Literary Analysis Essay Sample: The Issues of A and Rhiannon's Relationship in Every Day

In David Leviathan’s book, Every day the two main characters A and Rhiannon both have harmful traits that lead to their unhealthy relationship A’s obsessiveness and ignorance along with Rhiannon's optimism ultimately leads to the downfall of their relationship. 

A’s obsessive behaviour is shown throughout their relationship and causes several issues. This obsession leads to reckless behaviour and unnecessary conflict. While A is at a party they get distracted by Rhiannon and end up staying too long. This leads to A leaving Nathan, the current body they are in, on the side of the road. “Poor Nathan Daldry. He is going to wake up on the side of an interstate, an hour away from his home. I can only imagine how terrified he’ll be” (Levithan, 75). This shows that A’s desire to constantly be with Rhiannon ends up causing A to be reckless with the lives of their in. A believes that Rhiannon a girl they just met is worth being reckless with others’ lives for, this leads to their relationship having a fast pace which makes it seem forced and makes it easier for A and Rhiannon to ignore each other’s flaws.  After one day with Rhiannon, while A is in the body of her boyfriend, A already idolizes her. “And I want to say it. I want to say I love you, too. Right now, at this moment, every part of me would mean it.” (27). A already decides to pursue Rhiannon, despite Rhiannon seemingly being an average teenage girl. A has been in lots of bodies throughout their life and therefore relationships yet there seems to be nothing special about Rhiannon that justifies all A’s actions and obsessiveness.  

A and Rhiannon are both ignorant about the issues in their relationship. Rhiannon realizes they can never be together due to A’s circumstances. Yet A does not seem to realize what it is like for Rhiannon. While A is in the body of Kelsea, they nearly kiss until Rhiannon stops them. “And right now, although I can feel you underneath, all I’m getting is the sadness. I’m kissing her and I want to cry” (132).  Even if Rhiannon can look past all the other issues in their relationship she can not decide whom she is attracted to and A should not expect her to be attracted to them in every body as she is allowed to have preferences even when they are male. Rhiannon also mentions she sometimes struggles to differentiate A from the body their in, and truly see who they are. A is also ignorant because they seem to forget about how they can never have a normal relationship and that is what Rhiannon wants. For instance, Rhiannon decides to finally confess to A about how she feels, “I love you- but I am afraid of making that love too important. Because you’re always going to leave me.” (305). This shows that Rhiannon has accepted the fact that A will always end up abandoning her and there is no way for them happy together because of A’s circumstance and all the unknowns. Yet A seems to either not see this as an issue or at least thinks there is a way for them to be together because of their desire to be with Rhiannon and the romanticization of their first real relationship. 

Rhiannon is overly optimistic and this does not help her relationship with A. Her optimism for her and A’s relationship to work seems to be caused by Rhiannon’s relationship with Justin, her boyfriend. In Rhiannon’s relationship with Justin, he often is selfish, rude and inconsiderate of her feelings. “Putting up with the fear of being with the wrong person because you can’t deal with the fear of being alone. (9)” This shows when Rhiannon finds out that the best memory with her boyfriend was just while A was in his body, this causes her to believe that a relationship with A would be healthy, happy and better than her relationship with Justin just because of one good day. Rhiannon seems to cling to the highs of her and A’s relationship and is optimistic about it working out despite the clear issues. The reason Rhiannon stayed with Justin for so long was because of her fear of being alone and she did the same thing in her and A’s relationship, for example, A makes this observation while in Justin's body about Rhiannon  “Putting up with the fear of being with the wrong person because you can’t deal with the fear of being alone.” (9). This displays how Rhiannon is optimistic and naive about relationships because she thinks it is better to be in an unhealthy relationship than to be alone. She seems to get defensive whenever A questions Justins worth which seems to be because deep down she knows she deserves better yet refuses to let go and clings to the highs.

A and Rhiannon are both responsible for the downfall of their relationship and although they can not be together.  They both were able to let each other go and still have the memories of their first real love.