Throughout the novel, Mosley probes questions related to the formation and perception of human identity, especially Black American identities. His investigation extends beyond typical markers of identity such as race and gender to include personality and decision-making processes as well.

Some characters embody and accept a view of identity as something that is inherited and accepted rather than selected or deliberately sculpted. Mouse, for instance, advises Easy to “accept what he is” (209), implying that Easy has forgotten or willfully ignored certain aspects of his identity, presumably referring to his birth into a poor Black family. Mouse, by contrast, lives in the moment: He translates his received identity, including physical impulses, into action with little or no forethought or reflection. Albright subscribes to a similar philosophy: Not only does he remind Easy of Mouse, he revealingly asks Easy whether Frank Green hesitated “for even a second” before killing a man (61). To Mouse, Albright, and perhaps Frank, identity is something to be experienced, not questioned, shaped, or resisted.

Daphne presents an alternate view of identity as a social construct, subject to manipulation and even willful distortion. Born as Ruby Hanks, Daphne attempts to put her troubled childhood behind her by becoming the white Daphne Monet.