The beauty of an epistolary novel is that the medium through which the character communicates with the audience can greatly alter our understanding of the character. The element of Super Sad True Love Story I found relevant in our own world was the presentation of the secretive nature of man. No man can be completely candid to another person and Shteyngart explicitly displays this through the various medium through which the character communicates with the readers.

In Leonard’s personal diary, where the confidentiality of the information is guaranteed, the readers are exposed to greatly personal emotions and thoughts that one would be reluctant to share with another person, however trusted they may be. On the contrary, when the reader sees Eunice’s letters, very little information regarding her emotional position and personal worries are expressed. Also the changing style of writing when writing to her friend and to her mum clearly shows that the character Eunice presented in those letters are not truly reflective of her character. This suggests that the Eunice we see through the letter is not her true self but a Eunice barred by social conventions like writing politely to a parent and the gibberish talking with a friend. The insincere selfportrayal in Eunice’s letters evidently proves that no one can absolutely disclose their true self in the presence of others.