More YA literature

This is going to be another rambling post. If you haven't read the books I refer to, and probably even if you have, this post will be utter nonsense.

So reading "The Hunger Games" trilogy led me to another dystopian series, the "Uglies" books. Watching "North & South" led me to another BBC adaptation of a classic work, "Jane Erye." Just as I found the similarities between "The Hunger Games" and "North and South," I am finding similarities between "Uglies" and "Jane Erye."

Both stories play on the same themes. Physical beauty. Longing for an intellectual peer. Beauty vs. brains. Creating a personal identity apart from society.

Both stories also celebrate the power of the individual to raise her circumstances through sheer personal effort, although both heroines had help. Jane had an excellent role model in Helen Burns, but Jane transformed herself from a wild, passionate child into a moral, dedicated, resourceful individual by herself. Tally was led over the edge by Shay, but she reached Smoke by herself, an unprecedented event. Tally also managed to "cure" herself with little more than a placebo. Both are "rescued" at low points. Jane by the Rivers, Tally by the Smokies. Both ultimately transcend those helpers. Jane rejects St. John. Tally delivers her manifesto at the end of Specials.

Both heroines have boy trouble. Jane (ugly) falls in love with Rochester (ugly), but a secret from his past (Bertha) separates them. Tally (ugly) hooks up with David (ugly) but then a secret from her past(Dr. Cable) separates them. Jane meets St. John (pretty), but their relationship fails because he is cold. Tally meets Zane, but their relationship fails because he ends up with brain damage. In the end, Jane & Rochester get together, equals in intellect, beauty, and passion. In the end, Tally and David get together, equals in intellect, extremes in beauty (ugly/special), and their estrangement from society.