You Re Ugly Too Analysis

Lorrie Moore’s literary work, “You’re Ugly, Too,” revolves around the story of an eccentric female character named Zoe Hendricks and how her idiosyncrasies impact her relationships with the people she meet in the story. The story does not have a very defined and coherent plot; instead, Moore chooses to compile it from a series of flashbacks, humor, and anecdotes told from third-person omniscient point of view. Through the dialogue, diction and imagery that are associated with this conglomeration, the author assigns Zoe characteristics that are usually associated with men. These features of Zoe become apparent to the reader, who comes to realize that the traits of Zoe do not conform with the traditional gender expectations of women. Along with Zoe, Earl also demonstrates the idea of the crossing of gender roles through his physical and emotional qualities that are usually associated with the opposite sex.

Moore establishes the argument that a person’s sex does not define his/her qualities and temperament. She first does this by revealing Zoe’s detachment from the stereotypical image of a woman. In the text, Moore writes, “She was almost pretty” to describe Zoe’s physical appearance (Moore 353). The diction that Moore chooses to use in the quote, “almost,” brings about the feeling of doubt and lack of conviction towards Zoe’s femininity and her possession of idealistic qualities. Moore notes in the story that women in

Both characters are made intentionally to fail to become the archetypes of their genders. However, these two characters portray the inner mentality of all people; that we, regardless of sex, all possess some kind of trait that distinguishes ourselves from others. In other words, no one can truly reach absolute femininity or masculinity; we will always acquire at least one characteristic that traditionally associates itself with the opposite