Beauty is a recurring motif in Dark Life. The differences between people’s definitions of beauty reveal the conflict that can often develop out of aesthetic differences. Ty has a particularly difficult relationship with beauty, which affects his own self-confidence. He does not believe Gemma when she claims the Topsider women they talked to thought he was attractive. Ty grew up with skin that glows, which Topsiders “stare [at] like I belong in a floating slideshow” (79). Ty was also studied for his Dark Gift, leading him to conclude that looking different is “bad.” When Gemma said her crown made her look special, Ty inwardly responds, “My stomach turned over. Why would anyone want to look special? It was just a polite way of saying different, which was only slightly better than being called a freak outright” (31). Beauty for Ty is something only found in the environment. Being beautiful means being exceptional, which is dangerous to him.

Beauty differentiates the surface and undersea in Dark Life. Ty thinks to himself that “Topsiders sure had a warped notion of beauty–like preferring skyscrapers to coral reefs” (20). Ty contrasts the artificial and destructive buildings of the modern era with enduring underwater ecosystems. Equating the two, skyscrapers and coral reefs, argues for the sustainability of underwater living, which makes it beautiful.