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53 pages 1 hour read

Scott Westerfeld

Pretties

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005

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Part 2, Chapters 19-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “The Cure”

Chapter 19 Summary: “Crusher”

Tally, Fausto, and Zane meet in a machine shed empty except for a middle-aged pretty blowing glass. The space gets so hot when occupied that there can be no smart walls. Zane directs them to a machine called a crusher and places a memory card into its computer. It activates and Zane practices, smashing metal into a lunch tray. Fausto realizes Zane’s plan a moment before Tally does: to use the crusher to snap their bracelets off, or at the very least destroy the technology powering them. Fausto talks about the safety precautions that will prevent this, including heat-sensing technology meant to prevent limbs from getting caught in the crusher. Zane and Fausto begin to argue as Tally walks deeper into the shop and talks with the woman blowing glass. She tries to call Shay but is told her friend is unavailable. Tally leaves a message instead.

Tally reflects on the afternoon, which she and Zane spent preparing to escape. She goes back to the crusher to listen to Zane explain that he will make his hand cold in a bucket of ice water to overcome the safety precautions. Fausto reiterates what is at stake, saying that the bones in Zane’s arm will liquify if the crusher’s technology hits him. To convince Fausto to help, Zane tells him about the pills he and Tally took. Tally watches the glassblower, filled with dismay as Fausto slowly starts to come around to the idea of using the crusher. Tally agrees to be the one to hold the handles and activate the machine. Zane starts to ice his arm while Tally looks over their preparations, making sure that everything is in place.

When Zane puts his hand in the machine, Tally freezes, remembering that metal contracts in cold and expands in heat. This draws her to the glassblower once again. Tally watches the woman more closely and realizes that she is wearing gloves. When Tally approaches her, the woman explains that the gloves were originally made for space and can reflect several thousand degrees. She directs Tally to a cupboard full of them but warns her to be safe as Tally grabs some gloves.

Chapter 20 Summary: “Hijacking”

The chapter begins in medias res as Fausto and Zane question Tally about her new plan. She tells them that they are going to hijack an unspecified something and then begins to fly on her hoverboard. She instructs Fausto to spread the word amongst the Crims that there is a new plan. Fausto leaves and Zane expresses his gratitude for the new plan before pointing out some nearby hot air balloons. He and Tally two climb a tower, their hoverboards struggling with the lack of metal, and reach the tethering site. Tally and Zane each pick a balloon. Tally makes her perilous way up the cable, the chord in constant motion and her hoverboard struggling to detect enough metal in the tethering cable to fly. The people in the balloon eventually notice her, and she shouts instructions to them. When she reaches the basket, the pretties recognize her, and she takes over the balloon.

Tally’s balloon reaches a mansion lawn, where she finds other Crims gathering. The balloon pretties give Tally instructions on how to control the balloon, and she tells them that the Crims are going in search of New Smoke. Zane joins Tally, Fausto, and Peris in her balloon as other Crims with stolen balloons and hoverboards prepare to take flight across the city. Tally feels briefly guilty about Shay, resolving to return for her friend. Tally, Fausto, Zane, and Peris take flight and look out over the city and surrounding terrain. Tally removes her outer clothing and puts on the fireproof gloves, telling Fausto to give the signal for the other Crims to start flying. She and Zane prepare to remove their interface cuffs as they fly toward the edge of the city.

Chapter 21 Summary: “Burner”

Tally tests the fire-resistant glove against the burners in the hot air balloon and confirms that she feels nothing. Peris cries out in alarm, not knowing the plan, but his worry is cut short as Fausto turns the burner on for just long enough to heat the metal cuff. Tally instructs Fausto to leave the burner on until she says to stop and stands next to the heat. When she tells him to stop, her cuff has turned white with heat, and she and Zane try to remove their bracelets. Tally manages to remove hers, but Zane’s stays on and he must readminister heat. Tally looks out over the suburbs and realizes they are running out of time to jump from the hot air balloon; they are almost to the edge of the city, where there will be no metal for the hoverboard lifters. As she worries, the group realizes that her cuff has begun to burn the wicker gondola basket they’re riding in.

Chapter 22 Summary: “The City’s Edge”

Tally tries to calm the other three, but Zane points out that he cannot jump out of the balloon until he has removed his interface cuff. Tally uses a discarded bottle of champagne to douse the burning wicker and then pours it over Zane’s cuff as he finally frees himself. Fausto suggests venting some hot air to lower the balloon and shorten their fall, but Tally points out that there is no time because they are running out of metal grid. The group frantically prepares, and Fausto is the first to jump. Before Zane jumps, he kisses Tally and tells her that he loves her for the first time. Tally prepares to jump but notices that Peris is standing still. He tells her he cannot jump, saying he does not want to leave.

Tally realizes that she and Peris have not had the same experiences and are no longer as close as they were as uglies. Peris offers to keep flying and try to distract the wardens. When Tally turns to jump, she realizes that she has run out of city grid. Peris apologizes and, when Tally asks, explains that he got caught up in the excitement. He had never wanted to leave the city but knew that arguing was pointless. Tally wonders if wanting to be bubbly is as much a part of the cure as actively seeking excitement. Peris tells Tally that they can stay together, but Tally rejects this, telling Peris, “I want to be myself” (232). Tally sees the river and decides to jump, hoping to use the metal in the riverbed for her hoverboard. Peris tries to hold her back, but Tally claims he has already lost her before leaping into the night.

Part 2, Chapters 19-22 Analysis

Tally, Zane, and Fausto appear to have fully shaken off their pretty-mindedness as they plan their escape into the wilds. In many ways, they revert to their ugly days, tricking hoverboards and figuring out how to keep the wardens busy. Now that she is clearheaded, Tally possesses strong problem-solving skills and mischievousness that allow her to come up with an escape plan much safer than Zane’s idea. It is this sort of unique perspective that has drawn the attention of Special Circumstances. The threat they pose remains heavy in this portion of the novel, as they are always listening through the interface cuffs until Zane and Tally finally free themselves from them.

The removal of the interface cuffs represents both physical and mental freedom. The cuffs have restricted Tally and Zane’s movements as well as their voices: They are constantly tracked and monitored, they cannot speak their minds or express concerns, and they have gone to dangerous physical extremes to free themselves. As they begin the process of removing their cuffs, they begin to behave more freely, no longer worrying about what they say. When the cuffs are finally burned from their bodies, Zane expresses the depth of his emotional connection to Tally, suggesting that their physical constraints relate directly to their mental ones. Freed, they can be their truest selves as they escape into the night.

However, as Tally prepares to leave the balloon, she faces one final challenge in the form of Peris’s unexpected resistance. For the first time, someone who is not in a position of power tells Tally that the brain lesions are good. Peris sees them as a form of protection, preventing unnecessary conflict and restricting outward expansion into the wilderness. He believes that although the lesions limit his choices, the sacrifice is worth the benefit to society as a whole. Tally, however, cannot accept this perspective. She values individual choice and believes that the people around her deserve agency even if earning that agency is difficult. This is why her last words to Peris are harsh: They stem from the belief that he has accepted pretty life because it is easy and that this desire for leisure puts humanity at risk.

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