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Cindy Lopez
Jennifer Rodrick
English 114B
4/27/16
A Masked Identity
In Every Day by David Levithan, we see how this soul/person, A, changes bodies every
day, coming in and out of various different lives. As A has progressed in living his life switching
bodies since birth, it has been shaped alongside of the experiences he has had. The amount of
things A has gone through as a 16 year old is immense. There are so many new and repetitive
experiences that A has gained knowledge from. Ones identity is formed and shaped by the space
one is in, the people we are surrounded by impact us and so do experiences. We all learn a lot
from our own experiences, and that knowledge obtained integrates into ones identity. A may not
have actual parents, friends, or a family of its own, but he has experienced things that not
everyone has. A has definitely formed an identity through the amount of time he has been
traveling through bodies, with constantly meeting new people and being in new environments.
Although, some readers may say that A does not obtain the components to have an identity, for
A, his experiences are what has allowed him to have an identity of his own.
Living every day in a different body, encountering different situations and people, forces
this soul/person to accommodate. A is essentially expected to go in and out of these bodies living
these people lives as a norm. This experience is key to showing how it has shaped who A is now.
As A has been living this way, he has developed character, qualities, and certain beliefs; which
distinguish and identify A as a person or thing. Ones identity consists of just that, character,

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qualities, beliefs, etc., that make us who we are. As character is essentially a soul/spirit, not reallife existent, yet he has many characteristics that we do ourselves. A has character, and even if he
is constantly in a different body he remains his self deep down, and we can even see it when A
does not act like the person he is in. A is able to distinguish himself as A, with no set gender,
sexuality, etc. This soul that travels bodies reminds himself every day, I am myself I know I
am myselfbut I am also someone else (1).
Throughout the novel, A shows to reveal his true self, we see what he is like in terms of
character. On Day 6005, A is in Kelsea Cooks body, a girl who is depressed and mentally ill. A
does everything in his capability to give Kelsea the help she needs to save her life and ultimately
succeeds. Here A shows to be selfless, which projects an aspect of who he is. This experience of
many throughout his existence, may have shaped A in the way that affected who he should be, a
caretaker for the bodies he is in. A shows this when he states that, Theres no threat in the
presentI am in control of the body, and as long as I am in control of the body, I will not allow
it to hurt itself (127). A also exhibits some of his beliefs on the subject of mental illness, Some
people think mental illness is a matter of mood, a matter of personalityThey think the soul is
sick, not the body. It is, they believe, something that you have a choice overI know how wrong
this is. In these situations, As personality characteristics show us who he is. With all the
interactions A has had with different bodies in various situations, they all integrate into his
identity.
In the novel, A also demonstrates viewpoints on gender, sexuality, and religion, which
also show he is. While in Vics body, who is biologically female and gendered male, A relates to
him and how he is living within the definition of his own truth (253). A expresses how most

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peoplestay in the realm of the easy. If you want to live within the definition of your own truth,
you have to choose to go through the initially painful and ultimately comforting process of
finding it. A lives just that way, with the journey of traveling through bodies, A is able to find
who he is and live as his true self, even if it is underneath all those bodies. On Day 6000 while
Roger Wilsons body, A shares his perspective on religion, he essentially says that all religions
have much more in common than they like to admit. He reveals that its only in the finer points
that it gets complicated and contentious, the inability to realize that no matter what our religion
or gender or race or geographic background, we all have about 98 percent in common with each
other (77). Here A projects his beliefs and eliminates the idea of characteristics separating us
from others because we are different. It shows how the labels one has does not really make us
who we are, more of what we are. A ultimately expresses many ideas and concepts of his own,
and they shine through the bodies he resides in. As true self is empowering that at times it is hard
for him to be the person he is in, to be someone he is not.
As we are introduced to A in the beginning of the novel, he inhabits Justins body, in
which A promptly realizes the differences between who they both are. Justin is in no way like A,
so here it is hard for him to act like Justin, it is hard for him to not treat Justins girlfriend,
Rihannon, as he should. When A is in Justins body, it transforms Justin into someone he is not,
this soul/spirit transforms him to itself. A here, and throughout the
book, shows his personality characteristics that make him who he is.
In a way it is as if A wears a mask, hidden in a different body every
day. A has a masked identity. As A switches bodies, his own identity
is covered with someone elses each day. Although this is the case, A
brings along with him, his true identity every day.

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For A, rather than losing his identity from being in different bodies every day,
experiencing life in different peoples bodies only enhances his own
identity. With what A goes through, he is able to obtain various
perspectives on life that greatly shape who he is. Throughout the
course of the novel, there are specific bodies that A inhabits which
enable him to transport into different worlds. A has lived days as
people with different sexualities, illnesses, disabilities, etc. While A
is in each body he gains knowledge from every situation and it
reflects on who he is.
In the novel, we see that A is very fluid, he does not have a set gender, sexuality,
ethnicity, etc. A does not have what identifies each one of us in the real world. As Miranda
McDermott states in the article Booktalking "Every Day" by David Levithan, A can only be
conceptualized by personality characteristics, intellect, etc., not a corporeal existence, not a
particular gender (1). McDermott shows how even if A is not existent as a body, he is able to be
distinguished by his personality characteristics. It shows the reader that ones soul is important to
who one is, and for A, that is all that really matters in who he is. Bodily appearance and physical
characteristics are nonexistent and unimportant to identify A, when we can see his identity
through his character, qualities, beliefs, etc.
In the article "Is Our Identity in Intellect, Memory or Moral Character? by Alison
Gopnik, she expresses how ones moral charter is central to who we are. The way one is
contributes a lot to who we are, our character is an essential component to our identity. Gopnik
states that our identity comes more from our moral character than from our memory or

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intellect (1). She shows how our moral character contributes to ones identity in a study of
patients diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. Researchers asked questions to the relatives of
those with Alzheimers on aspects of how they have changed, including in their moral behavior.
Questions such as How much do you sense that the patient is still the same person underneath?
or, Do you feel like you still know who the patient is? were asked. The results showed how the
relatives still felt they knew who the patient is and that he/she was still the same person
underneath. Even if their intellect and memory was gone, the relatives shared that the patients
moral character still remained, and that is how they saw who he/she is. With this we see how
ones character, qualities, beliefs, etc. make us who we are, our identity exists through these
components. For A, his moral character is what has allowed us to see his identity, just as it has
for the patients relatives Gopnik mentions in her article. As Gopnik states, our moral character,
after all, is what links us to other people (1).
Our identity, as at is for A, is shaped greatly
by experiences and is seen through personality
characteristics. Character, qualities, beliefs, etc. all
integrate to who we are. Through Every Day, we
see that A obtains all those characteristics and his
identity is essentially defined by them. With A being in different bodies every day, the
experiences and knowledge he gains from them ultimately reflect on who he is. In As journey of
inhabiting bodies, his identity does exist beneath all the different bodies he is in day after day.

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Work Cited
All That Remains. DeviantArt. n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016 (photo)
Face Masks. Google. n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. (photo)
Gopnik, Alison."Is Our Identity in Intellect, Memory or Moral Character? The Wall Street
Journal, 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Identity. Google. n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016 (photo)
Levithan, David. Every Day. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.
Miranda McDermott. Booktalking "Every Day" by David Levithan. The New York Public
Library, 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.