Bloodshot eyes and Cheetos (Verbal Irony)
When A occupies the body of host Leslie, Leslie's brother Owen gets into trouble for allegedly using and selling marijuana. When Leslie's parents believe Owen's cover story—a lie that attributes Owen’s behavior to a crush on a classmate—A internally comments on the situation:
"Eyes bloodshot, I want to say. Eating a lot of Cheetos. Staring into space. Eating more Cheetos. It must be love. What else could it possibly be?” (45)
These lines are an example of verbal irony, as A's intended meaning diverges from what A literally says. What A actually means here is that Owen's behavior is obviously a result of marijuana use, not of being in love, though A's words' literal meaning is the opposite.
Nathan and the devil (Dramatic Irony)
When A wakes up in the body of one of Nathan Daldry's old friends, A seizes the opportunity to converse with Nathan and glean some more information about his experience of being "possessed." During this conversation, Nathan fully believes he is speaking to his childhood friend, and he even goes so far as to declare, "if the devil was anywhere near me, I'll know what to do" (171). This irony here is that Nathan believes he would be able to recognize the "demon" who possessed him in any future encounter, but the reader understands that Nathan is in fact sitting directly across from this "demon," and he has absolutely no inkling that this is the case.
Rhiannon as a host (Situational Irony)
Toward the middle of Every Day, A wakes up in Rhiannon's body. At this point in the novel, A and Rhiannon are feeling emotionally distant from each other, as the obstacles to their relationship begin to feel more and more insurmountable. This makes the revelation of A waking up in Rhiannon's body all the more shocking and unexpected. Suddenly, A is as close to Rhiannon as possible—as A is literally occupying her body—which serves a surprising plot twist at the midpoint of the novel.
Reverend Poole (Situational Irony)
In A's climactic confrontation with Reverend Poole, Levithan reveals that the person antagonizing A is not the reverend at all, but rather a disembodied spirit who has been possessing the reverend's body for an extended period of time. Throughout the novel, A believes Reverend Poole to be a religious zealot whose irrational fear of the devil drives his hatred for A. In a shocking turn of events, Levithan reveals that the "Reverend Poole" himself is the very thing he has pretended to hate and fear. More than this, Reverend Poole is a direct foil to A, the only other character in Every Day who exists by occupying other people's bodies. The irony here is the subversive twist on the reader's expectation of who Reverend Poole is and what he stands for.
