Laura Monterrosa

Jon Beadle
English 113B
11 April, 2016
As Self- Identity
In the novel Every Day by David Levithan, the author demonstrates the importance of self
identity and the struggle to reveal ones identity. In Every Day, the main character A, develops
wanting to have a life of his/her own because he/she fell in love with Rhiannon. A transitions to
different bodies, but he/she knows himself/herself too. A uses the identity of the persons bodies
to go through the day, but when he/she meets Rhiannon, she changes the way A thinks about
his/her identity. A wants to demonstrate who he/she really is, not the personality or identity of the
body he/she is in. He/she wants to portray himself/herself to Rhiannon because she is the only
girl that he/she has ever had feelings for. As identity depends on the love he/she feels for
Rhiannon because before A would not use his/her own identity within the bodies he/she inhabits.
Instead A lived his/her life as the person he/she transitioned to. Now A uses the identity of the
individual as if it was his/her own life because A does not have a fixed body. In other words A
needs other peoples body to show his identity. A uses the bodies of Justins, Nathan, Megan, and
Dylan to be able to show his identity to Rhiannon. A goes through the day of the life of another
person than his own and now A wants to show his true identity.
In the beginning of the novel, it starts off when A wakes up in Justin's body. A declares,
Every day I am someone else. I am myselfI know I am myself, but I am also someone else
(Levithan 1). This exhibits that although A drifts to different bodies, he/she knows
himself/herself. A expresses his/her identity in the beginning of the novel. In the novel, A says,

that he/she lives the life of the persons body that he/she inhabits, but he does not change the
identity of the bodies he/she is in as his/her own identity. When A goes to Justins school in his
body, he/she meets a girl that changes his/her views about identity. A uses his/her own identity
instead of using the the origin of the body he/she is in, which is Justins. A uses his/her own
identity to show his/her feelings to Rhiannon. A also mentioned that he/she can access facts and
not feelings. When A meets Rhiannon, he/she projected his/her own feelings towards Rhiannon
instead of showing Justins true feelings. Before meeting Rhiannon, A did not use his/her
identity, now he/she has a purpose to show his/her identity because he/she is in love with
Rhiannon. I took other peoples lives personally... but after a while, I had to stop. It was too
heartbreaking to live (Levithan 7). A stopped using his/her personality and identity because it
was heartbreaking, he/she is unable to have a stable body to live in, it was hard to watch
himself/herself change the personality of the individual body he/she transitions. Meeting
Rhiannon, A wants to show his/her true self. For example, A uses his/she identity when he/she is
in Justins body. Justin and Rhiannon go to the beach and talk about their memories, while A is in
Justin body, A says, I could try to find one of Justins memories to share, but I dont want to do
that. I want to give Rhiannon something of my own (Levithan 20). This shows that he/she wants
to tell Rhiannon about his/her own memory and experience rather than digging up any of Justins
memories.
In the beginning of the novel, A mentions that he/she knows that he/she is not truly the
person he/she transitions, in other words, A knows that he/she is not Justin, but he/she is only
borrowing his body or any other body for a day. While A is in Justins body he/she says, I will
never define myself in terms of anyone else (Levithan7). This reveals that A knows who he/she

is because he/she has his/her own identity and a mind of his/her own, in which A thinks for
himself/herself.
Another way A demonstrates his/her own identity is when A inhabits Nathans body. A knows
that there is a party going on and Justin and Rhiannon will be attending it. This was the perfect
way for A to be with Rhiannon. Rhiannon does not know Nathan and which means that A can be
himself/herself through Nathans body. In the novel, A tells Rhiannon that Nathan is gay because
A knows that he/she can't truly be with her since he/she doesn't have a body of his/her own.
While A talks to Rhiannon about love, A addresses his/her view on the subject rather than putting
Nathans thoughts and opinions about love because Nathan has no experienced on love and A
wants to share his thoughts to Rhiannon. A declares, Its laughable to think that Nathan-who,
from what I can tell, hasnt gone on a date since 8th grade-would be speaking from experience.
But she doesnt know him, which means I can be more like me (Levithan 71). This mean that A
can portray his/her own identity through Nathan since Rhiannon does not know him. A can be
himself /herself and Rhiannon can get to know As true self through Nathan body. The way A
remains in contact with Rhiannon to show his/her true identity is by giving her a fake email,
where he/she will make it as his/her own personal email to communicate with her.
A gives Rhiannon an email address to stay in contact with her; this is the only way that A can
show his identity to Rhiannon. Throughout the novel, A has emailed Rhiannon by being
himself/herself. The email plays an important reference of As identity because A is able to
communicate with Rhiannon and show his true identity with her. A knows that he/she cannot
physically be with Rhiannon because he/she does not have a fixed body, sending email helps
him/her be who he/she is with Rhiannon. A goes through all the trouble to login in to a computer
to communicate with Rhiannon because he/she loves her and A wants get closer to her. This

