Epigraphs are like little appetizers to the great main dish of a story. They illuminate important aspects of the story, and they get us headed in the right direction.
Part One
The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman.
- William Shakespeare (Act III, Scene 4), King Lear
Part Two
I do my best to protect you and I may break a few rules, but I break them in your favour.
- Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep
Part Three
Some things are necessary evils, some things are more evil than necessary.
- John Le Carre, The Russia House
What's up with the epigraph?
Black Mass isn't content with just one epigraph—it has three. Jeez, way to show off, guys. Each of these epigraphs come at the beginning of the book's three parts, and relate to the twists and turns of the Whitey Bulger saga.
Part One
The first epigraph is plucked from—where else?—Shakespeare.
It's an obvious reference to Bulger, who can certainly seem like a charming "gentleman," but does as much dirt as the Prince of Darkness himself. And, although Bulger doesn't go as crazy as the titular character of King Lear, we can trace some similarities between them as men who rise to the highest of heights only to plummet to the lowest of lows.
Part Two
With the second epigraph, we turn our attention to John Connolly, the corrupt FBI agent. Taken from famous crime novel The Big Sleep, the quote alludes to Connolly's rampant rule-breaking within the FBI to protect his favorite informant.
Again, we can see a few echoes between Black Mass and the source of this epigraph, The Big Sleep, as both explore the corruption and violence inherent to the criminal underworld.
Part Three
Finally, our third epigraph presents a counterargument to Whitey's supporters who claim that protecting him is a "necessary evil" to take down the Mafia. Sure, having Whitey on the payroll certainly doesn't hurt the FBI's effort, but they end up causing way more harm than good when everything is said and done.