“For every complex problem there is a simple solution. And it’s always wrong.”
Straight Man“For every complex problem there is a simple solution. And it’s always wrong.” is an epigraph attributed to H. L. Mencken at the beginning of the epilogue. Its two-part construction makes a compact argument against treating complexity as something a neat answer can simply erase: the first sentence offers the familiar promise of a simple solution, and the second abruptly overturns it. The reversal gives the epilogue a frame of wary skepticism rather than a promise of tidy resolution.
Form and Meaning
The epigraph’s force lies in its break between assertion and correction. The first sentence sounds like a general rule about problem-solving; the short follow-up exposes the danger in taking that reassurance at face value. The phrase “And it’s always wrong.” is categorical, but its placement also gives the claim a dry, aphoristic snap. Together, the sentences invite attention to what a simplified account leaves out, without specifying one universal alternative.
Placement in the Epilogue
The epigraph precedes a late-August scene in which Lily and William Henry Devereaux, Jr. have settled into early-morning runs, while the family’s affairs remain only partly visible. Julie has joined Russell in Atlanta; they are reportedly doing well, and both have work-related prospects, yet William does not know how they plan to afford a house. Lily and Julie speak almost every day, but William is not allowed to see the phone bills. This mixture of improvement, uncertainty, and withheld information suits the epigraph’s resistance to a single, conclusive explanation: the epilogue offers developments, but not complete access to what they mean or how they will turn out.
Narrative Function
Placed at the threshold of the epilogue, the quotation acts as a reading principle rather than a solution to the story. The scene that follows contains adjustments and signs of progress, but leaves practical and personal questions open. The epigraph thus cautions against mistaking a reassuring outcome for a fully resolved one, while its blunt final sentence supplies the epilogue with an ironic counterweight to the apparent simplicity of its opening claim.
