Young Female Rebels Against Dystopian Regimes

in Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies (2005) and Lissa Price’s Starters (2012)

Sophia Maria Nicolopoulou

A dissertation submitted to the Department of English Literature and the Department of American

Literature, School of English, Faculty of Philosophy in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts.

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

December 2017
Nicolopoulou 2
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ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the relation between the formation of female subjectivity and

female rebellion against an oppressive, high-tech, dystopian regime, as depicted in 21st-

century Young Adult fiction. Specifically, it investigates Scott Westerfeld’s novel Uglies

(2005) and Lissa Price’s novel Starters (2012) and analyzes the social, psychological, and

moral development of the female protagonists in tandem with their imminent role as

powerful dissidents and agents of change. With the aid of coming-of-age theory as well as

contemporary criticism on Young Adult dystopian fiction, the thesis tries to examine the

nature of female rebellion in the primary texts and illuminate the negotiations of each

protagonist with power and authority. It argues that the heroines’ subjectivity is dual in

nature; the teenage girls are independent agents with free will and at the same time

subjects experiencing external coercion. Being situated on the brink of adulthood,

Westerfeld’s Tally Youngblood and Price’s Callie Woodland revolt against an oppressive

social regime that exploits the bodies of youth in order to extend its civic and political

control. By defying established standards of beauty, body manipulation, and adult

expectations, the teenage heroines become emblems of a powerful young femininity. By

critically approaching the primary novels as examples of bildungsroman, the thesis hopes

to shed light on the formation of the protagonists’ liminal subjectivity and on their

rebellion. While growing up, young girls face both setbacks and triumphs and learn

valuable lessons, such as the need to compromise in order to be able to survive within an

oppressive power structure. Contemporary American writers, who pen coming-of-age

novels featuring teenage girls as protagonists, stress the unique spirit of female defiance.
 Nicolopoulou 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I do not wish to indulge in pompous details about how I have managed to complete

this thesis. The people who have supported me throughout my studies at the Aristotle

University of Thessaloniki know that this thesis is firstly dedicated to them. Without their

constant guidance and support, I would have been lost while wandering in the vastness of

scholarship.

I want to openly thank Dr. Domna Pastourmatzi, my mentor and supervisor, for all

the help and support while writing this thesis. Her vast knowledge regarding Young Adult

and dystopian fiction and her constructive criticism were valuable.

Examining coming-of-age literature made me realize that I have also come of age

while studying in Thessaloniki, being away from my hometown and having to deal with

hardship alone. Evidently, no other topic would have been more suitable for me.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract.......................................................................................................................3

Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................6

CHAPTER ONE:

The Price of Turning Pretty........................................................................................18

CHAPTER TWO:

The Price of Renting Your Body................................................................................31

CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................43

Appendix.....................................................................................................................47

Bibliography................................................................................................................49
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INTRODUCTION

To date, considerable research attention has been paid to Young Adult (YA) fiction

and to its relation to the bildungsroman, as well as to the theme of rebellion.

Contemporary dystopias written for young adult readers appear particularly pertinent to

this inquiry and its findings. The twenty-first century practice of placing female

protagonists amidst nightmarish worlds provides fertile ground for exploring the ways

gender and rebellion converge in dystopian fiction. The main goal of this thesis is to

explore the link between the varied manifestations of the bildungsroman in contemporary

YA narratives and the theme of female rebellion against the patriarchal status quo. My

investigation focuses on the female protagonists in Scott Westerfel’s novel Uglies and

Lissa Price’s Starters. I will firstly refer to criticism on the bildungsroman and its relation

to YA fiction. Then, I will focus on the connection of the concept of power with

adolescent subjectivity. Moreover, I will briefly refer to the notion of dystopia and its

application to texts of YA fiction. Finally, I will examine the nature of female rebellion in

contemporary YA dystopian visions.

Adolescence, undoubtedly, constitutes a pivotal period in one’s life because the

human agent is called to develop a unified sense of identity through the realization of her

or his sociopolitical agency. According to Rudd, much of YA literature is concerned with

“how notions of identity are formed within specific contexts and shaped by larger social

structures and processes” (Rudd 140). Rudd’s observations on the relationship of identity

and sociopolitics will be used in this thesis. As a starting point, I adopt Robyn

McCallum’s multifaceted definition of subjectivity. In her words, subjectivity is “an

individual’s sense of a personal identity as a subject–in the sense of being subject to some

measure of external coercion–and as an agent–that is, being capable of conscious and

deliberate thought and action” (McCallum 4). Therefore, subjectivity has a double

dimension and is constructed “through interrelationships with others, either through

language and/or in a relation to social and cultural forces and ideologies” (8).

It is important to mention that YA fiction has long been discussed as a genre

benefitting from the tradition of the bildungsroman in diverse contexts. Levy points

out that many fantasy or science fiction narratives feature “a young, frustrated, and

somewhat immature protagonist [who] is confronted by a serious problem, struggles with

it, learns something about the nature of good and evil in the world, deals with the

problem, and emerges a more mature and more humane human being” (99). He classifies

such novels as forms of the bildungsroman. Formulated by Jerome Buckley, the term

connotes a literary pattern focusing on a youth who leaves his or her provincial

surroundings to receive a holistic education in the city. In the process, these young heroes

lose their innocence. When they finally come to terms with “the sort of accommodation to

the modern world [they] can honestly make, [they have] left [their] adolescence behind

and entered upon [their] maturity” (Buckley qtd. in Levy 100). Evidently, any work about

youngsters growing up is a bildungsroman. In accordance with Buckley’s formula, James

Hardin adds that this particular form is concerned with “the intellectual and social

development of a central figure” who experiences “both defeats and triumphs” in the

industrial world and finally comes “to a better understanding of self and to a generally

affirmative view of the world” (Hardin qtd. in Levy 100).

Although both critics insist on a specific formula which emphasizes the concept of

growth, Levy goes even further by claiming that the typical coming-of-age hero “gains

control of [the] world by becoming more knowledgeable in both practical […] and moral

terms” (115). In other words, throughout such novels maturation occurs because the

protagonists reach an understanding of the ways the world operates and of the effects of

their own actions, ultimately leading to an awareness of the self (Levy 115). It should be

noted that in the late twentieth and early twentieth-first century technologically saturated

world, the conditions of life have changed. New types of environments exert influence on
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adolescents and affect the maturation process. Thus, many recent YA texts depict

personal growth occurring, not because the protagonist moves from an agrarian land to

an industrial center but because the young hero goes from “a technologically primitive

community to a technologically more advanced one” (Levy 115).

Levy suggests that the bildungsroman includes a protagonist whose paternal figure

is typically absent, or someone who simply grew parentless but who is willing to enter

a new environment (Levy 105). Moreover, such stories feature heroes in their mid-to-late

adolescence, who, by the end of the plot, have become either adults “but just barely,” or

have inevitably matured (Levy 109). Sometimes though, adulthood may not be reached;

it may be cut short “albeit with a promise that it may continue at a later date” (Levy 112).

This promise is exemplified in the layout of many recent YA stories which extend the

narrative to several books. Authors who write trilogies or many sequels intentionally

delay the protagonist’s maturation.

On a different note, feminist critics have repeatedly addressed the question of

gender in bildungsroman scenarios. Levy himself voices his concern over “the

impropriety of applying such a male-centered term to female protagonists” (100).

While discussing earlier paradigms of works featuring female heroes who come of age,

Abel observes that every existing definition of the bildungsroman presupposes “a range of

social options available only to men” (qtd. in Levy 101). Maturity and self-fulfillment

occur only for those female characters, who have already been through the sociocultural

expectations set on them (such as marriage and motherhood) and have found them

insufficient. The typical female hero often rebels after she has found marriage inadequate.

That is, their rebellion occurs during adulthood (Levy 101). Likewise, Annis Pratt

maintains that the female protagonist’s journey constitutes “a self-determined regression”

from fully participating in adult life instead of a conscious and willing choice of entering

it (qtd. in Trites 12). In addition, Gjurgjan supports the notion that women writers
 Nicolopoulou 9

themselves have failed to construct “the alternative master narrative that would challenge

and reformulate the standards” set by the “patriarchal master narrative,” that is, the

bildungsroman (109).

Nevertheless, while discussing contemporary YA narratives, Levy re-appropriates

the pattern claiming that even if “the essence of both male and female bildungsroman is

connection with society,” the female protagonist after being dictated by the patriarchal

order eventually revolts “and seeks new terms, even though it may be disastrous to her

material well-being” (116). All things considered, the journey of the typical coming-of-

age female hero has to include predicaments and tribulations in order for the youth to

rebel against an authoritative and patriarchal status quo. Based on recent

critical research, I have come to believe that adolescent heroes, especially the female

ones, comprise unique agents of sociopolitical change in current YA narratives; by

forming their sense of identity they come of age, and in turn, by coming of age they rebel

against patriarchy. Roberta Trites contends that teenaged characters quite often

demonstrate that the “only true form of empowerment comes from growing up and

leaving adolescence behind” (Literary Conceptualizations 1). She strongly asserts that

growth in YA novels is inextricably linked to power (Trites, Disturbing the Universe x).

Drawing on Foucault, she defines power as “a force that operates within the subject and

upon the subject”; as a result “teenagers are repressed as well as liberated by their own

power and by the power of the social forces that surround them in these books” (7).

Acknowledging their place in the power structure, adolescents find ways to survive

which conflict with numerous institutions, such as their family, their school or even the

government. As protagonists, they are shown to navigate and function within

multiple levels of power (Trites, Disturbing the Universe 3).

