A Dystopian Society

Dystopia- n

-An imaginary place where everything is as bad as it can be

   Imagine a society all full of beautiful people. OK, this sounds good, but if you think deeply this is “an imaginary place” where something smells fishy and kind of meaningless. Even though in a society of only pretty individuals people may not be labeled by their appearances, they definitely look the same and have lost their individuality. Such a society has put a message in people’s brain that pretty is something like this

                                     

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When in fact everyone should feel pretty the way they are.  It is what makes you special and that is the message that society must convey.

    In the world created in Uglies everyone is the same. People have the same features, attitude, face, body. It is the default pretty. That’s what makes the society so corrupt and dystopian. No one is special or unique! It is as if clones who are all “pretty” (to someone) are making up the society. Imaging you see yourself throughout the appearance of the other person. What is the ” person” then. Is there a “personality” at all? Such a society is made of a  crowd , but not individuals.  The author is trying to stress the fact that your goal and purpose in life should not be to impress or look nice to everybody around you. You are who you are and that should never change.
    Sometimes people whose appearance is more “attractive” seem special and better than you, but they are not. What matters is who the person is. Personality and attitude should be much more important than appearance; however, in the modern day society these traits are usually forgotten. To illustrate, after seven years of research, psychologist Thomas Cash says he has learned something : "There's more to the subject of beauty than meets the eye."  He quickly adds that "Beautiful people are perceived as sexier, smarter, happier, more employable and more mentally stable. Being unattractive can place a person in social and economic jeopardy." People are divided and discriminated by something they have no control over.  Why are pretty people treated differently than ugly people?
   The uglies in the book have it built in their minds and they know that they are not pretty. They have flaws and something with them is not right. For example, Tally’s nickname is Squint because of her small closed eyes.  Shay's nickname was Skinny because of her weight. These features which the uglies have are supposed to make them feel bad about themselves when looking up to the pretties. The self esteem of uglies drops and they want to become more and more pretty.  The author is trying to tell the reader that appearance is the only thing that matters in the dystopian society. People depend on it for their reputation.  If you are not pretty, you are different and not welcome.
    Prettiness means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but in the society every person is brainwashed to believe the same thing. These are the problems in the society: the lack of independent thinking and opinions, the lack of  differences of the perception of beauty,the lack of varieties of aesthetic values, and most importantly, the lack of creativity and imagination; in other words, the lack of all that make life interesting and meaningful.  The author showed a stunning evolution of today’s society if image and appearance continue to over power attitude and personality. Teens today want to impress friends or the opposite sex by wearing flashy clothes (often the same brands), putting on makeup and sacrificing their natural look. Some even go further by thinking about plastic surgeries,  but pretty should not be the same for everyone.

   I believe that is the major message from Scott Westerfeld and by showing what the world may become when pretty is the same for everyone, really proves that the society today must quickly find way to transform the urge for physical beauty into an urge for independent thinking, personal values and pride of who you are.

    Another negative characteristic of the society that the author creates is how people  easily betray friends and other people’s trust. In the book, on the day of her operation Tally has to betray and give her friend up in order to proceed with becoming pretty. This is very unfair because you cannot take away from a person for another person’s wrong doing.  This is rotten and is a major injustice. Also, in the end of the book David’s father is killed by the special circumstance which is completely absurd.

     Overall, the author did a great job in showing what our society today might become if these  issues and injustices keep on growing.  It was a truly creative work and interesting to read as well. Hopefully, more people, especially young teens, read this book to know that you are who you are and changing to be someone else is wrong and leads to catastrophe.