David Levithan Prejudice

According to Jon Fishback, Prejudice is: An adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge is obtained (Fishback 1). The words people say and think they know about others’ lives. The stares and laughs kids get on a daily basis. The rumors that go around that are nothing like the truth. David Levithan has a main topic of prejudice throughout the entire book of which he shows many different types of people and what they go through in their daily life. He shows this through including characters that are “different”. Levithan’s perspective on being the so called “different” is, “One of the great and terrifying things about growing up is the realization that society is really just an arrangement of tacitly
Levithan wants to bring home the message to view everyone as A, a “self”. As Michael Jones says, “Because A has no one true identity, it’s difficult to quantify A. While this particular reader tends to see A as male, another reader could just as easily see A as female. Another reader might choose to read A as trans, and again be just as correct” (Jones 2). Levithan puts this into our perspective by having A explain himself, “I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it also is remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else” (Levithan 7). This perspective is also set within the lines of self-esteem. As Healthy living suggests, “Teens often have unrealistic self-concepts. They may not appreciate their strengths and may be very self-critical about qualities they believe are faults or weaknesses” (“Self-esteem 1). Yet with A, he cannot compare himself to others because there is no one like him, therefore he cannot focus on his weaknesses-- as he doesn't necessarily have any. Levithan also puts this point and turns it around. A says, “I can view everyone as pieces of a whole. and focus on the whole, not the pieces” (Levithan 7). Therefore, if people don't compare themselves to others, then there is no way to have low self-esteem; be an
It’s so hard when you’re in one body to get a sense of what life is really like. You’re so grounded in who you are. But when who you are changes every day—you get to touch the universal more. Even the most mundane details. You see how cherries taste different to different people. Blue looks different. You see all the strange rituals boys have to show affection without admitting it. You learn that if a parent reads to you at the end of the day, it’s a good sign that it’s a good parent, because you’ve seen so many other parents who don’t make the time. You learn how much a day is truly worth, because they’re all so different. If you ask most people what the difference was between Monday and Tuesday, they might tell you what they had for dinner each night. Not me. By seeing the world from so many angles, I get more of a sense of its dimensionality (Levithan