Thus we may say that the ultimate aim of YA stories is to teach teenage readers

“how to exist within the (capitalistic bound) institutions that necessarily define [their]
 Nicolopoulou 10

existence” (Trites, Disturbing the Universe 19). Moreover, Trites notes that power should

not be thought of only as a force hampering teenagers; it should alternatively be

considered in terms of subjectivity since power not only permits subjectivity but also

agency. In other words, power “not only acts on a subject but, in a transitive sense, enacts

the subject into being” (Butler qtd. in Trites, Disturbing the Universe 5). McCallum’s

definition of being a subject, in terms of being a victim of external coercion and

simultaneously a powerful agent, seems complementary to Trites’s line of reasoning.

What can be inferred, therefore, is that not only does YA fiction raises questions of

identity and resistance, as shown by the analysis of the bildungsroman, but it also

tackles sociopolitical concerns regarding the nature of power and its impact on teenagers.

When Trites examines feminism in relation to children’s fiction she propounds that

heroes in this genre are empowered regardless of their gender (Waking Sleeping

Beauty 4). What is more, by transcending gender roles, many books with a feminist

perspective embrace certain characteristics traditionally linked to femininity, for example

communication, interconnectedness, and compassion (Trites 5, 6). In such narratives “the

feminist protagonist need not squelch her individuality in order to fit into society. Instead,

her agency, her individuality, her choice and her nonconformity are affirmed or even

celebrated” (6), says Trites. Additionally, the main character succeeds in defeating some

force of evil, or in completing a task stereotypically seen as male. Finally, no matter what

others say, she comes to believe in herself.

Bearing in mind Levy’s claim that the female bildungsroman constitutes a

pattern for the young female hero to rebel against patriarchal practices, and in conjunction

with Trites’s argument, I suggest that many of contemporary YA works can and should be

examined as feminist in the sense that they formulate a safe space for women to be

celebrated for both their feminine and masculine traits. Both in Westerfeld’s Uglies and

Price’s Starters, the heroines overcome themselves by excelling at tasks that

traditionally require the skills or the decisiveness of males; not only do they exceed

expectations but they also celebrate empathy and the value of female comradeship.

In this thesis, I assert that the female protagonsists in the YA novels Uglies and

Starters experience their coming-of-age journey by interacting with the power held by the

authorities that oppress them. By becoming smarter and smarter in both moral and

practical terms, they come to realize their strengths and weaknesses. Their maturity equals

their resistance. At the end of each novel, they have partially or fully completed their

journey, either by successfully overthrowing the patriarchal regime or by failing in their

attempt to do so. Their coming of age is intertwined with the formulation of their

subjectivity and the assertion of their resistance; sociopolitical change equals inner

psychosocial development and vice versa. Thus far, I have presented an account of the

basic premises on which this thesis will be based. Given that both novels are set in

imaginary dystopian settings, it is crucial to refer to the genre of dystopian fiction, to its

basic components, and to its exploitation by authors who write YA fiction.

Modern dystopia emerged as a distinct literary form in the early 1900s due to the

refiguring of the capital and the advancement of the modern imperial state. It is

the product of the various traumatic events that stigmatized the twentieth-century, such as

genocide, state violence, disease, and ecocide (Moylan xi). In essence, dystopia reflects

upon the causes of “social and ecological evil as systemic,” and critiques modern society

(Moylan xii, xiii). As scholars point out, dystopian texts begin with an “exponential

presentation of the society’s structure and operation”; the reader is placed “in the midst of

a social ‘elsewhere’ that appears to be far worse than any in the ‘real’ world” (Moylan

xiii). Then, the story line develops around the alienated protagonists as they start to

recognize the flaws of the world they inhabit, and finally discover the complex

relationship between “individual experience and the operation of the entire system”

(Moylan xiii). We must bear in mind that the dystopian text is divided into two
 Nicolopoulou 12

narrative lines: the one we are immediately immersed in and which sets the conditions of

the status quo, and the counter-narrative which develops as “the ‘dystopian citizen’ moves

from apparent contentment into an experience of alienation, followed by a growing

awareness and then by action that leads to a climatic event which does or does not

either challenge or change the society” (Moylan 148). Personal growth seems to be the

main theme not only of the bildungsroman but also of dystopian literature. Thus, it is not

difficult to understand the reasons why a variety of authors write YA novels by

employing the dystopian pattern.

According to Kay Sambell, since the 1960s with the emergence of futuristic

novels aimed at young people, authors have dealt with the fears and anxieties stemming

from the violent world the young generations live in. She explains, “postapocalyptic,

admonitory scenarios are rife, depicting horrifying visions of hostile societies that are

shockingly indifferent to injustice, oppression, persecution and the suffering of the

masses” (247). In general, dystopian narratives depict the future “as a terrifying

nightmare that child readers must avoid at all costs”; apparently, the primary purpose of

dystopias written for teenagers is to “make serious and daunting comment on where we

are really going as a society, and worse, what we will be like when we get there” (Sambell

247). Above all, dystopias violently explode the myth that technology and science would

bring about only human evolution and progress (Sambell 248). Authors have managed to

debunk the myth by teaching through negative example, that is, by applying science to the

worst-case scenarios in order to showcase the ways it can be used to forge oppressive and

inhuman regimes instead of “civilized ones” (Sambell 248). Another reason for authors to

deliberately place young people in the midst of a nightmare is to destroy the myth of the

innocent child in need of parental guidance (Sambell 250).

In an attempt to link dystopian YA fiction to the concept of the posthuman, Elaine

Ostry contends that “much science-fiction for young adults attempts to mediate the
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posthuman age to the audience” (223). Deep concerns such as the separation of the child

from the parent, the search for identity, the resistance to adult authority, personal growth

and social adjustment are equally explored through the fears and hopes of biotechnology;

“the texts, in short, use biotechnology as a metaphor for adolescence” (Ostry 223).

Throughout the developing story, the characters profess their sense of identity “under

dreadful odds and constant fear. They have to reclaim themselves through resistance”

(Ostry 231). This can be a very strenuous task since malevolent technocracy hunts down

the nonconformists.

Examining Westerfeld’s novel Uglies, we can conclude that it is an ecological

dystopia, featuring an alternative “elsewhere,” a place where oil consumption has

devastated the natural landscape. In order to make amends people eat dehydrated food,

recycle things and use renewable energy sources in an effort to protect what is left of

Earth. The action takes place on an island, where young people are divided into two main

groups: a) the Uglies, who reside in Uglyville and b) the Pretties, who live in the New

Pretty Town. To create an egalitarian society in terms of physical appearance,

the technocratic regime decrees that all sixteen-years-old must undergo a series of

operations so they can be transformed into “Pretties.” Later in the novel, the female

protagonist, Tally, discovers that the surgical procedures result in unwanted brain lesions;

they seem to be responsible for the metamorphosis of the young into obedient and

mindless citizens. It becomes clear to the reader that the application of cosmetic surgery

on a universal scale is the basis of Westerfeld’s dystopia.

On the other hand, Lissa Price’s book Starters ponders over the fear of

becoming posthuman. With the help of biotechnology, old people are able to rent and

use the bodies of the young. After a global pandemic that has exterminated the middle-

aged, young people in this imaginary world have to fight their way out of a social system

which either entraps them in institutions and illegal slavery or urges them to allow their
 Nicolopoulou 14

bodies to be used by unknown older people for the sake of earning some money. Price’s

dystopia attempts to mediate the posthuman age to young readers by placing a very

assertive young woman amidst a postapocalyptic society, with the goal to discover the

truth and to expose the profitable industry that exploits youthful bodies commercially.

At this point, it is significant to finally determine the intersections of the coming-of-

age novel with dystopia as well as the theme of rebellion. Basu et al. maintain that YA

dystopian literature “recapitulate the conventions of the classic Bildungsroman, using

political strife, environmental disaster or other forms of turmoil as the catalyst for

achieving adulthood” (7). The dystopian society forces protagonists to “fall from

innocence and to achieve maturity” as they gradually realize what is going wrong with

the places in which they dwell (7). Disclosing the faults of the dystopian regimes, these

novels urge the readers to realize “how ruined the adult world has become: kids learn

adults are lying, their parents have problems, the system can’t protect them, they have to

take care of themselves, and so on” (7).

In such fiction, rebellion is of key importance. If dystopia acts as a metaphor for

adolescence then, it is no wonder that much emphasis is placed on the protagonists’

confrontation with multiple forms of power and authority in order for them to be

empowered as sociopolitical agents (Hintz and Ostry 9; Basu, et al. 7). Ironically, the

employment of the bildungsroman may create “ambivalence about the role of rebellion in

facilitating growth” (Basu, et al. 7). Put differently, by fighting the oppressive

government, young people learn their own strengths and weaknesses, their own

limitations (7). Hence, the act of rebellion against oppressive regimes in dystopian YA

fiction teaches protagonists to “strike a compromise between change and acceptance” (7).

As Trites concludes, “much of the genre is thus dedicated to depicting how potentially

out-of-control adolescents can learn to exist within institutional structures” (Disturbing

the Universe 7).

The heroines in both novels under examination unravel earth-shattering truths about

the dystopian regimes that rule their worlds. Both learn how to deal with authority and

how to negotiate with power. Both realize that the adult world is corrupt and non-virtuous.