demonstrate how love makes you do risky things to the point where A tells Rhiannon the truth
and to show his/her identity. A has never been open with his/her identity, by giving Rhiannon
his/her email, he/she is illustrating his/her love for Rhiannon because he/she is sharing his/her
identity to her. There are a lot of examples where A uses his/her email to indicate his/her identity
to Rhiannon. An example of this is when I emails Rhiannon as if he was Nathan, since Rhiannon
does not know Nathan, A is able to show off his/her identity in Nathans body through emails.
When A is in the body of Megan Powell, A tells Rhiannon the truth. By telling Rhiannon, the
girl A loves the truth, it is easier for A to be himself/herself with her, but it is also difficult
because A does not have a body of his/her own. A tells Rhiannon Because I dont want to keep
meeting you as a different people. I want to meet you as myself (Levithan94). A goes out of
his/her way to tell Rhiannon the truth and to be himself/herself to her by creating an email and
sharing his/her thoughts a feeling for her. A has never been open with his/her identity, by giving
Rhiannon his/her email, he/she is illustrating his/her love for Rhiannon because he/she is sharing
his/her identity to her.
Later in the novel, A is Dylan Cooper. Rhiannon emails A telling him that she remembers
everything and that she wants to meet him/her in the bookstore. Before day 6016, A was in
Rhiannon body in day 6015. While A is waiting in the bookstore, A acknowledges that Rhiannon
knows whose body A is in based on the way A looks at her, even though Rhiannon does not
know Dylan. Rhiannon at this point understand A position and has gotten to know him,her, thus
showing his/her identity to Rhiannon because he/she is in love with her. Rhiannon tells A Do
you feel you know me more now? Because the weird thing is I feel like I know you more I
know this is weird, but I keep wondering. Are you really not a boy or a girl (Levithan 204-205).
A replies by saying that he/she is just himself/herself and that A always feels at home and never

feels at home. This shows A does not have a gender identity, but he/she still has an identity of
his/her feeling, opinions, and personality. Even though Rhiannon feels like she knows him/her
better, which means it is a good thing; she also feels that a relationship between the two of them
is impossible.
A know who he/she is, he/she knows how different he is from the people he/she inhabits the
bodies from. A has shows his/her identity to Rhiannon because he/she is in love with her. It is
hard for A to be completely be himself/herself because he/she does not have a body. A proves
that you do not need a body to have an identity. Identity is not just based on culture, but on
opinions, personality, and feelings. A has an identity, he/she just does not have a gender identity.
The way A feels for Rhiannon makes A uses his/her identity. A inhabits different bodies where
they all come from different cultures. A does not have culture, but A is his/her own person and
has a mind of his/her own. A doesnt need culture to define who he/she is. A assures Rhiannon
that he/she is not a boy nor a girl, A tells her that he/she is just himself/herself, he/she is
comfortable in any body and that he/she feels at home. In the book Rhetoric for Radicals, the
author Delgandio states, Self- knowledge is about understanding who you are and realizing your
strength and weakness (Delgandio 95). This relates to the novel Everyday by David Levithan
because A know who he/she is, he/she has knowledge of himself/herself and can separate
himself/herself with the bodies he/she inhabits. A knows that his/her strength is learning about
people lives and how different each life is for everyone one else, A strength is having a mind of
his/her own and using it. A also knows his/her weakness and that is that he does not have a fix
body, family and friends. By not having a body, this makes it hard for A to be with the girl he/she
truly loves and live a normal life.

