Specials/Cutters and their view of the world
It is clear how the Specials or Shay's group of Cutter, see themselves: they are better than everyone else and everyone else is nothing but a background to them. Ironically they see the real, not artificially changed people, uglies as unsubstantial and unreal next to them. They see their role as world saviors, which is in contradiction to Dr. Cable's attack on the New Smoke which brought destruction and killing. This example of Tally talking about the New Smoke can be turned and used to describe exactly what Specials are: "They weren't revolutionaries; they were nothing but egomaniacs, playing with lives, leaving broken people in their wake."
New Pretty Town vs. New Smoke
New Pretty Town can be seen as an extreme example of trying to control people in order to prevent the disaster humans are capable of, hence the often mentioned example of Rusty Days. To achieve this goal people have to be completely re-arranged and ridden of their substance-everyone has to be the same and fit into their given categories. This method proved to work to prevent disaster and protect nature, but with the cost of humanity. It is no wonder, therefore, that human nature found a way out and more and more people started to awaken (Crims) and this system started to crumble. The New Smoke is a contrast to this, where people are freed and there are no categories where everyone should fit into, not to mention that there are no operations to alter the human mind. Even though this system is a happy one, the one everyone fought for; there is still that threat of destruction that humanity poses to the nature.