Many agents attempt to restrain their individuality. But coming of age leads to their

profound understanding that to survive the power structure and the dystopian regime they

have to compromise or at least they have to know when to strike. However, both young

girls try to resist the patriarchal status quo. Critics define the character of the female rebel

in contemporary YA dystopian fiction as a figure who “directly [contradicts] the common

perception that girls are too young or too powerless to question the limitations placed

upon them, much less to rebel, and, in turn fuel larger rebellions” (Day, et al. 4)

Accordingly, the female protagonists “occupy liminal spaces as they seek to understand

their places in the world, to claim their identities, and to live their lives in their own

terms” (Day, et al. 3).

Liminality is expressed by “straddling the lines of childhood and adulthood, of

individuality and conformity, of empowerment and passivity” (Day, et al. 4). Rebellion

occurs when the young protagonists come to recognize their liminal position and exploit

it, defying thus the social authorities that seek to control them. However, even if they

actively resist, they also tend to “accept that they cannot change every aspect of their

societies’ controlling frameworks, particularly as these relate to romance and sexuality”

(Day, et al. 4). Moreover, while their forms of rebellion may not always be successful and

may “even inadvertently reaffirm the very heteronormative ideals they set out to subvert,

these characters occupy the role of active agent rather than passive bystander” (Day, et al.

4). In other words, by “tangling with the risks and rewards of female rebellion” (Day, et

al. 4), the authors not only depict the challenges of adolescence but also reformulate the

meaning of womanhood.
 Nicolopoulou 16

This thesis is divided into two chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the

novels under investigation. The logic underlying the critical analysis is this: by explicitly

referring to the ways the novels weave the postapocalyptic scenario and

construct imaginary societies permeated by patriarchal ideology, I will try to show that

the bildungsroman informs their plots, that adolescent fiction deals directly with

questions of authority, and that the heroines become emblems of female rebellion. My

aim is to establish the significant link between the coming-of-age female protagonists and

their sociopolitically informed rebellion. Finally, I should note that from start to finish I

assume that both heroines are agents of their own will and subjects of external coercion.

Simultaneously, their road to maturity involves negotiation with power and authority.

The first chapter aims at delineating Tally Youngblood’s journey from the industrial

city center to the unspoiled natural habitat in order to betray her friend, Shay. By focusing

on the main issue explored throughout the book, that is the American obsession with

plastic surgery and beauty ideals, I try to showcase the ways Tally’s growth is inevitably

shaped under the dogmatic male gaze. I include statistics regarding the number of women

being operated in the US as well as short analyses of the patriarchal philosophy

underlying cosmetic surgery. Moreover, I demonstrate how Tally’s engagement with

nature facilitates her establishment as a potentially rebellious subjectivity. To pinpoint the

nature of Tally's rebellion and to exemplify whether it is effective or not, apart from the

various critical studies on the novel, I rely on Trites’s dynamic model of resistance in YA

fiction as well as on Child’s claims regarding the meaning of friendship.

The second chapter aims at elaborating on Callie’s journey to maturity, which is

inaugurated after her decision to rent her young body to the Ender Helena. The main

theme underlying Price’s novel is age anxiety and the exploitation of youth by older

adults in American culture. Therefore, a brief reference to literature treating the topic is

crucial. I believe that Callie Woodland’s journey is much easier than Tally’s. Callie is
 Nicolopoulou 17

shown to be suspicious of the flaws of the regime from the beginning of the novel. By

explicitly referring to the events composing her coming-of-age adventure, I contend that

her liminal status both as a teenager and a would-be adult, both as a human and a cyborg

shape her subjectivity. I rely again on Trites’s insights concerning rebellion in YA fiction

in order to explain the reasons why Callie’s defiance is yet to be complete. Throughout

the chapter, when needed I quote Lissa Price’s responses to my personal interview in

order to shed light on Callie’s character and motivation.

CHAPTER ONE:

THE PRICE OF TURNING PRETTY

“I’m Tally Youngblood,” she said.

“Make me pretty.”

–Scott Westerfeld, Uglies (2005)

American author Scott Westerfeld has written eighteen books, his most famous

being the best-selling Uglies trilogy. Published in 2005, Uglies, the first of three novels, is

set in a dystopian future after a global environmental catastrophe caused by the

consumption of oil as an energy source. To avoid similar disasters and in an attempt to

make amends, the survivors have decided to exploit renewable energy sources. They also

establish a fixed population in order to help the economy to recuperate, creating thus an

egalitarian ecotopia (346).1 Moreover, to eliminate inequality and advance uniformity,

sixteen-years-olds are obliged to undergo operations in order to meet the socially

prescribed beauty standards. Becoming “Pretty” during adolescence and staying pretty for

the rest of their lives is the social mandate that youngsters must honor in this imaginary

world.

The main protagonist, Tally Youngblood, is soon to turn sixteen. She, like all

teenagers before the operation, is perceived as an “Ugly.” Tally desperately wants to turn

into a “Pretty,” leave her place in Uglyville, and spend all her time with the beautiful and

unblemished young people in The New Pretty Town. Tally’s closest friend, Shay, does

not want to conform to the social expectations, so she decides to flee and join a group of

radicals who oppose the imposed lifestyle and who refuse to undergo any form of surgery,

thus choosing to remain “ugly” forever. In case Tally wishes to follow her, Shay leaves

1
All textual citations throughout this chapter that refer to Uglies by Scott Westefeld will be given in
parenthesis without the author's name.
 Nicolopoulou 19

an encrypted note behind. Special Circumstances which is the governmental and

undercover agency, intimidates Tally into taking a journey to locate Shay and discover the

rebels’ hideout. Tally is told that if she refuses to cooperate, she will never have the

benefits of the operation. As a result, Tally involuntarily is given the role of a spy and

infiltrator. During her stay with the rebels Tally discovers the real motives behind the

“prettying” of people.

The aim of this chapter is to explore the interrelation of the novel’s main themes with

the heroine’s coming-of-age story and ultimately illuminate her rebellious acts against the

social regime and the ideology it perpetuates. Uglies discusses the impact of the vicious

cycle of beauty standards in connection to young females. The novel addresses the myth

of beauty in America and the pursuit of ‘upgrading’ one’s external appearance through

cosmetic surgery. According to recent data, in 2002 nearly 6.6 million people residing in

the United States have had some kind of cosmetic surgery; if we examine the figures from

a gender perspective, we become aware that breast augmentation, liposuction, nose

reshaping, eyelid surgery and facelift make up the top five aesthetic procedures for

women (Newswire). In 2003, women of all ages comprised 87 percent of the total

American population receiving any type of surgical or nonsurgical cosmetic surgery, such

as Botox injections or chemical peels (Newswire). It should be noted though that these

numbers do not include operations by uncertified surgeons.

Westerfeld’s novel exploits the American obsession with looks and presents the

young protagonist Tally as an example of American teenage girls who acquire the

irrational and compulsive desire to change their appearance via cosmetic surgery from the

cultural environment they live in. Westerfeld divides his novel into three parts: “Turning

Pretty,” “The Smoke,” and “Into the Fire.” Each section corresponds to a different phase

in Tally’s life. The first focuses on her time in Uglyville; the second narrates her journey

to the wild and her sojourn in the camp of the dissidents, called the Smokies; the third
 Nicolopoulou 20

describes the demolition of the camp by Special Circumstances and Tally’s initial acts of

resistance. The novel’s structure echoes Tally’s levels of maturation. The pattern of the

bildungsroman is embedded in the plot itself. At the same time, each part revolves around

a different theme: “Turning Pretty” elaborates on the youth’s obsession with the

beautification procedure. “The Smoke” describes the impact of the natural environment

on the protagonist’s consciousness. “Into the Fire” comments on her rebellion against the

oppressive regime. Each theme is connected to Tally’s coming-of-age story but the most

prominent of all is the cult of beauty and its effects on young women.

While living in a dorm in Uglyville, Tally is curious about what goes on in the New

Pretty Town, especially after Peris, a boy three months older than her, has become a

“Pretty.” She dares to sneak in to see him; she admires his new skin, now perfect and

clear, without marks and scars. On the way back to Uglyville, she meets and befriends

Shay and together they play tricks on newcomer ugly kids, and visit restricted areas

beyond the city limits. Although Shay tries to convince Tally that they are normal kids

and not freaks, Tally still wants to become pretty in order to see Peris again, to make

people notice her, and to live a life of glamor. With her operation only a week away, Tally

feels uncertain about what to do. Peris shows up in her dorm to pressure her and to remind

her of her promise to him. Soon Tally is taken to see Dr. Cable at Special Circumstances,

where she spills the beans on the run-away Shay and is forced to become a spy. Her

mission is to infiltrate the Smoke and reveal the location of the rebels’ hideout.

Because Tally has been “treated like a walking disease” (120), she spends a lot of

time looking into the mirror. It seems that the only thing she truly cares about is her

operation. She is under the impression that “there was something magic in [the pretties’]

large and perfect eyes, something that made you want to pay attention to whatever they

said, to protect them from any danger, to make them happy. They were so … pretty” (8).

Even her relationship with Shay and her exposure to Shay’s subversive words are not
 Nicolopoulou 21

enough to make Tally give up the idea of “a lifetime of being gorgeous” (98). The first

part of the novel does not contribute to Tally’s maturation. However, it sets the stage for

the journey that will lead Tally to self-awareness and to the discovery of a series of truths

about the operation. In the beginning, Tally is a naive and young girl who desperately

wants to become one of the Pretties who live in the City and enjoy many privileges. In

Levy’s terms, she is “a young, frustrated, and somewhat immature protagonist”

confronted by a serious dilemma (Levy 99); either she takes the role of the infiltrator

seriously and gets the operation as a reward or refuses to be the pawn of Dr. Cable and

remains ugly forever. According to Moran, “the mandatory prettying would remove the

pressure on young women to meet particular standards of beauty since the Pretty

Committee determines general guidelines. […] However, the opposite is true in

Westerfeld's world” (128). Not only are youngsters living under the constant reminder

that they are ugly, not only are they slaves to the myth of beauty but they are also

subjected to the medical gaze. Cosmetic surgery is in the hands of the medical

establishment and doctors tend to reshape faces and bodies according to Western cultural

ideals and patriarchal standards (Balsamo 58).