In the article Self Identity and Culture it says that, Identity is reflected of how social and
cultural group influence your thoughts and behaviors (Jackson, Glenn, Williams127). In the
novel, A does not have a culture, based on the bodies he/she inhabits, he/she learns from them
and he/she makes his/her own identity through his/her thoughts and behaviors. This is important
in terms of A identity because A does not need culture to define who he/she is and his/her
identity. A has a mind of his/she own in which he/she uses it to express his/her self identity.
Some may question whether or not A has an identity. Throughout the novel A identity
displays his/her identity to Rhiannon. A purpose to display his/her identity is because he/she is in
love with Rhiannon. Although A does not have a fixed body, that does not mean he/she does not
have an identity. In the article Who am I? Self Identity How to Build Personal Character, the
author, Andrew Dobson declares, that Identity refers to the global understanding a person has of
themselves. Self Identity is composed of relatively permanent self-assessments, such as
personality attributes, knowledge of ones skills and abilities, ones occupation and hobbies, and
awareness of ones physical attributes (Dobson). This shows that identity is represented by
thoughts, understanding one self, opinion, feelings and more. You dont need culture or a body to
identify your identity. Having self knowledge is what makes ones identity. A has all the qaualites
to prove that he/she has an identity. A always had an identity, he/she never showed his/her
identity until he/she met Rhiannon. Although in the past. It was mentioned that A used his/her
identity to live his/her life in the bodies he/she inhabits, A stopped, A has now want to
demonstrates his/her self identity only to Rhiannon.
A has a preference, he/she has feelings, opinions and a personality. Compare to the bodies A
inhabits, A is nothing like Justin, nor Nathan or Dylan Cooper. Levithan demonstrates A purpose
to show his/her self identity is because of Rhiannon. In the article Identity: Cultural Change

and the Struggle for Self, its mentioned that, There are modern identity components such as
personality style, ownership, personal achievements, and leisure activities functional aspect of
identity, a sense of personal potentiality, changed basically from hope of salvation or a sense of
destiny to yearning for love or creativity (Baumeister153). This means that identity can be
define in many ways. It can be defining as achievements, preference, personality, love and more.
A has qualities of having identity. He/she does not need to have a body for people to tell him/her
that he/she does not have an identity. Not having a gender does not classify someone as not
having an identity because they still have their thoughts and feelings
A determination to reveal his/her identity is because he/she is in love with Rhiannon. A
used his/her identity once, but stop because it was heartbreaking to change lives everyday and
not be with the same people. Meeting Rhiannon, A wants to be himself/herself instead of living
the lives of others. A is in love with Rhiannon and because he/she is in love, this is A reasoning
to illustrate his/her identity. A demonstrates his/her identity by using Justins body, Nathans
body, emails, Megan body and Dylan body to show his/her self identity. A knows that it is
difficult to demonstrate his/her identity because he/she doesnt have a fixed body, but he/she
does whatever he/she can to get close to Rhiannon and be himself/herself to her. A has an
identity even though he/she does not have a physical body of his/her own. A motives to shows
his/her identity to Rhiannon is because he/she is in love with her. A has never told anyone about
himself/herself and what happens to him/her ever day. A does not have a gender identity, but
he/she does have an identity and he/she uses people bodies in order to express his self identity to
Rhiannon because he/she want her to get to know the real him/her.

Citation
Dobson, Andrew. "Who Am I? Self Identity How to Build Personal Character." MindFit
Hypnosis. N.p., 2002. Web.
Gandio, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists. Gabriola
Island, BC: New Society, 2008. Print.
Jackson II, Ronald L., Cerise L. Glenn, & Kesha Morant Williams. Self-Identity and Culture.
Inter/Cultural Communication. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2013. Print.
Levithan, David. Every Day. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.
Weigert, Andrew J. "Identity: Cultural Change and the Struggle for Self." Symbolic Interaction,
11.1 (1988): 150-154.Web.