Importance of the Epigraph in "All the Living"

The novel All the Living by C.E. Morgan takes its very title from its epigraph, showing the value and importance this has on the story overall. The epigraph, which is taken from the Catholic bible, works to foreshadow the themes and takeaways that lie ahead in the novel. The opening phrase states, “There is an evil in all that happens under the sun” (1), noting the sun and the dissonance which it brings. As the novel begins, Aloma makes a clear connection between the sun and the farm, a setting in which she strongly resents. After one particular grueling day of farm work, Aloma claims that “she found that the afternoon sun sapped her strength” (165), but goes on to mention that “the sun glanced off” (165) of Orren. This functions to both suggest that the sun deprives Aloma of her intrinsic good as well as to highlight that sun drives that distance between Aloma and Orren further, deeming it each way as the evil that the epigraph predicted. Furthermore, the fact that the epigraph was taken from scripture serves as foreshadowing of the role that religion will play in the novel. It creates an implicit connection to Bell’s character, who is constantly described “with his Bible spread open before him” (100). The epigraph goes on to describe the lives of characters Aloma and Orren, namely with the phrase “madness is in their hearts while they live” (1). This is the first mention of the novel’s atypical- or mad- nature, as is increasing revealed through the couple’s atypical romantic relationship. The phrase also shows the impact of deceased family members on the characters and how this has made it so their hearts are no longer joined with the living. It is a concept that hinders Aloma’s emotional expression and Orren’s ability to exist in the present. In their own ways, both characters refuse to acknowledge their pasts and the weight they carries today. This is seen in the novel through the “wall of faces” (5) and the presence of the small house, kept empty because of Orren’s inability to accept that “Emma and Cash don’t live [t]here anymore…They’re dead” (157). In this way, the epigraph provides context for readers to see the lives of characters who are ‘living dogs’ but only focused on their ‘dead lions.’ This theme is reiterated by the novel’s unsatisfying ending, in which Aloma gives up her dreams and constant desire to leave in order to stay with a man whom she isn’t sure she loves. The characters ability to make decisions that will largely impact their futures at times where “things ain’t exactly in order” (185), reaffirms that both the epigraph and the novel present a way of life that is purely getting by. It’s more living than loving, and more enduring than thriving. It leaves readers questioning if settling to be a ‘living dog’ really is all that better than being a ‘dead lion.’