Epigraphic Ruminations!

  Epigraphic Ruminations

A book is a story set in a particular time and circumstance. The book cover, the title, the blurb, the prologue and the epilogue impart it a greater depth and perspective without deviating from its core. A few readers pick up a book and start reading from the first chapter, propelled by a compulsive need to get to the heart of the matter in the book. There are others who, I would say, indulge in foreplay before savoring the entrée. They flirt with the book a bit first, to arouse their senses and appetite for the book in hand. An epigraph is used by writers for this very definite purpose.  The dictionary defines it as a short inscription on a statue, a wall or at the beginning of a literary text. The latter could be modified to each chapter in a book. Today we contemplate on epigraphs.

An epigraph invokes a dialogue between the author, the source from where it is taken and the reader. Its positioning in a book at the very beginning, surrounded by space and a special font style, leads us to summarize that it exists for and by itself – a decorative, ornamental device. And yet its shadow encompasses the entire body of work in the book. It challenges the reader to determine its relation to the text. It is intricately woven with the essence of the main text of the book in an elusive, subtle manner which lends it a unique dimension and defines its unusual character. It invokes images, words and ideas which are indicative of the themes of the text. The intrigue involved envelops it with an enigma and an unusual spirit which explains its common usage by writers in their works.

A major innovation in Toni Morrison’s book ‘The Bluest Eye’ is the use of an ironic epigraph of an excerpt from a white school primer taught in all schools in the US. It depicts the white ideal of a happy home and family. The book is a focus on a young black girl who wants to acquire blue eyes symbolic of beauty in white racist America and an answer to all the misery that pervades her and her family.

“Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy.”

The excerpt is given three times in the book and with each successive entry, it shifts from orderliness to chaos. The first version portrays a beautiful home with father, mother, children and pets - idyllic and happy. It is a sketch of a white ideal of a happy family and the white standards under which blacks live in America. The second version is printed without capitalization and punctuation, a diminished copy of the first and represents the world of the lighter complexioned Negroes modeled in the context of a white happy family. The third version without capitalization, punctuation or spaces between the words stands for the overcrowded and chaotic world of the poor blacks. This version is indicative of the distortion, moral chaos and deterioration of the black Breedlove family in the book.

Epigraphs illuminate major aspects of a story and direct us to head in a particular direction. An excerpt from a meditation by John Donne is used as an epigraph by Vikram Seth in his book ‘An Equal Music’.

“And into that gate they shall enter, and in that house they shall dwell, where there shall be no cloud nor sun, no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light, no noise nor silence, but one equal music, no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession, no foes nor friends, but one equal communion and identity, no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity”.

The epigraph is indicative of peace, contentment and bliss that a redeemed soul experiences on entering heaven. ‘An Equal Music’ for Seth is the zenith of music which surpasses all barriers of composition. Music it is, which transcends loss and emptiness and gives solace to the soul. The book ends with,

“Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness, why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music – not too much, or the soul could not sustain it – from time to time.”

 In ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzergald, the writer breaks the epigraphic code. He serves us a fictionalized quote by fictionalized characters.

"Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;

If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,

Till she cry ‘Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,

I must have you!’ “– Thomas Parke D’Invilliers

Thomas Parke is a fictional character in another book by the writer. First of all, Fitzergald does not use the quote of another great author in keeping with the rules and then tops the fallacy with a quote from his own fictional character. That’s being clever and innovative at the same time! In the book, Gatsby garners wealth by spurious means and acquires a lifestyle which would stun Daisy and she would be his. In so many words, he dons a gold hat to seduce materialistic Daisy, his lost love. His shining golden veneer and a high bounce would surely attract Daisy and she would be lured by the sheen of the golden hat to bounce with him. 

Herman Melville executed a feat in Moby Dick by writing one of the longest epigraphs about Whales, which runs into pages. The erudite writer George Elliot penned an epigraph at the beginning of each of the 86 chapters of her book ‘Middlemarch’ which became a thread weaving through the story. This bonded well with the prelude on St Theresa which appeared at the beginning of the book. St Theresa was an idealistic nun who yearned to lead an epic life and do great deeds to reform the world and mark a trail of greatness in life and was stopped by controlling factors in her life to meet her goal. Dear Dorothea Brooke is her reincarnation in the book, who shudders at everyday chores that women do; and instead wants to accomplish epic deeds.

How well the epigraphs and the text of the book blend and render the ultimate dance of a book Next time you pick up a book, turn to the first page, pause, and read the epigraph. Epigraphic ruminations await you!