Identify and Sort

     The five main elements of the novel, Uglies, are foreshadowing, crises, setting, conflict and theme. The most important of these five elements is foreshadowing. The author of Uglies, Scott Westerfeld, uses foreshadowing throughout the novel. Tally meets a new friend in Uglyville named Shay, and the two become quite close. They begin to get to know each other better and share stories about old friends and just their lives in general. Peris, who was Tally's best friend before he became pretty, was mentioned many times in Tally's stories. For example, "The two of them had only used a penknife when they'd cut themselves and held hands." (Westerfeld, 25) This is one of the many memories Tally brings up about Peris.When Shay leaves to go to the Smoke, Tally is left alone, once again, in Uglyville. Tally has a huge decision to make at this point: follow in Shay's footsteps and move to the Smoke, or remain where she is now and turn pretty. Tally began to have flashbacks to when she and Peris were together. As much as she wanted to go with Shay, Peris was her one best friend, and she could not betray him. The foreshadowing used in Uglies allows you to uncover more about the characters. For instance, as the reader, we barely know Peris. But when Tally flashes back to memories with Peris, you start to discover certain things about him. In all of Tally's flashbacks, she went to Peris for advice, and from that I got that he was a good friend to talk to, and that he has good advice. The foreshadowing used also lets you get into Tally's head a little bit more because we know about how she was brought up, which may have an impact on where she decides to stay in the end. Overall, foreshadowing is the most important element because it effectively creates suspense in the novel, Uglies.