Quote #1 Tally

"I can't imagine of anything worse than being required to have fun" -Tally Page 49

            This quote was said by Shay near the beginning of the book, around the time when her and Tally first go to the Rusty Ruins. She reveals a big part of her character when she says this. She shows that unlike almost everyone else, she doesn't agree with the operation and prefers to look the way she was meant to look. This is the first time in the book that any real sort of conflict occurred. This conflict was with Tally and Shay, and their completely opposite opinions of the operation. Tally believes that there could not be anything better than to be Pretty, but obviously, Tally thinks otherwise. I think that this quote is important to the story because this is when you learn that there are no perfect worlds and it is also the point when the plot begins to unfold.

           This quote relates to me because, like Shay I do not agree with everything that the general public may agree on, like my taste in music or my view of things like politics. Though I may not know a whole lot about things like politics, I still have strong views that rarely ever change, and when they do they are changed by me not someone else persuading me, much like Shay. This quote can be related to the world because of how people are always challenging the government because they believe things should be done differently. I think that this is a good thing however because, without people challenging the government, we would have a dystopian society like the one in Uglies. This also relates to a book I read (and many others have as well) called  "The Hunger Games", this is a series in which the government, and mainly the president rule with an iron fist and force children to fight to their deaths in an arena. However the main character decides to oppose this force and in the end succeeds in over throwing the government. This is very similar to Uglies and in fact Scott Westerfeld has a very similar writing style to that of the author of The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins.

Journal #4 (Dr. Cable)

The End of This Madness

Finally! I have been waiting for the day that the horrid place known as The Smoke would be found and destroyed. Anyone not willing to follow orders should not be allowed to breathe our air! It sickens me that these people will be taking the operation and will mix with the rest of the pretties. I told  them that it would be a bad idea, those so called "Smokies" corrupt the minds of the rest of the pretties and all hell will break loose! If only they would listen to us Specials, this world would be free of scum.  

            I guess it couldn't be though, because the only way for that to happen is to get rid of humans all together. Humanity is a cancer that spreads and spreads and will never stop spreading and all humans know how to do is destroy. That's why we must keep them as in the dark as possible, or this world will be destroyed in a blink of an eye. Specials are the only ones who understand this, and I am determined to stop this cancer from spreading any more.

            Without a doubt however, we will need more help. As it stands our Special Circumstances force is barely enough to keep the city in line. If we want to work on a bigger scale we will need younger but elite recruits. I have my eye on that Tally girl. Hah, she reminds me of me when I was young, always trying to pull off some sort of trick or get into more trouble. She would be a great fit for us, especially since she can think like a criminal. I might have to have a little talk with her after she gets back. She might be reluctant though, damaging the pendant was a sure sign of betrayal. But no matter, everyone can be dealt with some way or another.

            I hope those fools at The Smoke don't cause too much trouble, because we've already dispatched half the team and we can't afford to lose any more, but if worst comes to worst,  we will have to dispatch a team as this is one of the most important missions that we have ever had to face. I would have gone myself, however there are matters that had to be dealt with here. I have to attend to them as a matter of fact, I will end this report here.

Journal Entry #3 (Reflection)

            This entry is from David, a few days after Tally arrived at The Smoke. It depicts him having doubts about whether or not he could trust Tally or not. He also has to fight off the fact that he has taken a liking to Tally, and has to stop himself from getting too attached, as it could jeopardise the future of The Smoke. David realizes this and he tries to think in a different way, however still comes to the conclusion to trust Tally. He then devises a plan to make sure that she is who she appears to be.

           In this journal entry, I try to show what David is thinking during the days when Tally first arrives. I want to show how he was sceptical about Tally, but also had other emotions mixed in as well. I also wanted him to be a little over protective of The Smoke and most of all wanted to fully convey his personality and character. I believe that I did that quite well as David doesn't seem bias towards anything, and it seems like he is truly having a debate in his mind on whether or not to trust Tally.

Journal Entry #3 (David)

Can I Trust Her?

            I don't know what to do! That new girl Tally just seems too... innocent! But at the same time she seems to have a legitimate story. She has to be here for the right reasons, unless she's a Special who got some sort of operation or something. I doubt it though, Shay claims to know her so she's probably not a special. But still, there's something about her that makes her seem a little... suspicious. Sometimes she spends a little too much with herself, and sometimes she seems like she's having some kind of moral dilemma, like she's guilty for something. Or maybe I'm just looking into this too much, I tend to do that a lot, but who could blame me? When you live illegally for your whole life you tend to get a little paranoid, but maybe it's a little more than that. I kind of... well... she's pretty, in my eyes at least. She's not actually a Pretty but there's something about her eyes... and her smile... she doesn't smile much but when she does it's amazing! Ha, I started out questioning her loyalty, and now I'm day dreaming about her! Well that's what love can do, I better not get too close to her because you never know what could happen.