In the imaginary world of the novel, “both boys and girls become pretties” but

Westerfeld’s choice of “a female protagonist reminds us that women and girls have been

disproportionately affected by expectations of beauty” (Moran 124). It is universally

acknowledged that the myth of beauty has been shaped by patriarchy and that it targets

the female sex. As Wolf points out, “women must want to embody it and men must want

to possess women who embody it” (12). As a transcultural concept, beauty spans the ages:

“it is an imperative for women and not for men” (Wolf 12). It depends on pseudo-

biological arguments to establish its legitimacy. In the United States, young girls and

“women learn early that if you are unlovely, you are unloved” (Stannard 195). The

American mass media bombards women with images of physical perfection and place the
 Nicolopoulou 22

emphasis on the proportions of the body not on the cultivation of intelligence. Westerfeld

reflects the American obsession with beauty in his novel in a conversation between Tally

and Shay. Referring to the old days, Shay tells Tally “Everyone judged everyone else

based on their appearance. People who were taller got better jobs, and people even voted

for some politicians just because they weren’t as ugly as everyone else” (44). Shay argues

that young people are programmed into believing that they are ugly. They are made to

hate themselves. However, Tally remains mistrustful, even gets infuriated because she

believes that being appalled by uglies is a “natural reaction”; altering your appearance

constitutes “biology” (81, 83). Having uncritically adopted the patriarchal ideology, Tally

exclaims, “I don’t want to be ugly all my life. I want those perfect eyes and lips, and for

everyone to look at me and gasp. And for everyone who seems to think Who’s that? and

want to get to know me, and listen to what I say” (92). What is more, Tally misconceives

the process of beautifying oneself as a step toward “growing up” and becoming an adult.

Therefore, being a Pretty for Tally means social acceptance and personal validation. In her

view becoming “gorgeous” equals reaching adulthood (98).

Anne Balsamo explains that when a girl or a woman internalizes “a fragmented

body image” as a “flawed identity,” then she comes to see each of her body parts as a “site

for the fixing of her physical abnormality” (57). The only way to get rid of the assumed

abnormality is to seek the help of experts. Cosmetic surgeons use various methods to

reconstruct and redefine and the female body as “a signifier of ideal femininity” (Balsamo

58). As a result, difference is “made over into sameness” (Balsamo 59). Tally is one of

those girls who have internalized a fragmented body image in the sense that she views

herself as different pieces to be fixed, not as a whole to be praised. In one scene, eager to

see how she would look as a Pretty, Tally plays with her image through a specific

computer program, which alters her characteristics and creates different “morphos” of her.

Tally explains that “everyone made morphos, even littlies, too young for their facial
 Nicolopoulou 23

structure to have set” (40). It becomes evident that Tally endorses the dissection,

reconstruction, and fetishization of the female body. Her obsession with external

appearance reverberates modern-day practices of cosmetic surgery. Tally has absorbed her

society’s ideology that homogenization leads to social equality. When Tally tampers

uncritically with her friend’s digital image, Shay’s exclaims, “I totally look like every

other new pretty in the world” (43). Shay resents the disintegration of her identity; she

does not consider herself a freak. She also understands that during the operation, “The

doctors pretty much do what they want, no matter what you tell them”; unlike Tally, Shay

rejects the ideology of her society and claims that “this whole game is just designed to

make us hate ourselves” (41, 44). The morphos do not simply show a girl her future

appearance, they also verify the existence of the “Other Woman,” meaning an ideal model

of one’s self. The digital image of one’s perfected self arouses the desire for that self.

Thus, “cosmetic surgery can be seen as a dramatization of the relationship between a

woman and an imaginary Other Woman figure, the perennial rival with whom girls are

taught to compete the moment they know and care about what it means to be pretty”

(Blum 110). In Westerfeld's imaginary world, Tally “only needs to blink her eyes in order

to construct a visual representation of this woman that is herself, and yet Other, fracturing

an identity into a series of ‘This Tally’ and ‘The Next Tally’ ” (Moran 128). The morphos

presage the outcome of plastic surgery. When Tally manipulates her image on the

computer, she ultimately transforms her natural body into a socially prescribed object

whose shape and constitution are determined by the doctor’s specifications (129). She

assumes that such a transformation will lead to a happy life. Westerfeld demonstrates that

Tally’s subjectivity (in the sense of being an agent and consciously acting out her

decisions) is hampered due to her entrapment in the patriarchal ideology. Thus in the first

part of the novel, Tally is unable to think critically and to question the validity of her

society’s standards that oppress the young. Nevertheless, her interactions with Shay, the
 Nicolopoulou 24

noncomformist, and with Dr. Cable at Special Circumstances spread the seeds of doubt

within her. It is only a matter of time before Tally takes the situation in her hands and

seeks new terms for leading a life on her own.

To sum up, the final chapter (of the novel’s first section titled “Turning Pretty”)

depicts a transitional step in the life of the protagonist, since we see Tally move from the

state of childhood ignorance to the state of teenage suspicion. It has been suggested that

“the adult scientist knows more than Tally at this stage of the story, [so] she is able to take

advantage of the teenager’s desire to be beautiful and her ignorance about the downsides

of being transformed into a New Pretty” (Panaou 68). Tally’s submits to Dr. Cable’s

coercion and travels to the Smoke, having promised to activate a pendant in the shape of a

heart that will send a signal to Special Circumstances (134) when she reaches the hideout.

As the plot develops, whenever Tally wins against Dr. Cable, “it is because she manages

to tip the knowledge scale; it is because she has an important breakthrough or knows

something that Dr. Cable does not” (Panaou 68).

The second part of the novel titled “The Smoke” narrates Tally's journey into the

wild. It is packed with experiences leading Tally to change her ideology. Soon after her

arrival, Tally starts associating with the Smokies and adopts their lifestyle that privileges

nature and self-respect over technology and beauty standards. As a result, she postpones

the activation of the pendant that Dr. Cable has given her in a desperate attempt to forget

that she is a spy and not a rebel. During her temporary stay, Tally falls in love with an

ugly called David, who is Shay’s love interest. As the events unfold, Tally not only

betrays her friend Shay by her decision to infiltrate the camp and then inadvertently

activate the pendant but also she steals away her prospective lover. This part of the

narrative inaugurates the bildungsroman, but instead of the protagonist leaving an

agrarian place, (as the classic plot pattern indicates) for an urban site, Tally leaves the

urban environment for the wild. The author makes a difference in the way he reworks the
 Nicolopoulou 25

paradigm: Tally does not move from a lower to a higher technological milieu (as is

expected), but she abandons the luxuries of the industrial center for the Smoke, a place

where people work with their bare hands, repair their homemade clothes, and eat delicious

game on wooden tables. In Rabkin’s terms, the Smoke comprises a utopian, pastoral

world that excludes technology (3). Even if Tally at first wants to return home, after being

exposed to the ways of the Smokies and having fallen in love with David, she welcomes

the new lifestyle.

The binary opposition of technology/nature features prominently in Westerfeld’s

imaginary world. Tally’s counter-narrative is irrevocably shaped once she treks into

nature and overcomes several obstacles in order to reach Shay. During her journey, she

perfects her hoverboard skills and learns survival tricks. The slow change in Tally’s state

of mind is initiated by the rejuvenating influence the natural environment has on her. We

read that “Tally’s nerves were soothed by the roar of white water, the cold slap of spray in

her face, the thrill of bending her body through curve after curve in the moon-speckled

darkness” (141). Close to nature, Tally awakens mentally. Her free-falling and life-and-

death experiences in the mystified and beautiful world of the wild indicate that

adolescence is undoubtedly a crucial period filled with many challenges. Obliged to fend

for herself, Tally hones her survival skills and triumphs over adverse circumstances.

Eventually, she comes to realize that becoming an adult does not mean getting an

operation at the age of sixteen, but going through a slow and painful process, from

complete ignorance to adequate knowledge of the ways the world works and allowing

oneself to mature naturally.

Examining the effect of nature on the protagonist's mentality, McDonough and

Wagner trace the following pattern in a variety of works, including Westerfeld’s Uglies:

“each novel presents a young woman growing up, falling in love, and learning about

herself–activities that predominantly occur in nature” (158). Only after his or her
 Nicolopoulou 26

awakening to the realization that “choices need to be made can the protagonist engage in

the decision-making process that is agency” (158), claim the critics. The awakening

process frequently requires some time for growth and adjustment. For Tally mental

growth occurs during her trip to the Smoke, her stay there, and her interactions with the

dissidents. As Tally begins to mature so does her understanding of the world grows.

According to McDonough and Wagner, “being able to see both sides of nature, she can no

longer simply regulate the world to the rigid binaries of her society: ugly or pretty, part of

the cities or part of the wilderness” (160). For a while, Tally feels awe when confronted

with the Uglies and their “deformities” (204). She gets a glimpse of the complexity of

their life. Only days after her arrival though, she “felt stronger that ever before”; her

exposure to “the physical beauty of the Smoke also cleared her mind of worries. Every

day seemed to change the mountain, the sky and the surrounding valleys, making them

spectacular in a completely new way. Nature, at least, didn’t need an operation to

beautiful. It just was” (230). Evidently, out in the wild, there is no powerful social

structure to hold her hostage; there are no authorities with which she must negotiate; there

are no standards to oppress her.

