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.
Doctors have come from distant cities
Just to see me
Stand over my bed
Disbelieving what they're seeing
The say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation
Natalie Merchant—"Wonder"
At some point in time, some doctor explained to Auggie's parents that "the odds of someone getting the same combination of syndromes that came together to make Auggie's face were like one in four million" (5.The Universe.3). In other words, it makes no sense that anyone should suffer such a random genetic fluke—there's "no explanation."
Except that there actually is a great deal of explanation, and from a great many doctors at that. Check it out:
Sometimes these mutations occur during pregnancy. Sometimes they're inherited from one parent carrying the dominant gene. Sometimes they're caused by the interaction of many genes, possibly in combination with environmental factors. (2.Genetics 101.4)
Okay, so there's genetic counseling and Punnett Squares that offer explanation a-plenty for how—but not for why. Why remains a bit of a loose thread:
This only explains the part of August that's explainable. There's that other part of his genetic makeup that's not inherited but just incredibly bad luck. (2.The Punnett Square.4)
Thought we could just shrug and walk away from the mystery of Auggie's condition? Not so fast. There's that little mention of God in the epigraph—and because of this, we think Palacio is suggesting that God created Auggie. And, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, this means Auggie is just fine the way he is.