
This phenomenon echos the plight of Tally's society-her government's insistence on a plastic surgery that makes everyone look the same tramples diversity of appearance and thought. The orchids have created a monoculture, or an ecosystem consisting of a single plant that crowds out all other life and eventually renders the soil barren. These orchids, once considered rare, were genetically altered by a Rusty looking to meet consumer demand, who failed to realize that these alterations would effectively turn the precious orchids into weeds that snuff out all surrounding plant life, including the trees where the species of hummingbird that propagate the flower's seeds lives. The white tiger orchids symbolize the oppressive autocratic government and conformist mentality under which Tally lives. That the locket is heart-shaped indicates the emotionality of this decision for Tally. She is set apart by it whenever Tally begins to enjoy herself, she remembers that she is still wearing the heart-shaped pendant, and thus her terrible task is yet to be completed. The pendant hangs around her neck like an albatross, a constant reminder that she is an infiltrator of the Smoke and not a member. To Tally, it symbolizes her central dilemma: whether to betray the location of the Smoke or stay ugly forever.

Cable gives Tally to signal to the Specials that she has arrived in the Smoke. The heart-shaped pendant is a tool that Dr. Buy Study Guide Heart-Shaped Pendant (Symbol)