In the Smoke, Tally meets David, an ugly a few years older than she. He is not a

runaway but the first child born outside of the City’s limits because his parents, Az and

Maddy (former cosmetic surgeons) have fled the regime that runs the New Pretty Town

once they figured out the real cost of the operations. While discussing the details of the

operation with Tally, Az explains that a few people die each year because of

complications from the anesthetic and as a result, tiny brains lesions appear in the

patients’ brains. Maddy elaborates that although they did not spread and were not

cancerous, the lesions “turned up everywhere”; they appeared almost in “exactly the same

place” (263, 264). The lesions are not an accident but the result of the operation. “Almost

everyone all over the world” had them with the exception of the Uglies and a few pretties
 Nicolopoulou 27

who worked for Special Circumstances (265). Those who did not have them were

professionals whose work entailed “conflict and danger,” such as firefighters, doctors,

wardens, politicians or agents. Tally learns that the lesions influence the way people

think; they are the means with which the regime eliminates controversies and

disagreements, and turns people into complacent sheep. In the New Pretty Town no one

demands change. In short, the brand-new pretties are supposed to be shallow, mindless

and self-centered due to the brain lesions after any operation. Only those whose job is

immediately connected with resolving conflict and dealing with danger are spared the

indoctrination.

After learning the truth from Az and Maddy, Tally seems to have a change of heart.

She finds the ugly David “beautiful” and hopes that he will never undergo the operation.

A scene follows in which David kisses Tally. This first kiss functions as a catalyst and

makes Tally to throw the pendant into the fire in order to keep the Smoke an eternal secret

(281). This particular act of disposing the pendant symbolizes her first serious act of

rebellion against the status quo and against Cable’s influence. It shows her disdain for

authority. Unfortunately, the pendant is wired and sends a signal to Special

Circumstances. Ignorant of this development, Tally wakes up the next morning to find the

Specials raiding the camp at the Smoke and cuffing forty Smokies. Tally herself is

arrested and is branded an “armed resistor” (299). Seeing the Specials, Tally realizes that

“she no longer thought of [the Smokies] as ugly. It was the cold expression of the

Specials, beautiful though they were that seemed horrific to her now” (300). Alienated

from the Specials, Tally rejects also Dr. Cable’s notion of adulthood. She knows that “to

Dr. Cable ‘growing up’ meant having your brain changed” (307). Momentarily, Tally is

trapped in the power structure she wishes to abolish. Westerfeld makes clear that

knowledge and awareness are intimately connected with the sociopolitical dimension of

rebellion. As already mentioned, Tally’s gradual awakening happens while she foregoes
 Nicolopoulou 28

the designated city lifestyle and immerses herself in nature, in its horrors and wonders. By

the end of the novel’s second part, Tally becomes an emblem of emerging maturity, self-

awareness and defiance. Despite her subversive act, she needs to learn her position in the

power structure in order to survive. At this point in the plot, Tally’s rebellion is partial and

ineffective. She has an identity crisis, wondering who she is. The narrator reports her

thoughts: “what was she now? No longer a spy, and she couldn’t call herself a Smokey

anymore. Hardly a pretty, but she didn’t feel like an ugly either. She was nothing in

particular. But at least she had a purpose” (353). As a heroine in a YA dystopian

narrative, Tally has to accept her liminal position if she is to make sense of her existence:

she is neither an Ugly nor a Pretty, neither a spy nor a Smokey, neither a child nor an

adult (Day, et al. 4). After accepting her ambiguous identity she is able to fully dedicate

herself to a single purpose, that is saving her friends at any cost. Feeling guilty, Tally

wants to undo the damage she has done by throwing the pendant into the fire and thus

bringing over the Specials, who burn everything and capture people.

In the third and final section titled “Into The Fire,” the young protagonist takes the

first crucial step when she reveals to David that she was a spy for Dr. Cable. Together

they orchestrate a plan to rescue the captured Smokies from the underground facilities of

Special Circumstances. They manage to free David’s mother, Maddy, and a few others,

including her friend Shay, now a Pretty. To demonstrate her allegiance to the Smoke,

Tally decides to offer herself as a test subject, after Maddy (who has taken with her the

notes of Dr. Cable on making pretties into Specials) claims that she can find a brain cure.

When twenty days later Maddy announces that she has found a cure, Tally takes her big

decision; she will allow herself to get caught and to have the operation. Then, she expects

to be rescued, to return to the Smoke and take Maddy’s pills in order to help verify that

her cure works. With her decision, Tally defies the common perception that girls are too

immature to stand their ground. Levy argues that the coming-of-age female protagonist
 Nicolopoulou 29

seeks new terms and revolts only to find that the consequences of her actions may be

harmful to herself (Levy 116). When Tally willingly offers herself as a test subject to

Maddy’s experiment, she has not really thought about the risks to her health. She does not

know for sure that she will come out of the operation alive.

Trites observes that almost all adolescent protagonists go through some form of the

following resistance model: (over)regulation → unacceptable rebellion → repression →

acceptable rebellion → transcendence, “which typifies the domination-repression model

of institutional discourse common in adolescent literature” (38). In Westerfeld’s novel,

(over)regulation is manifested in the society’s obsession to control the appearance of all

teenagers and to eliminate any sign of difference. Unacceptable rebellion occurs once the

character Shay flees to the Smoke and tries to lure Tally by leaving instructions behind on

how to reach the camp. Tally experiences repression when she is forced to conceal her

position as a spy. She enters the stage of acceptable rebellion she gives in to Dr. Cable’s

pressure to have the operation, though her ultimate goal is to test Maddy’s cure.

Transcendence is yet to come.

Another point that has to be made is the tendency of some authors to resort into

gender stereotypes even when they try to construct female adolescents as rebels. Child

notes that in a number of YA dystopian novels, “a female protagonist has a prominent

female friendship, the friendship will be sacrificed in order to reconcile dystopia’s

hopelessness with the hopefulness of young adult fiction, often at the cost of reinforcing

negative female stereotypes” (187). To elaborate, the protagonist is firstly “pulled into

rebellion” by her friend’s agency. Later, her friend pays for the heroine’s social

transgression but instead of facing the same consequences the latter is free to assume a

leadership role “in subverting power structures” (Child 188). In the process, female

stereotypes emerge, the most common being that “young women will always abandon

friendship for a young man” (Child 188). Looking at Westerfeld’s novel, Child contends
 Nicolopoulou 30

that “if not for Shay’s pulling into her rebellion by running away and Dr. Cable’s

subsequent hunt for the Smoke, Tally would have gone on to her surgery at sixteen”; most

likely she would have ended up being “recruited to Special Circumstances or another

function requiring mental acuity that they know she possesses from her tricks as an ugly”

(Child 189). It takes a few kisses for Tally to betray her friend, to attach herself to David,

and to privilege the romantic bond instead of her friendship with Shay. Tally is drawn into

rebellion by Shay but she stays at the Smoke for David (192). Unfortunately, as revealed

in the third part, Shay’s operation, which changes both the girl’s appearance and affects

her mind, is the price paid for Tally’s social transgression.

After acknowledging her mistakes, Tally emerges as a “more mature and more

humane human being”; she realizes the consequences of her own actions and she is able

to fully comprehend how society works (Levy 99). Moreover, Tally embraces her liminal

position both as a teenager and a youth on the verge of adulthood, both as a subject

shaped by authorities and an agent opposing them. She understands that even if her

rebellion is not successful, she has at least reconfigured her identity by showing loyalty,

compassion, and care for others and by prioritizing community instead of individuality.

To sum up, Tally’s choice to have the operation done demonstrates that she is both

“comprised by institutional forces and compromised by them” (Disturbing the Universe

52). If coming of age results in changing society in some way, then Tally’s journey into

the Smoke as presented in Uglies constitutes an overall “build-up” on her subsequent

actions which are expected to bring the authorities down to their knees. In this first novel

of the trilogy, she seems to be consumed by the beauty standards she wants to abolish

even if she manages to achieve a high level of self-awareness and maturity due to her

decision to act as a test subject. Whether her journey into adulthood will lead to social

change or not, that is to be discovered in the sequels that are beyond the scope of this

thesis.
 Nicolopoulou 31

CHAPTER TWO:

THE PRICE OF RENTING YOUR BODY

“Blake squeezed my hand as the wrecking

ball smashed through the reflective façade

of the body bank.” – Lissa Price, Starters (2012)

Lissa Price’s novel, Starters, the first volume of a duology, was published in the

United States in 2012. It soon became an international bestseller and was translated in

eight languages, including modern Greek; it was also published in over thirty countries.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, following the so-called Spore

Wars (wars waged with biological weapons) that killed everyone in the ages between 20

and 60. Thus the only survivors are youngsters under the age of 20 (called “Starters”) and

elders over the age of 60 (called “Enders”). In this fictional world, the elderly are in

control of the young people. Their authority and power derive from the discovery of a

technology, specifically a neurochip that enables Enders to rent adolescent bodies in order

to experience youth again. On the other hand, unclaimed minors–youngsters who do not

have a legal guardian and cannot secure their livelihood–end up either as legal slave

workers, or as orphans in institutions, or as vagabonds squatting in different places to

avoid the marshals’ constant raids (10, 11, 22).2 In the dystopian near-future of the novel,

the Enders have guaranteed employment and thus money to indulge in plastic surgery and

in body rentals, whereas the youngsters are forbidden to work and are doomed to poverty.

