The first question she was asked was What do you do? as if that were enough to define you. Nobody ever asked you who you really were, because that changed. You might be a judge or a mother or a dreamer. You might be a loner or a visionary or a pessimist. You might be the victim, and you might be the bully. You could be the parent, and also the child. You might wond one day and heal the next.
The passage highlights the limitations of defining people solely by their occupations or roles. The narrator reflects on how asking "What do you do?" fails to capture the complexity of identity. It suggests that a person's essence is multidimensional, encompassing various traits and experiences that evolve over time.
This perspective emphasizes that individuals can embody numerous roles simultaneously, ranging from societal positions like parent or judge to deep personal characteristics like dreamer or pessimist. It presents a fluid view of identity, where one's experiences and emotions can shift, challenging simplistic categorizations.