Uglies

Shay becomes Tally’s friend early in the novel after the two girls meet sneaking around New Pretty Town. She has dark hair, wide eyes, and is very slender. She and Tally share a birthday and spend the months preceding it bonding, hoverboarding, and pulling pranks. Shay provides the first inkling that things are not well in this apparent utopia when she expresses frustration at her upcoming surgery, which citizens have no opportunity to opt out of. It is through Shay’s discontent and desire to remain an individual that the reader learns about Smoke. Shay’s disappearance spurs Tally’s recruitment into a Special Circumstances operation—an inciting incident in the novel’s narrative.

Shay feels negative emotions very powerfully, although David notes that she “changes her mind pretty quickly” (237). Though firm in her desire to maintain her personality and identity, Shay is more flippant than Tally. Consequently, while Shay’s gut feelings about the insidious nature of the city prove correct, she does not gain David’s trust the way that Tally does. Shay’s unwilling transformation into a pretty fuels the information spread at the end of the book as the Smokies start to tell others about what the city is doing.

Shay’s surgery acts as the motivation Tally needs to volunteer as Maddy’s test subject. Shay lost the one thing she cared about above all else, her individuality, and she lost it because of Tally’s choices. Tally’s betrayal is reinforced every time that Shay is pliant or lazy, and Shay’s forgiveness only increases Tally’s guilt. Just as Shay provides the inciting incident for the novel, she also provides the inciting incident for the sequel.

David is a natural Smokey, meaning that he was born outside of the cities and their influence. He has a high forehead and crooked smile, but Tally also notes that he has a confidence that is unique amongst uglies. Because he has lived his whole life outside of “civilization,” he has a different view of the cities and their rules. This difference in worldview is part of what draws him to Tally as a romantic partner, as well as what ultimately leads him to let her in on the city’s secret.

Since David does not share the skewed ideas about physical appearance that the city teenagers bear, he sees people for who they really are, contemplating their nonphysical attributes because he knows those are what define a person. David provides Tally with an alternate perspective, showing her that she does not have to live according to the city authority’s arbitrary rules and helping her mature.

David’s only change in the novel is his experience of grief after the loss of his father and home. This makes him more defensive and reflective, leading him to try to restrict Tally from volunteering as Maddy’s test subject. When Tally reveals the truth to him, for the first time he flees his responsibilities, taking off to the wilderness where he can reflect. It is a testament to his character, however, that Tally voices confidence that he will retrieve her from the city even in the face of her betrayals. Because David and Tally do not reconcile before the end of the novel, it is unclear if her actions have permanently altered their relationship.

Dr. Cable serves as the novel’s primary antagonist. She is a member of Special Circumstances, an elite type of pretty with faster reflexes and stronger muscles. She has a hooked nose and sharp teeth, and her voice gives the impression of danger. While it is not clear exactly what Dr. Cable’s job title is within Special Circumstances, she seems to oversee the search for the Smoke. In this position, she has the authority to deny Tally her surgery and to send her into the wilderness unattended. Although Tally and David eventually outsmart Dr. Cable in the Special Circumstances headquarters, they can do so only after Dr. Cable has done irrevocable harm to people they love.

Dr. Cable represents society within the context of Uglies. She makes decisions based on whether they will uphold the status quo. She claims that her goal is to protect the city, but her actions suggest she is protecting a particular way of life. The Smoke is a threat not because it puts the city’s citizens in harm’s way but because it threatens to reveal a secret the city would prefer to keep. Dr. Cable has no qualms about maintaining the institutions that keep the city’s populace placid.

Prior to learning about the brain lesions, Tally shares Dr. Cable’s position, believing that the Specials must take liberties to safeguard the environment and preserve peace. However, when Tally sees that such a lifestyle requires terrible sacrifice, she deviates from Dr. Cable’s mindset. Dr. Cable thus becomes the face of the society Tally rebels against.