Reading Inquiry- Everyday

            The book Everyday by David Levithan is about a protagonist who has no body. He or she takes control of a different body and life every day. This allows the main character and the reader to experience the lives of many different people. while reading the unique work of  reading young adult fiction one idea kept on popping up: how the characters in books are treated and how that makes me feel.

            When the protagonist takes over the body of a teenaged boy named Justin, he learns that Justin has a girlfriend named Rhiannon. He also learns that Justin usually treats her badly. Rhiannon loves him unconditionally but he pretends that he doesn’t care about her so he has complete power over her. He strings her along knowing that she will always love him and uses her when he needs to. Rhiannon holds on to the false hope that someday he will love her just as she loves him. This angers me because she gives so much to the relationship when he just uses her. She deserves better, but  doesn’t have confidence in herself.  He has broken her down so much that she feels "lucky" that she has someone like him.

            Another body that the main character inhabits is of a girl who has cuts all over her body. She feels that life is too hard to handle and thinks that the only way to relieve this pain it to inflict it onto herself physically. She considers killing herself but no one seems to realize or care enough to pay attention--not even her own father. Levithan writes that, "The thing about a cry for help is that someone needs to be around to hear it." I find myself thinking about how her father must have noticed her pain. Not only has she cut her whole body to ribbons, she has cuts all over her face.  Clearly, her father must have seen them. This makes me feel helpless. I realize that there are many people in the world who are suffering but no one can hear their cry for help. I also know that people try so hard to convince themselves that nothing is wrong, that they remain blind to others' pain.

           

            The protagonist takes over the body of a teenager at a gay pride parade while there is an angry mob protesting. They hold sighs saying, "HOMOSEXUALITY IS THE DEVIL'S WORK."  I feel that people are so ignorant and hold on to old fashioned values because they are so afraid of things that they don’t understand. People blame evil forces for something that they might not comprehend but,  "the devil doesn’t make anyone do anyone do anything. People just do things and blame the devil after." This made me feel disappointed and ashamed that people like this live on our planet. They are too cowardly to even explore other ideas that they might not have thought about before.

            When the main character takes over the body of a very introverted girl, he notices that her brother takes advantage of her. Because she is shy and won't speak up for herself, he makes her lie to her own parents for him.  He knows that she will stay loyal to him and keep her mouth shut.  This situation makes me feel depressed because even the people that you know the most and think you can trust take advantage of you because they know your weaknesses and know that you won't stand up for yourself.