In "Everything Is Illuminated," Jonathan Safran Foer presents Brod's exploration of 613 distinct types of sadness, emphasizing their individuality. Each sadness stands alone, unlike other emotions such as anger or joy, highlighting the complexity of human feelings. This suggests that sadness is not a monolithic experience, but a multitude of nuanced emotional states, each with its own unique characteristics.

The various types of sadness include experiences tied to specific contexts, such as the sadness related to domesticated birds or the pain of being sad in front of a parent. This classification illustrates how profound and multifaceted sadness can be, conveying that every instance of sorrow encompasses a wide range of emotional subtleties, much like the spectrum of love or frustration.