Everyone Makes Mistakes. Betrayal Essay Example

Everyone makes mistakes in their life. But there's one thing that is a horrible thing to do, Betray. Betraying is highly emotional, and can hurt someone very deeply (mortify). People usually lie once in a while too. In the book Uglies, the main character lies and betrays her closest friends. The book teaches us that we should feel guilty about betraying and should work to fix our mistakes/betrayals. Through Tally’s journey and character change, the reader learns that you can’t betray someone for something you really want.
In the beginning, Tally is a liar and a betrayer. Tally betrays her friend, Shay, just to get what she wants. (to become a pretty) Before Shay was about to run away and not get her surgery Shay had tried to talk Tally into running away with her. But since Tally wanted to get the surgery and become pretty, she did not follow Shay. So Shay gave Tally a secret code to where she was going if Tally didn’t want to get the surgery. Tally and Shay made a promise to never tell anyone about where Shay was going, and the secret code. The day of her surgery, Dr.Cable had blackmailed her to find Shay and the other Uglies that ran away.Dr. Cable had made a “promise too, Tally Youngblood. Until you do help us, to the very best of your ability, you will never be pretty.”Dr. Cable turned away.“You can die ugly, for all I care.”(p.113)Tally was threatened to do what Dr.Cable said. So Tally did not have any choice, but to break her promise that she made with Shay. Tally told Dr.Cable and Special Circumstances that she would look for Shay and the other runaways. The word betrays means to be endangered someone by giving someone else's information to an enemy. Tally betrayed Shay by agreeing with Dr.Cable, that she would look for Shay. Tally betrayed Shay to get what she wants. She only cares about what she will get and only cares about her future. She could have not told Dr.Cable but since she was so determined to become pretty she agrees to the deal and decides to betray her friend. Biting the hand that feeds you is the perfect ideon to explain the theme of betrayal. When Tally goes to her journey to the Smoke she faced a lot of problems, like living in the wilderness and surviving. She also learns confidence and self-esteem. Tally also has lots of times when she almost died. This shows how desperate Tally is to become a pretty. Tally also lies to Shay very calmly. ...”She took a deep breath, wondering why she was saying all this, lying to Shay when she didn’t really have to. (p.196) The first place where Tally betrayed Shay, was when Tally finally arrived at the Smoke. After Tally had her greetings, she lied to Shay right away without having any hesitation. And she doesn’t stop lying afterward. Not only did she lie to Shay but to the rest of the Smoke. And lying can be the worst crime to ever exist and betraying can also mean to break the faith someone had in you. By the time Tally was in the Smoke she lied about almost every word that came out of her mouth.
The moments that helped Tally change the most was when Tally was at the Smoke. For an example while she was at the Smoke she learned many things, that helped her grow into a better person. David grinned. “That’s back to work.”You’re coming with us,” Shay said. “Don’t worry, it won’t kill you.”Everyone had to do work, old uglies, and new uglies. This wasn’t any kind of work. This was physical labor work. Where Tally’s hands would be raw and red once she was done with her job. Everything that is in the Smoke cannot be given directly, and the items that they had were to be reused and to be saved because everything in the Smoke had a high value. When Tally first came to the Smoke she didn't use to the idea of saving things or having to trade food or tools to survive. When Tally lived in Uglivill, there was nothing like that. “The Boss? Pretty wild, huh? He’s, like, forty! Wait until you talk to him.” and “Two had just arrived from another city and weren’t even sixteen yet. The other three—Croy, Ryde, and Astrix—were friends of Shay’s, from the group that had run away together back before Tally and Shay had first met.”(p.200) Everyone in the Smoke was all Uglies. And all of them were happy the way that they were. There were old uglies and there were uglies who were maybe as young as Tally and Shay, or maybe even younger. Everyone in the Smoke was all uglies. And none of them really cared that they didn’t get the surgery. Before Tally even came to the Smoke she didn’t like the idea that nobody in the Smoke was pretty and everyone was all ugly.
Throughout the story Tally makes the ultimate sacrifice and turns herself in to become a pretty. Tally starts to learn that she can’t be selfish to get what she wants, and have to think of others before herself.“She took a deep breath. “Okay, you’ve got a willing subject.”What do you mean, Tally?”Me.”(p.417) At the beginning of the book, Tally was only thinking about herself and willing to betray her friends just to get what she wants. And now at the end of the book, she chooses the right path and is sacrificing herself for the sake of others. At the beginning of the book, all Tally ever wanted to do was get the surgery to be pretty and bubbly all day. She would do anything to become pretty. But when she entered the Smoke, her world changed. She became more independent and she now tries to be more loyal. “Yeah, I’ve done a lot for her.” Tally took a breath. “I’m the reason she’s like this, pretty and brainless.”...“David, I didn’t come to the Smoke just to make sure Shay was okay. I came to bring her back to the city.” She sighed. “I came to betray her.”(p.420) Tally volunteers to require the pills to remove the lesions since Shay does not volunteer for Maddy's test. Since Tally tells David that the reason she came to the Smoke was to be a spy for the Special Circumstances. She furthermore tells him how she accidentally activated the pendant and cause the Special Circumstances to the area of the Smoke. Since Tally has deceived the Smoke. She is responsible for Shay becoming a pretty (having lesions), and Az’s death. In the book Uglies, there are lots of betrayals. Although betraying someone is really bad, if you try to fix the mistakes that you made it will get better. When Tally first came to lie to everyone she didn’t want anyone to know that she betrayed them. Now Tally finally had the guts to tell David the truth. (Although he didn’t like it.)
Although Tally has lied and betrayed lots of people, she learned that she can’t just give something up that wasn’t yours to get what you want. In the beginning of the book Tally will do anything to become a pretty, so she agrees to Dr.Cables deal. Then when Tally enters the Smoke, she starts to realize that the Smoke is amazing and she has to stop lying. Tally also learns responsibility and independence. At the end of the book, Tally learns for what she did, so she sacrifices herself so the Smokies won’t be in more trouble because of Tally. Even with the worst lies and betrayal, if you try to fix the mistakes and learn that others come first. No betrayal will be too hard to overcome.