The protagonist, Callie Woodland, is an “average, middle-class girl,” sixteen years

old, and a homeless orphan. Having lost her parents, she is responsible for her brother’s

physical and mental wellbeing; besides being younger than her, he suffers from a “rare

2
All textual references to Starters by Lissa Price are given in parenthesis without the author's name.
 Nicolopoulou 32

lung disorder” (18). For almost a year, the siblings–along with their friend, Michael–have

been trespassing in order to find a sheltered space for a safe night’s sleep. Clean water and

good food are extremely hard to find and Callie’s daily scavenges barely help them

survive. The novel starts with Callie’s visit to Prime Destinations, commonly called “the

body bank,” in order to get informed about the prospect of renting her body. This

company hires the bodies of teenagers and then rents them to seniors. By hiring her body

Callie will receive a generous remuneration. Three body rentals will earn Callie enough

money to buy a house and feed her family for a year. She wants the money in order to

take care of her brother Tyler and provide him with a better life. Unfortunately, the

neurochip, which keeps Callie’s consciousness inactive in her own body during the rental,

malfunctions and she wakes up only to discover that the rich renter, Ms. Helena

Winterhill, has plans to murder someone while using Callie’s body.

In this chapter, I argue that Callie’s coming-of-age journey is intimately related to

her liminal subjectivity, to the negotiations with authority as well as to the adventure

format of the novel. In addition, I contend that the protagonist is an emblem of a strong

feminist heroine due to the particular set of ethics guiding her throughout the novel. This

is why she manages to successfully rebel against the regime. Nevertheless, just like

Westerfeld’s heroine Tally, she is still a long way from breaking away from the power

structures she is expected to navigate. While Westerfeld focuses on cosmetic surgery and

how it affects young females, Price addresses the relationship between two different

generations that survived a pandemic and focuses on Callie’s efforts to make a living and

get rid of the neurochip that allows the Enders to control her life. In the personal

interview, the author contends that “the division emphasized in the Starters series is

between the young and the old: the Starters and the Enders, rather than a male/female

division” (See Appendix) Although Price de-emphasizes gender in favor of age

difference, it seems that the idea of the renting youthful bodies to Enders is a patriarchal
 Nicolopoulou 33

invention, since the authority in the company Prime Destinations is a guy called the Old

Man.

Susan Sontag claims that “old age is a genuine ordeal, one that men and women

undergo in a similar way” and that the “equating of well-being with youth makes

everyone naggingly aware of exact age–one’s own and that of other people” (29, 31). It is

well known that American culture is obsessed with both eternal youth and flawless

beauty. It is also well known that in America “consumerism touts desirable bodies as

young, toned and thin; the media convey that to be young and beautiful is to possess the

most desirable form of cultural capital” (Slevin 1004). Since the aging body is negatively

perceived by American society, many old people try to “pass” as younger, either by

exercising or by exploiting the vast palette of cosmetic procedures to alter their

appearance (Slevin 1004-05). The idea of old minds inhabiting young bodies allows Price

to shed light on what it means to have a youthful body and to explore the theme that

appearances can be deceiving.

In her dystopia, Price approaches the issue through a posthumanist lense. She creates a

social “elsewhere” where the elite elders switch identities and appearance with teenagers

through a BCI–Body Computer Interface (5). Price’s emphasis on biotechnology mirrors

the current trend of the biomedicalisation of old age, “a process whereby the outcomes of

social factors are defined as medical or personal problems to be alleviated by medical

intervention” (Calascanti and Slevin 6). Put differently, the social construction of old age

is completely effaced in light of the progress of medicine–especially in the United States.

Thus, medical practitioners constitute the ones shaping “the objects of their interventions

and the cultural ideals about aging as something pathological and abnormal requiring their

expertise and the authoritative knowledge of biomedicine” (Joyce and Mamo 102). If

medicine can provide the means that would extend people’s life spans but is unable to

provide youthful bodies, the solution then lies with cybernetics and the hypothesis that the
 Nicolopoulou 34

mind can be separated from the body. Body swapping is a common trope in literature and

nothing new. Price combines the idea of body swapping with cybertechnology and points

out the horrific results. Her fictional company, Prime Destinations, depends on the Body-

Computer Interface to transmit the mind and consciousness of its rich elder costumers to

the hired young bodies. The assumption is that the Body-Computer Interface is safe and

no one’s physical integrity is under risk. The company’s policy forbids the clients to

engage in dangerous behavior, like sky diving, car racing or having sex in rented bodies,

but the Enders are not always bound by the rules. Therefore, Callie confronts a post-

plague society dominated by rich elders who not only envy young people but also view

them as youth elixirs. This is the reason why the need to “reclaim [herself] through

resistance” becomes tremendously important page by page (Ostry 231).

In my first chapter, I claimed that in Westerfeld’s novel the heroine’s bildungsroman is

embedded in the structure of the book itself–each part of the narrative contributes to

Tally’s gradual maturation until she finally decides to offer herself willingly as a test-

subject for Maddy’s cure. Although Price does not divide Callie’s coming-of-age tale into

sections, she nevertheless sets her heroine on a journey to maturity. Westerfeld chose to

deliver Tally’s story in the third-person objective point of view, whereas Price chose the

first-person perspective, granting her heroine complete narrative control. Another

significant difference between the novels is the fact that Callie’s bildungsroman is

inaugurated from the very first pages when she begins to act as the sole guardian of her

brother and thus is burdened with a strong sense of responsibility. Callie is a self-

confident girl and very capable of taking care of him. She even dares to openly criticize

the Enders and their callous stance regarding the arbitrary abduction of adolescent bodies.

Price’s novel begins in media res, with Callie’s visit to the body bank. Upon

entering Prime Destinations Callie thinks to herself that the “Enders gave [her] the

creeps” (1). While seeing the doorman she ironically concludes that “he wasn’t that old,
 Nicolopoulou 35

maybe 110, but he still made [her] shudder” (1). Callie calls the elderly “artificial” and

she believes that “they didn’t deserve to be called seniors, as they preferred, these greedy

old fogies at the end of their lives” (2). She abhors the ostentatious surroundings of Prime

Destinations and the display of abundant water and goodies like “the stuff was free” (4,

5). She even condemns Tinnenbaum, the coordinator of the clinic, for the way he refers to

the renting procedure, as if Callie was nothing but “a rental car” (7). The fact that the

heroine is patient enough to learn everything concerning the contract both parties have to

sign (a formal paper that guarantees the safety of the procedure) shows that she does not

act on impulse but going over things before making a serious decision. Callie remembers

her mom’s strategy of “always [sleeping] on an important decision” (9). Thus she leaves

the clinic and the director without giving a positive answer. Callie admits that she “must

have been the only one who had ever turned Tinnenbaum down, who didn’t fall for his

pitch. But [she’d] learned not to trust Enders” (9). Callie is a perfect heroine for a

bildungsroman tale; she is parentless, she is a teenager, and she moves from a lower to a

higher technological milieu even if out of necessity (Levy 105-06). Unlike Westerfeld’s

heroine who was forced to begin a journey filled with challenges, Price’s protagonist

makes a conscious choice to rent her body in order to secure the future of the two persons

she considers her family–Tyler, her little brother, and Michael who is her friend. This

decision sets Callie on an adventurous and challenging path.

From the beginning Callie is suspicious of the ways the body bank operates; she

may not be fully aware of the company’s real motives yet, but she is strongly against the

Enders’ regime. The generous salary Prime Destinations offers is the only reason why

Callie visits the body bank. She understands the responsibility she has toward her sick

brother and hopes that the future holds something better for them. As she says minutes

before leaving him to sign the contract, “I looked at Tyler’s tired face, his sunken cheeks,

his baggy eyes,” and realized that the “smoke had made his condition worse. If he went
 Nicolopoulou 36

downhill and didn’t make it, I would never forgive myself” (27). Besides being a

responsible guardian for her brother she is also self-sacrificial because she risks her own

safety, although aware of the potential implications of renting her body. Callie encounters

many challenges that force her to negotiate with several levels of power in order to

survive this new world order.

While examining dystopian YA fiction, Elizabeth Braithwaite identifies three

categories: the survivor, the social order, and the quest/adventure texts. In each one of

them, the plot focuses on life after the disaster (Braithwaite 5, 8). I firmly believe that

Starters belongs to the third category, because the plague and the removal of parents set

the stage for the heroine to undertake a special quest (Braithwaite 14). Quest/adventure

novels focus not on “survival or negotiation with a particular social order” but on “dealing

[with] a task at hand” (Braithwaite 14). For Callie this task is the keeping her family alive

and safe and finding ways to elude the control of the Elders. As Braithwaite points out,

“whatever setbacks there may be, the adolescent protagonist must have an essential belief

that the quest will succeed” (16). Callie is a believer; no matter what the obstacle is, she

always finds a way to bypass it. For instance, Callie strives to understand the reasons why

she hears Helena’s voice in her head. When she discovers that the Elder has plans to

murder someone, Callie attempts to sabotage her plans. But when she learns about

Helena’s granddaughter and the reasons why Prime Destinations must be shut down, she

assists in Helena’s scheme. The continuous challenges during her quest indicate that

Callie’s path toward maturation is filled with setbacks and mishaps. Only when she learns

to employ an effective strategy will she manage to “seek new terms, even though it may

be disastrous to her material well-being” (Levy 116). As Price states, in order to

successfully rebel, “Callie has to be smart, aware, and find her courage even when she’s

in dangerous situations. She’s driven by doing what she feels is right” (See Appendix).

