Bringing Chicago to Life

One of Erik Larson’s main ways of building the black and white cities is through figurative language. Larson expresses that Chicago is “likened...to a human being with his skin removed”

By writing The Devil in the White City in the form of a dual-narrative, Larson brings both stories to a level of excellence that neither could reach on its own. The interesting and informative chapters detailing the fair are complemented nicely by the suspenseful and thrilling installments of America’s first serial killer.

How can two people be so different, yet so similar? The World’s Columbian Exposition was a major event in the 19th century. The fair was something that’s never been done before in history triumphing the famous Eiffel Tower. As spectacular as the fair was there were murders being committed without any signs of slowing down. The Devil in the White City tells a story between the architect Daniel Burnham and the infamous serial killer H.H. Holmes. Erik Larson uses imagery, diction, and comparisons to characterize and show how similar their traits and goals were during this time.

Yet another literary device used by Walker is symbolism. There are three major symbols in this story, and each are contextual. The first major symbol is Chicago. “In Chicago, a word she hears when thinking of smoke…she sees hovering over the heads of the clean neighbors in her front yard black specks falling, clinging, from the sky. But in Chicago.” (1124, 2), and “Respect, a chance to build…a chance to be on top. What a relief, she thinks.” (1124, 2) are opposing views of Chicago. For Roselily, Chicago represents a new start to a new life; an opportunity. It also represents a change, from the beautiful country of Mississippi to the urbanized city of Chicago, where it rains black specks. Another symbol is her new spouses’ religion. Although it isn’t said what his religion is, the reader can assume it’s

Larson’s, The Devil in the White City, recounts a defining time period for America. Larson sheds light on the ageless conflict: Good v.s. Evil, as he recounts the events that took place at the fair that changed America. With America falling behind in global dominances and its need to strive, Daniel Burnham tries to successfully construct the Chicago World's fair and hopes it will spark the turn of the century. As Burnham tries to builds up the White City, and while H. H. Holmes flourished in the dominant Black City, Larson takes the reader on a tour of both cities. As Holmes lives in the shadows of the Black City, he successfully murders many people without any suspicion. Holmes’s ability to manipulate, his charisma, and his bravado marks

When acknowledging the turnout of Chicago’s fair, Larson uses figurative language to demonstrate the contesting forces of good and evil and to examine the extent to which Chicago stretched the fair’s potential. Larson writes, “Chicago has disappointed her enemies and astonished the world” (30). Larson uses personification when he says that “Chicago has disappointed her enemies…” and is giving Chicago a human behavior. This strategy emits a positive connotation to the reader . The use of figurative language makes the reader look at Chicago as having achieved a great honor by hosting the fair. It also shows that Chicago can create something so miraculous in a time of such hardship and need for ingenuity and amidst the evil waiting within the shadows of the White City. When describing the tension in the top floor of the Rookery while the architects were revealing their drawings for the fair, Larson writes “As the light began to fade, the architects lit the library’s gas jets, which hissed like mildly perturbed cats” (115) and he uses figurative language to help the reader grasp the importance and anticipation of this moment. By comparing the library’s gas jets to “mildly perturbed cats,” the reader gains a sense of agitation, anticipation, and the anxiety that the architects were feeling in that moment. Larson creates a negative and rather comforting connotation by using this simile to describe the room’s tension. The way that Larson describes this moment leads the reader to imagine it to be

In interviews, Larson has said that the most difficult part of writing The Devil in the White City for modern readers is explaining why Chicago wanted to host the World’s Fair so badly and only having the knowledge of it a person 108 years in the future could obtain. One reason for Chicago’s interest in hosting the World’s fair is that it wanted to prove itself to large established cities.

In the novel The Devil in the White City, Author Erik Larson uses imagery, irony, and juxtaposition to parallel the good and evil sides of the city of Chicago during the 1893 World’s Fair. Larson takes a more upbeat, joyous tone while following the story of Burnham and the architects designing the World Fair, but the tone turns much darker when perspectives change and we follow the plot of H.H. Holmes, America’s first known serial killer. Using rhetorical devices like imagery, diction, and syntax, Larson is able to paint a picture of Chicago from both the good and evil side, setting a more serious and ominous tone for the novel.

As for New York City, in the novel it is defined as the perfect place to live life to the fullest and not have a care of the world. As a reader, it is expected to envision this city full of lights as a bright, restless, and colorful place. Nick Carraway depicts New York City as a “...city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of

The United States of America is characterized in many different ways. Some people may say it is a land of opportunity and success, while others would argue that it is a place of regret. In The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, the United States is described as a mixture of good and evil. Larson accomplishes this reflection of America by telling a story which follows two different men with opposing motives. The first is Burnham, the architect in charge of building the World’s Fair. He is determined to make America a prideful nation. However, Holmes, the serial killer, has despicable reasons for wanting the fair. These two characters help show who America is and what it stands for. In his book, Erik Larson indicates that the United States is comprised of both good and evil by displaying the motives, conflicts, and resourcefulness of its people.

Erik Larson’s book Devil in the White City is full of magic and madness that has shaped the society of the late 19th century that is specific to in Chicago. The issues that have been handled through this time frame that are addressed in this book is that how Chicago was known to be the black city at first, and how the city hoped that hosting the World’s fair would increase their reputation. Secondly, the magic of a man named Daniel Burnham that did put the plans of the world fair in Chicago into life and the obstacles that he had overcame. Next, once the world fair was complete, it has made Chicago “The White city,” by its dazzling designs and attractions that made it memorable. Then, the madness of H.H. Holmes and how his evil deeds has

The first chapter introduces Chicago, in the 1800s as a place where flocks of single women are coming to Chicago looking for jobs. This city was described as very unsafe. Two people a day, on average, died at railroad crossings, disease was very common, and people died from

While the city had its positive attributes, sometimes the young people get wrapped up in the negative aspects of the city. George also realizes that New York is a place where people, especially young people, restrict themselves.

In "Chicago," published in 1916, has accepted the world around him and acknowledges that although he is not a part of what he has witnessed, he is complacent with the alienating properties Chicago is able to provide and finds comfort in being lost within the large city. The narrator begins by describing Chicago as "Hog Butcher for the World,/Tool maker, Stacker of Wheat,/ Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;/Stormy, husky, brawling,/City of the Big Shoulders" to explain how industrialization has come to define the city ("Chicago" 1-5). The narrator then proceeds to describe his observations of individuals who live on the fringe of society, "painted women under the gas lamps luring

     Chicago is as poem that captures how the cities of America are in that time period. He addresses the city as "you", as if it were a living person and all of the people that make things happen in the city are the organs of that person. The poem has a positive outlook on the city of Chicago. It details the flaws and shortcomings of the city. He talks of painted women on the streets luring the farm boys, which would be women with make-up applied heavily working the streets. He says that they tell him the city is brutal, crooked, and wicked