I also like the futuristic technology
devices, like the hoverboards (transportation system that looks like a flying skateboard working over a metal gird and magnets to stay up), hovercars (they work
the same way as the hoverboards but in car form), and bungee jackets (devices to
help you to escape burning buildings). My overall thought of the book is that it is
excellent. It is an easy book to get through and toward the end of the story, a lot of
things happen, such as battles, a love triangle, and tested friendships.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005. Print.
References
Bouret, Jenisse. “Uglies.” Goodreads Inc. 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2009
Richards, Elisabeth. “How to Write Conflict.” N.p. 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2009
“Scott Westerfeld.” Answers Corporation. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009
“Scott Westerfeld.” Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2009
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. United States of America: Mc GrawHill, 1972. Print.
“ Uglies.” Answers Corporation . 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009
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