So far I like what I have read. It’s a bit off my normal reading path but nevertheless it is an interesting read thus far. The first part of Uglies that we read had many conflicts in it. There were instances of man vs. self, man vs. man, and man vs. society.
In the Man vs. Self phase, we find that Tally has a bizarre perception of why she wants to be pretty and what she desires to appear as a pretty. Thus far it just seems to be the norm for her in this society, for her to do her part when she turns 16. She gravely misses her friend Peris which has already become a pretty and spends many of her near sleepless nights imagining thousands of conversation with Peris before she can fall asleep. The inner conflict she suffers from becomes more prominent when she argues with Shay.
In the Man vs. Man phase of the story, I found a conflict with Shay and Tally. They can undoubtedly learn from one another, but the multiple attempts to educate each other about the next step to take in life are where they often meet with a disagreement. Shay thinks that natural is beautiful, and Tally, like the majority of the people in this town, thinks that artificial is beautiful. Tally argues that artificial is the natural way things should become but Shay is opposed. Tally states that a person cannot change being ugly just by wishing or telling yourself otherwise. She states that it is the whole reason they invented the ugly to pretty operation. On the contrary, Shay states that Tally had only seen the “Pretty Faces” her whole life and that it is unnatural to imagine this kind of beauty in everyone since birth. She adds that people are just programmed into thinking anything but artificial is ugly.
In the Man vs. Society aspect, Shay's ideas against artificial enhancements and environments are clearly against the society’s social norms. This is why she wants to escape to a different, more accepting place. When Shay explains why she wanted to leave, she says to Tally that we have a choice; we don’t have to look like everyone else. She says that they have choices and that they can grow up anyway that they want. If Shay were to stay where she was located and not get the operation, she would be hated. This could cause her some serious problems later on in the story and I am excited to continue on.
