Iris Denner: Every Day (Outside Reading)

Every Day by David Levithan follows a character named A who switches bodies every twenty-four hours. A is genderless, ageless, and bodyless. All they have is memories of singular days mixed with memories of others' lives that they can access for the day and make them their own. In some ways A does not have an identity but in others he forms opinions and has a moral compass indicating an identity. When A is in a drug addict's body, he keeps them clean for the day, allowing them to decide the next day if they want to continue the withdrawal process or not. When A makes decisions that will affect the person after A has left the body, he feels remorse. When A missed a flight for a family vacation, they felt terrible for ruining someone else's life and having them deal with the consequences of their actions. The book itself has incredible ethical implications as well because there is no way to prove that the premises of the book are false, therefore this could be happening in real life. Having a person that is unable to face punishment for their actions has the potential to create an incredibly unethical human. Yet A follows a moral compass and puts others first before themselves even when it costs them pieces of their identity. 

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