          
            This entry has been longer than my usual, and I have to get back to work soon, but I think I will write a bit more. Lately Croy has been sucking up to Tally a lot, I wonder why? In fact it seems that everyone has taken a liking to Tally, even "The Boss"! This is a good thing... I guess, it could turn bad if somehow I find out that Tally has been betraying us this whole time. There would be no way to prove it! Maybe I can befriend her somehow and get her to tell me... Oh that's right! I have a lumber shift with her today, I can ask her if she wants to take a walk with me or something! That's just for the sake of security of course, it's not like I want to impress her or anything... Ok maybe a little! But it's mainly for The Smoke, everything else is just a... by product, yeah that's it. Well I have to go now but I'll write what happens, soon perhaps.

Journal Entry #2 (Reflection)

This journal entry is by Shay. This takes place right before she runs away to The Smoke, and depicts her dilemma in choosing whether to stay or go, and whether or not she can bring Tally along with her. She wonders whether she is truly ugly, or if it is just the effect society has on beauty. Even though it was the latter, she really never found out until much later into the book, which caused quite a lot of stress for Shay. This is quite similar to what some teenage girls might face in their lives, as today's media has a similar effect on what people should look like. The media has changed the world so much that, if it keeps up I wouldn't be surprised if everyone had to get an operation to turn them pretty! 

Furthermore this journal entry is a way of reflecting Shay's character. Unfortunately Shay didn't reveal much about her character after you first meet her, but she does reveal enough to inference what she would be like. Behind her confidence that you see at the beginning of the book, you see a very emotional person like when she was angry at Tally for betraying her and The Smoke. This goes to show that it is impossible to know what a person is like until you see them in different situations, because people have layers and this just brings the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" to a whole new level. In my opinion this novel its self takes things to a new level, the modern level.

Journal Entry #2 (Shay)

Am I Really That Ugly?

            This is a real dilemma isn't it. Tally keeps talking about how "Oh, I'm sooo ugly I can't wait until I'm pretty" and "Wow Shay you're so skinny, but don't worry the operation will fix that right up!" It's so weird! I don't see anything wrong with me or her. Maybe I'm missing something and I really am ugly! But then getting an operation worth fixing that? What if I'm not the same person I was going into it or what if they mess up the operation and I'll be the laughingstock of all of Pretty Town! No, I can't think like that, on the bright side me and Tally will be pretty together and we'll have so much fun! Right? Or she'll just go back to her friend Peris and I'll lose her just like I lost all my other friends.     

           

           *Sigh* Maybe David was right, maybe being Pretty isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Maybe I should move to The Smoke, where no one will leave me. Oh! I have a great idea, I can convince Tally to come with me, that way I won't be alone and I'll have a true friend with me. Speaking of true friend, I hope she views me as one, I know we've only been friends for less than two months but I think that we've really connected and I feel like I can tell her anything. Anyways I'll find out if she is truly a friend when I ask her to come with me. Only a true friend will leave home because her friend told her to.         

                Or is that too harsh? Maybe I can't just expect someone to do something as dramatic as that, true friend or not,  I know that if I was asked to leave home just out of thin air, I would be pretty reluctant. Well reluctant or not, it won't hurt to try.

     

            Well I just went outside to talk to Tally and... well I failed, bad. I wasn't even able to directly ask the question, just some failed attempts at having her share my point of view. But to no avail, she is completely mesmerized by the idea of being beautiful, it seems like I'll be going to The Smoke alone... unless I can figure out a way to convince her. So far that won't be happening however, so all I can do is hope.

Journal Entry #1 (Reflection)

This journal entry was from Tally at the very beginning of the story, after Peris had turned pretty. The entry conveys her frustration and self conflict as she has no real friend other than Peris and she struggles to comprehend what the future holds. She dreams of being pretty but realizes that Peris may have moved on after all the time that he had been Pretty. This self conflict isn't uncommon and can happen in a teenagers life quite frequently. When facing a difficult situation, teens tend to overlook the bright side of things and focus on the bad side, this leads to more bad things thought, than good and that is never a good thing.

            This journal entry was based off of what Tally was feeling at the beginning of the book. I took those emotions and put them on paper, (in Tally's case an electronic Tablet because she did not know how to read, as mentioned on pg. 420 of the novel) and just kept writing. It wasn't very well planned, but I did that on purpose to keep the authenticity of the journal entry as well... no journal entries are well thought out because the writer is simply letting their emotions flow out onto the page and I tried to emulate that. Tally was the main character in the book so obviously she is vital to the story, but she also has a very interesting personality and I think that that is important to portray.