Essay Comparing Spinney And Native Son, By Richard Wright

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”

In Cathedral, the unnamed narrator, husband, defines the character of Robert as an anomaly in which he doesn’t comprehend. “He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver 1983). The media has been able to lead people like the narrator to develop negative opinions towards those with disabilities creating a type of phobia. After hearing stories about Robert, told by his wife, he could not imagine this blind man having a good life, one worth living. He assumes that Robert’s wife, Beulah, had lived a very pitiful life as well, not having her husband ever knowing what she looked like or what subtle nuances her facial expressions could only show through sight.

This book weaves the tale of four generations of the Banes family, who lives in Chicago’s poorest neighborhood called North Lawndale. The author spent a year from May 1989 to April 1990 with this family and observed its struggle with the prevailing health care system. The story rotates in the Banes family, Jackie Bane, her husband Robert Bane, their children Latrice, Demarest , Brianna, Jackie's grandmother Mrs. Cora Jackson and Jackie's father and Mrs. Jackson’s son Tommy Markham.

Blindness is not limited to physical manifestation. In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the figurative blindness is immediately apparent through the narrator and his shallowness, irrational jealousy, and egotistical personality. His dismissive behavior and ignorance towards the feelings of Robert, his wife’s blind friend, speak negatively of his character and reveals his insecurities. While the narrator’s emotional blindness and Robert’s physical blindness initially inhibits their bond, it eventually leads the narrator to an epiphany and the beginning of a character transformation. The different forms of blindness allow the characters to bond and grow over the course of the story.

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

These views change possibly because a disabled person, whether a friend or family member, may be acquainted with them. Treating another equally removes these preconcieved beliefs. In the story, the audience enters the narrator's mind and sees the narrator's bias; furthermore, the narrator explains that he has "never met, or personally known, anyone who was blind" (5). The mind is powerful enough to convince people that they are seeing reality; however, empathizing with the disabled, whether through drawing a picture or conversing, reveals the flaws in people's

In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.

1. “The White City had drawn men and protected them; the Black City now welcomed them back, on the eye of winter, with filth, starvation, and violence” (pg 323). During the World’s Fair, Chicago was a truly wonderful place. At first, all the people were distracted by the actual fair, but after everyone had dispersed, the White City returned to the Black City it normally was. All of the success that the head architects and Chicago’s people believed the fair had achieved didn’t leave a lasting imprint on the city. The fair ended, the magic faded, and The Black City swallowed the White City whole.

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

In contrast to the polite and genteel story of Savannah, Mike Royko’s book, BOSS Richard J. Daley of Chicago, paints a much grittier story of one man climb to the top of the Democratic political machine. Daley’s rise is not the story of a privileged young man groomed to power, but the tale of a small town boy driven and ambitious enough to move himself up through the ranks of his party to become both leader of his party and mayor of his city. Daley’s ascent to power came from a combination of opportunity and drive to succeed. Boss is a biography of a man, but also a political commentary on city politics. Daley represented both the best and worst of Chicago, he improved and renovated the city and he ignored the rampant corruption of the city’s

By offering a physical depiction of Chicago as a dangerous and dismal urban “wilderness,” Sinclair encapsulates the overarching experiences of the poor working classes while simultaneously portraying industrialization and capitalism as vicious, uncontrollable forces of “nature” that devour the weak and naïve. As Jurgis and his family arrive in the city, they observe the following scene: “half a dozen chimneys, tall as the tallest of buildings, touching the very sky—and leaping from them half a dozen columns of smoke, thick, oily, and black as night. It might have come from the center of the world…” (pg. 30). In this passage, the city is depicted as a dark and foreign environment, which overwhelms the senses with a litany of

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

The narrator does not find joy in learning, does not have close friendships, and superficially judges the world. According to his wife, he has no friends. “Every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep”. He has a monotonous life. He is also afraid of the blind man and does not know how to interact with him. The blind man’s eyes creep him out. “I’d always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind. Fact was, I wished he had a pair”. He judges the man based on his look instead of his personality. Even before he met the man, he fixated on the blindness. He also feels pity for

Although Chicago is a wonderful town with soaring skylines, diverse restaurants, and amazing culture, much of America tends to overlook the Midwestern metropolis. So, the city talks itself up and creates folklore through its history and numerous nicknames, like the second city or the city of big shoulders. But, those legends can cloak its past and self-awareness in a fog of immense pride. The city of Chicago wants the world to see their history as a founding by great men, who overcame adversity through inspired ideas. However, this boosted narrative hides the innate conflict of the town’s beginning and glosses over the laborers’ maltreatment through the myth of the hustling working man.