Callie’s journey begins when, having rented her body, she regains consciousness
 Nicolopoulou 37

only to find herself in an upper-class nightclub, wearing flashy clothes and hanging out

with Madison, another Ender inside an adolescent body (62, 65). Callie fathoms at once

that she is not supposed to talk about the body bank or to let her guard down; she pretends

to be her renter. “I had to act like I belonged here,” she thinks in angst (65). As if her

awakening was not weird enough, she hears a strange voice speaking to her inside her

mind and giving her instructions: “Listen … important … Callie … do not return to …

Prime Destinations” (72). Almost immediately Callie questions the neurochip’s

effectiveness and the safety of the procedure: “What had Prime done to my head? Maybe

when they inserted the chip, something had happened to my brain. Could it have been the

chip itself? I never should have trusted them with my body” (78). More complications

arise when the neurochip allows the Ender Helena (who has rented her body) to take over

Callie’s body during specific moments. This happens twice and makes Callie feel

disoriented and dizzy. She sees herself holding an assault rifle and aiming at Senator

Clifford C. Harrison, the prestigious senator who is financially related to Prime

Destinations (105, 148). In due time, Callie discovers that Helena is concerned about the

disappearance of her granddaughter, Emma, who along with several wealthy adolescents

have signed up to Prime Destinations in order to receive the free makeover the company

provides to all teenagers before renting their bodies. These rich adolescents have ended up

missing (124). Suspecting a foul play, the Ender Helena orchestrates a plan to murder the

Senator because he has endorsed the “Special Circumstances Youth Employment Act”

that will destroy the lives of thousands of unclaimed minors, since it permits the legal and

permanent exploitation of young bodies by Prime Destinations (204). She presumes that

the body bank would make use of them in “anything for which it would be beneficial to

have an Ender with over a hundred years experience and wisdom in the strong, youthful

body of a teen. Spying comes to mind. But that’s probably just the beginning” (152). To

complete the assassination, Helena needs weaponry skills and an agile body–traits
 Nicolopoulou 38

possessed by Callie.

As the plot unravels, Helena realizes that she is unable to control Callie’s body

completely, so she forbids the girl from going to Prime Destinations, either by directly

threatening her or by leaving memos using an authoritative tone: “do not contact Prime

under any circumstances. I hope that is clear” (134). When Callie becomes conscious and

finds herself unwillingly holding a rifle and aiming at the Senator, Helena warns her: “if

you destroy it, the way you did my gun, I’ll just get another” (149). Despite Callie’s

fervent resistance—“I’m not going to shoot anyone for you, and I’m not going to let you

use my body to kill”—Helena wants to proceed with her plan to assassinate the Senator.

The Ender tries to scare the teenager by telling her that her young body has just undergone

another surgery so that the chip can be recoded and permit Helena to indulge in illegal

actions (homicide) normally forbidden to renters (149-50). Regardless of Helena’s

intentions, Callie continues to stand her ground and demands hard evidence: “You’re

missing one little thing, Helena. I don’t believe you. I’m not buying anything you say.

[…] I’m going to need more proof” (153-52). Based on her conversations with different

agents of power (Prime Destinations, Mr. Tinnenbaum, Helena Winterhill, Senator

Harrison, the Old Man) and on her efforts not to allow herself to be a puppet in the hands

of Enders, we can conclude that Callie is on her way to becoming a powerful

sociopolitical actor. In the personal interview Lissa Price comments: “in the beginning,

Callie is very much at the mercy of these Enders who have all the power in this society.

But once she discovers their lies, and their devious plans, she realizes she cannot trust

them. That discovery, instead of making her weaker, actually fuels her determination. She

has to rely on her own mind to outsmart them” (See Appendix).

Price creates several challenges for her heroine once the neurochip is embedded in

her brain. The technology used by Prime Destinations is not harmless as the company

claims. The neurochip depends on “a complex webbing pattern so that if anyone tried to
 Nicolopoulou 39

take it out, it would self-destruct”; soon Callie understands that “the girl who had walked

into the body bank was gone forever” (219). The heroine’s physical integrity is violated

thrice; once by the company and twice by Helena’s private technician, Redmond. He

establishes a stronger connection between the two females and he alters the “stop-kill

switch” so that Helena can assassinate the Senator (150). After Callie serves as an ear-

witness to Helena’s murder by Prime Destinations, she asks Redmond to refashion the

neurochip in order to hinder her tracking signal from the body bank (220). “You’re on

your own now,” he sadly announces to Callie and she responds, “It’s okay. I’ve been that

way for a long time” (221). It is my humble opinion that Callie comprises a liminal

subject, due to the fact that she is neither an unaltered human being nor a permanent

cyborg, yet she is constantly connected to BCI and to Helena’s brain. This unique fusion

of flesh and data grants Callie access to secret information, tremendously important for

the plot development. Had Helena not been in Callie’s mind, the latter would not have

been able to gather precious intelligence concerning the involvement of the Senator, his

political influence, and his connection to Prime Destinations. Moreover, Callie is neither

a child nor an adult; she has the agility of a young person and the wisdom of a hundred-

years-old Ender. She represents the first young woman who shares her body with an

Ender’s mind. She inevitably belongs to the group of young adult female heroines who

are portrayed by their authors as “both strong and vulnerable, both passive citizens and

potential leaders” (Day, et al. 7). Callie has to accept her liminality so as to acquire the

practical and moral knowledge necessary to mature and generate social change (Day, et al.

3). Furthermore, she attempts to recreate the world in which she dwells by making it

“more egalitarian, more progressive and ultimately, more free” (Day, et al. 3). In other

worlds, Callie can be understood as a contradiction “of strength and weakness, of

resistance and acquiescence” (Day, et al. 4). In contrast to Westerfeld’s Tally, the

protagonist of Starters tiptoes on the line between adolescence and adulthood, between
 Nicolopoulou 40

entrapment and rebellion, between humanism and posthumanism with virtuosity. Without

the technological intervention (the neurochip in her brain), Callie would not have served

as a good example of contemporary liminal young womanhood, a concept that is being

redefined by authors of YA literature (5).

As I have argued, Callie is driven by a strong sense of responsibility and justice. In

the words of Price herself, Callie does what “she feels is right.” Her concern about her

brother’s welfare and her unselfishness can be seen as indications of the ethics of care. As

Virginia Held states, “the central focus of the ethics of care is on the compelling moral

salience of attending to and meeting the needs of the particular others for whom we take

responsibility” (10). Such an ethics values emotion that assumes the form of sensitivity,

empathy and sympathy (Held 10). In other words, the ethics of care is particularly

concerned with responding to the needs of others and with elevating emotion and the

value of community. Callie is clearly an emblem of compassion and communal values.

According to Price, “she makes her choices based on a necessity to survive in this difficult

world and to protect her younger brother. I would hope that any young woman today

would also find her own courage to make the right choices that are best for herself and for

society as a whole” (See Appendix). All in all, the young protagonist stands for an

empowered femininity imbued with a strong sense of ethos and high emotional

intelligence.

It is customary in YA fiction to interweave the coming-of-age plot with a romantic

sideline which allows the protagonist to explore her romantic involvement with the

opposite sex and to come to terms with her own sexuality. In Starters, the romantic

interest is called Blake Harrison. He is the grandchild of Senator Harrison with whom

Callie falls in love. Blake is a supportive character who shows tenderness to Callie.

Through him Callie acquires a significant amount of money (104), designer clothes (165),

and a set of special earrings—a family heirloom of the Harrison family (165). In Blake,
 Nicolopoulou 41

Callie finds a caring, truthful and honest friend. Only later in the narrative, do Callie and

the readers learn that she and Blake share the same experience of being rentals and of

being manipulated by the CEO of Prime Destinations, none other than the Old Man

himself, an Ender who hides his face behind an electronic mask and whose voice sounds

like static. Hence, Callie initially falls in love with her perennial rival who has used

Blake’s body to approach her. Ironically, in the eyes of this fake Blake she finds romance

and in the company of the disguised Old Man a safe harbor.

We also learn that the Old Man has held Senator Harrison’s grandson hostage in his

own body in order to force the Senator to endorse the Special Circumstances Youth

Employment Act (204, 323). After the murder of the Ender Helena, Callie finds her mind

occupied by the Old Man; he gives her an ultimatum: “If you really want to protect

[Michael], you’ll join me. I promise you, in the coming months no kid will be safe without

protection. […] Everything can be taken from you. Nothing is reliable–except power. I

can give you that” (330). In Callie’s dystopian world, power has many forms. Even when

one rich and powerful Ender is erased another one takes its place. Callie seems

imprisoned—first approached by Tinnnenbaum, then held a hostage by the Ender Helena

and finally, threatened by the Old Man. By the end of the novel, Callie with the help of

Helena’s acquaintances has managed to take down the body bank (289). The abducted

teens and rich Enders wake up to discover that Prime Destinations is about to be burnt to

the ground (309). Technically, Callie’s bildungsroman is fulfilled (Levy 99): she has

experienced “both triumphs and defeats”; she has overcome various obstacles; she has

faced difficult situations throughout her adventure and she has ended up a strong young

woman with superior morality (Levy 100). Price rewards her heroine via Helena’s

inheritance. Callie has a safe and comfortable home for her brother and Michael and the

means necessary for a better life. The novel ends with Callie and the authentic Blake

Harrison holding hands and watching the demolition of the body bank.
 Nicolopoulou 42

The model of resistance as described by Roberta Trites could shed light on the ways

Callie’s rebellion is manifested in the novel. Firstly, (over)regulation reverberates

throughout the novel; Callie is always trapped in the Enders’ schemes and ideology.

