Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, Lucas by Kevin Brooks and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Theme: Manipulation
Integrate question number 1:
How could the way that Lucas makes Cait feel when she's around him, be considered manipulation on his part, and how could it be considered manipulation by Lia to herself, in the way that she thinks and expresses herself?
Integrate question number 2:
Manipulation is good to have in books, why does this certain theme fit with the story line of the books
Lucas and Wintergirls?
Theme: Betrayal
Integrate question number 3:
Why would Tally betray her best friend, Shay, while she was lying to the rest of the uglies at the same time, and why could it be considered betrayal on Lucas' part, when he killed himself while running away from the rest of the town, and leaving Cait behind?
Integrate question number 4:
How have the main characters in the books Wintergirls and Uglies, betrayed someone or how have they been betrayed?
Theme: Honesty
Integrate question number 5:
How does the quantity of honesty in the books, Wintergirls and Uglies effect the people in the story, and others surrounding them?
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Theme: Manipulation
Integrate question number 1:
How could the way that Lucas makes Cait feel when she's around him, be considered manipulation on his part, and how could it be considered manipulation by Lia to herself, in the way that she thinks and expresses herself?
Manipulation
is used in many ways, for many reasons. In the books, Lucas by Kevin Brooks and Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson manipulation is shown in ways the characters act
and how they talk. Lucas manipulates Cait in the ways he talks to her and acts
around her. Lia starts to ignore her old life and listens to her “inner
demons”.
In
the book Lucas by Kevin Brooks, Lucas
manipulates Cait in the ways in which he talks to her and acts around her. “I
waited until he was out of sight and then I moved toward Lucas. I didn’t think
about it. It just happened. It seemed the most natural thing in the world. But
when I reached him and went to hold him, an embarrassed look crossed his face
and he took a step back. ‘What’s the matter?’ I said. ‘Cait…’ ‘What?’ Without
saying anything, he looked me in the eye…I stepped back feeling a bit foolish.
‘Sorry.’ Lucas grinned, ‘Me, too.’ “(Brooks Lucas
229). This shows that he manipulates her because he is making her feel foolish
by backing away from her when she went to kiss him, so instead of saying ‘no’
or something else, the way he acted and moved away made her feel foolish.
Manipulation is shown when, “… ‘For what?’ ‘I’m not sure-something to do with a
girl on the beach, I think. Some kind of sex thing.’ ‘Sex thing?’ I felt
embarrassed. ‘You know what I mean.’ He held my gaze for a moment, then lowered
his eyes and looked away without saying anything.” (189). This shows
manipulation because he again, Lucas is
making Cait feel embarrassed even though he most likely already knew what she
was talking about, because he was involved in the ‘some kind of sex thing.’ The
way a specific person makes someone feel in a certain situation can be called
manipulation, “…the voice…fingertips on my lips…[and]the face above me was
real.” (303). This shows that he is manipulating her feelings, because
normally (if it hadn’t been Lucas)
when Cait woke up, she would have been surprised or scared. She would not have
been as calm as she was. She is always indirectly saying how he makes her feel
so calm, which is him manipulating her feelings, for good reasons. The author
makes it seem as though Lucas did not intend on manipulating Cait. Maybe that’s
what the author wanted you to think all along, but there was a truth hidden in
the way that he had Lucas speak and act around Cait.
In
the book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse
Anderson, Lia starts to ignore her old life and listens to her ‘inner demons’.
She manipulates herself by making herself believe that because has this eating
disorder she isn’t real and she keeps reminding herself of, “When [she] was a
real girl…” (Halse Anderson 74). She forces her mind to think in a different
way and completely excuses thoughts that the ‘old Lia’ would have had. Lia
manipulates herself by thinking to herself before/after she cuts or ‘eats too
much’ that she is, “::stupid/ugly/stupid/bitch/stupid/fat/stupid/baby/stupid/loser/stupid/lost::”
(60), because she feels if she goes back to when she was healthy, then she is
‘not worthy’ or ‘a failure’. This shows that Lia has completely lost her old
mind set. She does not even want to try to return to her old self. Whenever Lia
starts to think about food that she wants (but she will not let herself have),
she thinks what she actually wants to say, “Because I can’t let myself want
them because I don’t need a muffin
(410) , I don’t want an orange (75) or toast (87), and waffles (180) make me
gag…I could eat the entire box I probably won’t even fill the bowl. ‘My
stomach’s upset.’ ” (5) but ends up excusing the thought to ‘stay strong.’ Lia has
left her old life behind, as she has been taken over by her ‘demons.’
When
people trust in those they do not really know or understand, they can feel
foolish and embarrassed. They can even be drawn to people for the simple fact
that they do not know them. Also, people are easy to manipulate and it is even
easier to manipulate ourselves. People who have had a trauma in their lives,
turn to a “new life,” self-harm and secrecy to cover up how they really
feel and what they really want to
say. Lucas manipulated Cait in the ways he talked to her and acted around her.
Lia started to ignore her old life and listened to her “inner demons.” In the
books Lucas by Kevin Brooks and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson,
manipulation is shown in the ways the characters act and how they talk.
Works Cited
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. The Penguin Group: New York, 2009. Print.
Brooks, Kevin. Lucas. Chicken House/Scholastic: New york, 2003. Print.
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