An important scene that majorly impacts the plot of "Pretties" by Scott Westerfeld would be the Pretty Party scene that takes place in the first 4-5 chapters of the book. I believe this is an important scene since it gives the reader some clarification on how the characters have been dealing with the events from the first book. Also David a character who was a love interest for both Tally and Shay makes a reappearance and leads Tally to pull off another "Ugly Prank". This shows that Tally couldn't help but feel non-bubbly thought the party scene but the other guest just think she's doing it to live up to her "Crim" title. This creates yet another slight rift between Tally and Shay since soon after she believes that Tally plans to abandon her once again. David ends up not being David but another member of the previous "Smoke", Tally doesn't realize this until the end of the chapter(s) but immediately plans not to be included in anything from her past ugly stages. Tally at the sight of seeing the Smoke member makes her feel "un-bubbly" and just overall anxious (pg. 8). This event would be in the Rising Action point of the plot structure since it's a marking point of the chain of events that are about to unravel through the story. This event helps create the theme of multiple perspectives since Tally is ashamed and scared of her Ugly past as seen on (Pg.9) "Tally wanted to leave the Smoke behind, to escape all the tangled memories of running and hiding and feeling like a betrayer." but yet all the other pretties see it as something to be proud of. The only question that I have about this scene is why didn't Shay react the same way towards seeing the smoke member at the party? Shay had gone through an equal amount of traumatic events as Tally, so why didn't she feel the same way?
"Pretties" by Scott Westerfeld has one of the most unique cast of characters with interesting motives. The main character Tally Youngblood is 16 and lives in a society were being pretty on the inside just isn't enough. Tally is so far a rather popular and well known girl in "Pretty Town" due to the her attitude and pranks she pulled when she was an Ugly (this causes her to immediately receive the title of a "Crim"). Tally is pretty and expected to have a bubbly personality but due to experiences before her 16th birthday she can't help but feel she is flawed. Tally's best friend Shay tells her otherwise and tells her " "Don't worry, Tally-wa. You're already famous. There's no reason to be nervous" (pg.5). This statement alone makes Tally question everything even more since Shay's words completely contradict what her Ugly self would have said. Tally and Shay are both dynamic characters since they both have changed dramatically from the first book to where they are now. Shay first being a rebellious teenager who never missed an opportunity to speak out about how she felt on the "pretty operation" now is nothing but a pretty shell of who she used to be. Tally who spent all of her younger teen years eager for her operation now can't help but feel wrong about the operation(s). I would also have to say that Tally and Shay's relationship is a dynamic/unstable one with both of them constantly turning on each other to gain something useless (they also have trust issues). This can be seen when Tally warns Shay about getting so many surgeries done in one week and Shay replying with "You hate them" immediately after (pg.4) . |
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