Monterrosa1

Laura Monterrosa
Jon Beadle
English 113B
4 April, 2016
In the novel Everyday by David Levithan, the Author demonstrates the importance of self
identity and the struggle to reveal ones identity. In Everyday, the main character A develops
wanting to have a life of his 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 he/she thinks about
his identity. He/she wants to demonstrate who he 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 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. A goes through the
day of the life of another person than his own. 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 identity in the beginning of the novel. In the novel, A says, that
he lives the life of the persons body he/she is in and does not change the identity of the body he
is in as his own. When A goes to Justins school in his body, he/she meets a girl that changes
his/her views about identity. A uses his own identity instead of using the the origin of the body

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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 can access facts and not feelings. When A meets Rhiannon he/ she
projected his own feelings towards Rhiannon instead of showing Justins. Before meeting
Rhiannon, A did not use his identity, now he/she has a purpose to show his/her identity because
he 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 transitions.
Meeting Rhiannon, A wants to show his/her true self. For example, of when A uses his identity
when he is in Justins body. Justin and Rhiannon go to the beach and talk about their memories,
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, he/she 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
is, he has his/she own identity and a mind of his own, in which he 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 doesn't know Nathan and 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. A talks to

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Rhiannon about love, but he/she puts his/her view on it rather than putting Nathans thoughts
about the subject because Nathan has no experienced on love. 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 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. 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 own personal email.
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 because he/she loves
Rhiannon 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.
When A is in the body of Megan Powell, this is where A tells Rhiannon the truth. By telling
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 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

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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 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 in the bookstore. Before day 6016, A was in Rhiannon
body in day 6015. While A is waiting in the bookstore, A knows 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, 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 feeling, opinions,
and personality. Even though Rhiannon feels like she knows him/her better, which means this 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 is in love with her. It is hard
for A to be completely 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. The way A feels for Rhiannon makes A uses his 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 a mind of his/her own. A doesnt need culture to define who he is. A
assures Rhiannon that he/she is not a boy nor a girl, A tells her that he/she is just himself/herself,

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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). The way
this relate to the novel is that although 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.
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 is in
love with her. 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. This shows that your identity is represented by thoughts,
understanding one self, opinion, feelings and more. You dont need culture or a body to identify

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your identity. Having self knowledge is what makes ones identity. A made always had an
identity, he/she never showed his/her identity until he met Rhiannon. Although in the past. It was
mentioned that A used his/her identity to live his/her live in the bodies he/she inhabits, A stopped,
A now demonstrates self identity only to Rhiannon.
A has a preference, he/she has feelings, opinions and a personality. Compare to Justin, 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 to be identify in a gender
or any form, just by being himself /herself is enough.
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 doesnt have a fixed body, but he does
whatever he 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 own.

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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.