I’m just a tad bit confuse on the prompt question, whether
it’s trying to state on finding at least 3 examples about one of the large
course themes or finding 3 examples from “Lenny’s Diary or the GLOBALTEENS
posts” in communicating, explicating, illustrating, and narrating the
idea/theme.
Either way, I’ll do both just in case. One of the themes
that popped out to me in the novel “Super Sad True Love Story” was the human
need for purpose/meaning. It was from Lenny’s personal Diary or the GLOBALTEENS
posts from Eunice, Sally, or others, many conversations that occurred ended
with some kind of goal.
Example number 1 that occurred in the beginning was when
Eunice and Lenny had an intimate conversation after drinking in a restaurant.
It started off with Lenny saying, “ I told her I didn’t want to leave Rome now
that I had met her. She again told me I was a nerd, but a nerd who made her
laugh. I told her that I wanted to do more than make her laugh. She told me I
should be more thankful for what I had. I told her she should move to New York
with me. She told me she was probably a lesbian. I told her my work was my
life[..]”(Shteyngart 24) Through this small conversation, it seems as though it
shows how Lenny is in need of having Eunice in his life. It’s as though meeting
Eunice, gave Lenny a meaning to live. Through his diary, he describes every
aspect of Eunice, and pays attention to the small details, such as her
“fragrant, boyish frame,” (25) or go search her up to find out what her cholesterol
is or even the type of sweater she likes to wear.
Example number 2 that describes Eunice’s need for a
purpose/meaning is a conversation she had with his sister Sally, after her mom
sent her a GLOBALTEEN message about her dad’s current feelings. It says, “ ‘
Did you tell Daddy I help out at the shelter in Rome? Don’t tell him it’s for
trafficked Albanian women. Just say it’s for immigrants, okay?’” (73) As the
conversation goes on, Eunice admits of how she wants her dad to know she is
doing something good, showing that she lacks having a close relationship with
her father. Part of the when she is in Rome, she goes out and do whatever she
wants to do, such as helping out in a community, or trying to make connections
for a good living, but in the back of her mind she’s always thinking about her
responsibility at home as a daughter and sister.
As the story goes on, Eunice starts to believe that her
purpose of existence is to mainly “taking care of Sally,” (198). As Sally
expose herself to more political situations, she would also put herself in
dangerous situations. This makes Eunice
more worry, and feel as if she constantly needs to be home to look after her
family. Through the communication of Sally and Eunice, you can slowly see
through the text that Sally feels as if she has everything set in the family.
Being so much at home, she feels isolated form the society, so maybe this is
the reason why she spontaneously wants to go out and do something political.
She feels as if her purpose is to not only take care of her family, but now to
her society.
In the end of the story, Sally actually contradicts to how
she felt before about being in the political field. One of her last
conversations with Eunice, she says to Eunice,” It’s the kind of thing that makes
you focus. And now I know why I’m alive. For you and for Mommy and for Daddy.
I’m going to be quiet, I’m not going to act out Politically, and I’m going to
make sure that nothing like what […], “ (300) I can get major feedback from the
communication through GLOBALTEENS between Sally and her sister, and also seeing
the difference of how they talked in the beginning of the novel, and at the
end. In the beginning, Sally was very stubborn, and felt as though since her
sister left, she was left by herself to take care of things. As she went out
and tried something new, she found out that she wasn’t alone because her sister
was there for her all along. Her purpose has changed for the better.
I couldn’t really choose whether Lenny’s Diary or the
GLOBALTEENS posts were more effective because Lenny expressed his feelings out
in his Diary, especially his deepest thoughts and feelings, while Eunice
communicated with his friends, sister, and mother about what was going through
her mind. All in all, however they may communicate, the theme that I’ve chosen
portrays the character’s traits and foreshadows through their actions of what
and why they do the things they did.