Secondly, unacceptable rebellion occurs not only when Callie resists Helena’s control but

also when she cooperates with Helena in order to take down the Body Bank. It seems that

the only way for Callie to damage the regime is to join forces with several Enders, not just

one. Thirdly, repression is signified every time Callie’s agency is hampered due to the

Enders' machinations—be it Helena's, Tinnenbaum's or the Old Man's. The heroine's

cooperation with the group of Enders who are in search of their lost grandchildren

inaugurates acceptable rebellion. Last but not least, Callie's contribution to the demolition

of the Body Bank at the end of the novel is a weak example of transcendence.

Unfortunately, the fact that the Old Man occupies her mind whenever he wishes clearly

suggests that transcendence (as in Tally's case) is yet to come.

Callie has not yet got rid of the neurochip and she still hears the voice of the Old

Man, as well as the voice of her ‘dead’ father, in her mind. This means that her adventure

is not over yet. Callie’s subjectivity is still violated by older people. She is still under the

influence of the Enders. Whether or not she will defy the Old Man, whether or not she

will find a way to discard the technological device embedded in her brain comprise

questions that are answered in the second part of the duology, which lies beyond the scope

of this thesis.
 Nicolopoulou 43

CONCLUSION

A few remarks need to be made in order for this thesis to reach completion. Despite

their differences in plot and themes, Westerfeld’s Uglies and Price’s Starters converge in

their emphasis on female rebellion in conjunction with the bildungsroman. Both teenage

protagonists attempt to react against adult authority that burdens them and along the way

both become more mature and self-conscious. But their rebellion is cut short due to the

tendency of coming-of-age novels to teach the young that compromise can be a successful

means with which to survive the power structures they are called to enter while on the

brink of adulthood. Robyn McCallum’s clarification of the dual nature of subjectivity, as

“an individual’s sense of a personal identity as a subject–in the sense of being subject to

some measure of external coercion–and as an agent–that is, being capable of conscious

and deliberate thought and action” (4) seems to be affirmed by every study concerning

YA dystopian literature. Westerfeld’s Tally Youngblood and Price’s Callie Woodland,

notwithstanding their final acts of resistance, never really transcend the power system in

the first volume of the narratives. Their rebellion has to be considered “acceptable” by

the authorities in order to actually be permitted. Unless they cooperate with adults and

compromise, they will never bring the regime down to its knees.

However, I have come to believe that the heroines’ extraordinary resilience as well

as their persistence in tackling difficulties and obstacles frame their success in the stories.

Their attempts may not be enough to overthrow the dominant power centers but they

clearly cause some degree of sociopolitical turmoil. Their coming-of-age journeys lead

gradually to their maturation; by leaving their familiar surroundings for unknown

territories, they grow in awareness and start noticing the breaches in the system; soon they

realize that the previous generation has failed in creating a more ecological or egalitarian

world. This is the reason why they take the initiative to actively resist the existing social

order. The dystopian environment shapes their bildungsroman. Their loss of innocence is
 Nicolopoulou 44

facilitated by the extremely inhumane and undemocratic life conditions that have

burdened them for so long. Had they lived a happy and content life, they would have

never been forced to “fall from innocence and achieve maturity” (Basu, et al. 7).

In Uglies, Westerfeld demonstrates that Tally Youngblood is indoctrinated into

believing that she is naturally ugly; her maturity lies in the realization that the process of

prettifying is the authorities’ most effective way of erasing individuality and enforcing

uniformity and obedience. Tally’s obsession with becoming a Pretty showcases the deep-

seated anxiety that the beauty ideal creates in the psyche of teenagers in American culture.

Only when Tally travels through a rough natural landscape in order to find her friend

Shay, only then does she have the opportunity to alter her worldview. Her movement from

an industrial to an agrarian environment and her acquisition of practical and moral

knowledge function as the catalyst for Tally’s transformation into a powerful yet

submissive female agent. She willingly offers herself as a test subject in order to expose

the lesions that come with the operation but what she really has achieved is the fulfillment

of her original wish to have a beautiful face and an unblemished body, which would

guarantee her a position among the elite of the New Pretty Town. She has actually

endorsed the status quo and its practices regardless of her purpose to defy it. As Sara K.

Day et al. have shown, YA dystopian heroines (including Tally) comprise rebels in the

sense that they engage in a constant redefinition of what it means to be a young woman in

contemporary society (Day et al. 4). By acknowledging that their rebellion may turn out to

be futile or that they may even end up reaffirming normative and patriarchal ideals (Tally

does choose a lover over her female friend thus Westerfeld reinforces the stereotype of

female rivalry), the young heroines recognize their liminal positions in the power

structure (Day et al. 7).

Callie Woodland best embodies this liminality in Price’s Starters. Evidently, more

mature than Tally when the novel starts, Callie willingly offers her body to be rented by
 Nicolopoulou 45

the Enders in order to gather money for the sake of her little brother. In her novel, Price

makes use of technocracy—she creates a world where body swapping is permitted and

facilitated due to the connection of human consciousness to a specially designed computer

interface. Callie has to fight against a technological system that attempts to exploit and

even exterminate young people by satisfying the whims of the older generation. Once the

chip is inserted in her brain and after it malfunctions, the young protagonist finds herself

in a weird situation. She becomes aware how it feels to be used by another consciousness,

to be powerless and controlled. Callie’s subjectivity signals the liminality characterizing

contemporary young womanhood; neither a girl nor a woman, neither empowered nor

passive, neither a human nor a cyborg, her adventure is inevitably marked by her

ambiguous status. She straddles the line of adolescence and adulthood by negotiating with

both sides of the power structure—the Starters and the Enders or the young and the old.

And what about their significance as models of young feminists, one might ask? It is

evident that both girls have showcased traits classically attributed to male heroes such as

stubbornness and readiness. Tally demonstrates exquisite skills in hoverboarding, good

survival skills when alone in nature and an admirable ability to infiltrate places and

groups of people. Although she exhibits empathy and care for the Smokies, Tally does not

hesitate to betray her friend Shay because she falls in love with David. Similarly, Callie

has exceptional survival skills, navigates successful in her dystopian environment and

plays the role of the guardian-protector to her small brother. Her unconditional love for

Tyler spurs her to find ways to secure his physical and mental wellbeing. Callie is good

with rifles. She thinks before she acts. She takes risks. These characteristics are combined

with the ability to feel compassion and work for the benefit of the community. Both Tally

and Callie are neither wholly masculine nor wholly feminine; they neither embody female

stereotypes nor work to subvert them. They are strong and courageous teenagers who find

themselves in difficult situations and do their best to survive and mature. In an era of
 Nicolopoulou 46

extreme social and political turbulence, these young protagonists are envisioned as the

“vanguard of a new subjectivity […] as best able to handle today’s socioeconomic order”

(Harris 1, 2). Exemplars of this new subjectivity, both Tally and Callie are agents of

change but also victims of external coercion. During their coming-of-age journey they

realize that any resistance to the social status quo requires compromises and effective

navigation of the power structures that dominate their lives. These young heroines try to

fight their way out of exploitation and oppression; they are powerful models just by

daring to do so.
 Nicolopoulou 47

APPENDIX

Personal Interview conducted on 11 September 2017

Q 1: The novel narrates the story of sixteen-year-old Callie Woodland who, among other

things, takes down the institution exploiting young people’s bodies–the Body Bank or

Prime Destinations. Could you name those characteristics you think a young female

character ideally has to possess in order to rebel against authority? How does Callie

embody them?

A: There are always many different ways for any character, in this case, a young woman,

to rebel against what she sees as an evil organization – Prime Destinations. It was

important to me to let the reader know that Callie was an average, middle-class girl before

the Spore Wars changed her world. I wanted readers to identify with her. Callie has to be

smart, aware, and find her courage even when she’s in dangerous situations. She’s driven

by doing what she feels is right.

Q 2: Almost since the beginning of the novel a neurochip is inserted in Callie’s brain and

it is altered under Helena’s influence. In the end, Callie is a human being but with unique

technology embedded in her head. How much and in what ways does this reality affect

her character development?

A: Callie learns that the chip means her body can be accessed at any time, and that’s

invasive – and scary. Who would want to live like that, knowing someone else could

control you?

Q 3: Callie is in constant dialogue with different agents of power throughout the novel

such as Prime Destinations, Helena, Senator Harrison, and the Old Man. How do her

negotiations with power and authority overlap with her transformation as a powerful

rebel, an actor of sociopolitical change?

A: In the beginning, Callie is very much at the mercy of these Enders who have all the

power in this society. But once she discovers their lies, and their devious plans, she
 Nicolopoulou 48

realizes she cannot trust them. That discovery, instead of making her weaker, actually

fuels her determination. She has to rely on her own mind to outsmart them.

Q 4: Rebellion is of feminine nature in Starters. How does the intersection of sex and

revolutionary practices inform the novel? Should we consider Callie a feminist paradigm

of contemporary (young) femininity?

A: The division emphasized in the Starters series is between the young and the old: the

Starters and the Enders, rather than a male/female division. I’m always pleased when

Callie is held up as an example of a strong female protagonist. She makes her choices

based on the necessity to survive in this difficult world and to protect her younger brother.

I would hope that any young woman today would also find her own courage to make the

right choices that are best for herself and for society as a whole.
 Nicolopoulou 49

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