Comparing The Man He Killed And The White City

Write an essay discussing the historical insights presented in Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, being sure to answer the following questions: In what ways does the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 represent the contrasts and conflicts of the Gilded Age? What is the Fair’s lasting imprint on American society & culture, & what new trends does it signal for the twentieth century?

Devil in the White City written by Erik Larson is a true story based on the building of the most important fair in the United States of America, the 1893 Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in Chicago. Erik Larson also told the story of the psychopathic murderer; H.H. Holmes used his World’s Fair Hotel as an evil castle to lure in young women who came to see the fair. The story starts off with Larson describing that Chicago won the Congressional vote to host the World’s Fair and beat out its competition New York City. In only two short years, the White City was built. The fair brought in an estimated 40 million visitors in the only six months it was open. Daniel Burnham was the chief architect of the World’s Fair. Burnham had the staggering

The book The Devil In the White City by Erik Larson re-tells the story of Chicago’s World Fair, while H.H. Holmes, also known as “America’s first serial killer”, emerges as a dark force within the fair. Switching back and forth between the experiences of the head fair administrator, Burnham, and the other directors along with the evils of Holmes, the reader begins to understand the world of tragedy and crime that lies behind the public’s excitement. From a devastating storm to the deaths of multiple builders, suspense builds as tragedy is followed by more tragedy. Through the use of contrasting ideas and ethical clauses highlighted by symbolisms and descriptions within the book, Erik Larson creates an underlying argument that one’s pursuit of pride and success often causes destruction and comes at the price of another’s well-being.

Baldwin, however, describes his father as being a very black-like “African tribal chieftain” (64) who was proud of his heritage despite the chains it locked upon him. He is shown to be one with good intentions, but one who never achieved the positive outcome intended. His ultimate downfall was his paranoia such that “the disease of his mind allowed the disease of his body to destroy him” (66). Baldwin relates the story of a white teacher with good intentions and his father’s objection to her involvement in their lives because of his lack of trust for any white woman. His father’s paranoia even extended to Baldwin’s white high school friends. These friends, although they could be kind, “would do anything to keep a Negro down” (68), and they believed that the “best thing to do was to have as little to do with them as possible” (68). Thus, Baldwin leaves the reader with the image of his father as an unreasonable man who struggled to blockade white America from his life and the lives of his children to the greatest extent of his power. Baldwin then turns his story to focus on his own experience in the world his father loathed and on his realization that he was very much like his father.

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 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.

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

The theme of appearance vs reality is prominent throughout The Devil in the White City. The novel was written in 2 storylines; one for the protagonist, Daniel Burnham, and another for the antagonist, Dr. H. H. Holmes. During the 1800’s, Burnham and his partner Root were promising, young architects trying to make a living for themselves in Chicago. On the other hand, Holmes was a conniving murderer who had traveled throughout the east before seemingly settling down in Chicago. When the prospect of the World Fair arose in Chicago, both men saw this as a huge opportunity. Burnham became a considerable leader, builder, and organizer of the fair; at the same time, Holmes used the fair to attract victims. Larson portrayed both men as having

The second stanza reads, "he hesitated/then turned his smoky finger/ toward africa toward the house" (lines 8-10). The "he" in this instance is Mayor Wilson Goode, a man who has a "smoky" finger, that is, a man of African descent. It is he that authorizes unjust and undue violence against a place where "he might have lived," a place that he "might have owned or saved had he not turned away" (11-13). Clifton makes the point that in condemning the people who lived at 6221 Osage Avenue, Goode is essentially condemning Africa, a home that he might have chosen to call his own. In other words, rather than welcoming the Afro-centric attitudes of these people and embrace the heritage and diversity that they represent, Goode chose to reject them. They were his people to save and he chose to turn his back on them. Again, Clifton repeats the line "move."

This poem focuses on the lynching of a African American male. The speaker of the poem appears to console a woman who appears to be distressed due to the events taking place. In the first four lines of stanza 1, the speaker says:

         The speaker’s tone remains intense as they reminisce to the darkness from which they came, their longing to return, and their inability to do so. The speaker believes that “the great western world holds me in fee / And I may never hope for full release” (line 6-7). The idea of the “great western world” goes beyond the fact of being in America but rather includes the culture of the land as referenced when the speaker states, “to its alien gods I bend my knee” (line 8). At this point, the spiritual connection is considered to be “lost, forever lost” and “gone out of my heart” (line 9, 10). The fact that the speaker was born and raised in the United States with nothing more than what is passed down from parents who are in the same situation as the speaker, being born from outside their heritage, goes to show how deep the identity crisis is within the Black community. What makes it even worse is the feeling of knowing what it is that has been lost, but no possible way to get it back. The speaker understands that they have missed out on their heritage, that it exists, but because of their birth away from said heritage, it does not exactly belong to them even if they feel the culture’s connection.

The Man I Killed is the story of the man that Tim O’Brien killed. However, this story is not true. He later mentions that he did not in fact kill the man, yet he was present and that was enough. This story, according to him, is told to show the reader how he feels, because O’Brien feels as though the truth is that by doing nothing, he killed the man, so in his story, he does kill the man. Imagery is the biggest literary device seen in this story, but diction also helps make the story seem more true, it helps the reader to truly believe that O’Brien did in fact throw the grenade that killed the man. This story is told from O’Brien’s point of view, which would be first person, despite the fact that the word “I” is

A perfect example of in the piece of how African-Americans are vilified comes at the end of the fourth stanza with the lines "grow a natural and practice vandalism/these are useful games (some say a skill even learned)." These two lines show how the black male, especially the young black male is viewed as nothing more than a thief skilled in the art of crime. Further evidence to the fact is found in the line "I'm told it has full instructions of how to siphon gas and fill a bottle," which is again alludes to H. Rap Brown, his cry of ‘Burn Baby Burn' and the use of pipe bombs and the like to demand equality.

Before and after the 30’s, African Americans were still considered lower than low-class due to the general color of their skin. The word that displayed hatred the most towards African Americans, “Nigger,” was casually thought of and used to describe men and women of a darker tone skin. The often threats that African Americans receive, out of most, would bring fear to them, not wanting to then approach the public with whatever they have to offer, bringing a detriment to their goal. Aggressively, Curley’s wife threatened Crooks by vociferously spewing “Listen, Nigger. You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” to him with no remorse. Knowing he couldn’t fight what she had just said, brought a form of anguish to his state of mind. Not only does this link negatively to his conscious regarding his skin, but also his sense of bonding, which leads to loneliness and prejudicial treatment. What she had stated crushed his dreams, knowing that at the time he was incapable of whatever he wanted to accomplish. Being racially degraded puts an absolute detriment to what one wants to accomplish, because you feel as if what you know in the inside is worthless if everyone belittles you because of the outside appearance. it can seriously hurt your self-image, how you see yourself and how others

Hate serves as a powerful emotion that can control and manipulate individuals into performing actions they would never think possible. There are several reasons people can choose to hate one another. Sometimes individuals base that hate on stereotypes; sometimes they base that hate on ignorance, and sometimes they base that hate on mere blind faith because they are told to. Regardless of rationale, hate is a powerful emotion that can cause people to turn on one another and in turn to do drastic and terrible things. Erich Maria Remarque, in All Quiet on the Western Front, and Thomas Hardy, in the poem “The Man He Killed”, each explore the very nature of what causes humans to blindly destroy one another. Both Remarque and Hardy emphasize that