Epigraphs are like little appetizers to the great entrée of a story. They illuminate important aspects of the story, and they get us headed in the right direction.
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood."
Daniel H. Burnham, Director of Works, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893
"I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing."
- Dr. H. H. Holmes, confession, 1896
What's up with the epigraph?
This book is all about the dichotomy of good and evil, and the epigraph choice hammers home that point. One of these quotes is insanely inspiring…and the other one is just plain insane.
Burnham, whose White City was a display of human achievement, urges architects to go big or go home. Make big plans, Burnham suggests—big and grand ideas excite people most. He's also indirectly speaking of humans' ability to choose: we can decide to make and do.
Did people listen to his advice? Seems like it. The Ferris Wheel surpassed Paris' Eiffel Tower and Burnham's buildings live on even today in the works of such people as Walt Disney and L. Frank Baum.
Holmes' quote is pretty much the polar opposite of Burnham's. Not only is Holmes' up to something far more nefarious than building dream cities, but he's also disregarding the element of human choice. He's a murderer, but he claims that he was destined to be a murderer.
Throughout the book we see two men shape the lives of those around them…but not only does Burnham do this in a positive way, but he does it with a spirit of innovation and daring.