The nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City written by Erik Larson primarily takes place in Chicago between the years 1890-1893. This novel tells the story of Daniel Burnham, an architect in charge of building the Chicago World's Fair, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who uses the fair to lure his victims. This novel has two major story arcs, one revolves around Daniel Burnham and the other revolves around H.H. Holmes. Burnham's story explains how he strived to build the fair, Holmes' story tells how he began killing and how far it escalated. These characters are considered the protagonists of the novel because they are effected by each event mentioned throughout the story. Both story arcs describe all of the obstacles they faced as …show more content…
These men would do anything to succeed. However, Burnham utilized his skills with good intentions, to create the World's Fair, whereas Holmes utilized his skills with a cruel motive, to manipulate young women and commit crimes such as insurance fraud and murder. Similarly, both men were handsome, had vivid blue eyes, and great charm which enticed many people. Despite this, their personalities differed, Burnham was loyal and trustworthy, while Holmes was deceitful. This is shown through their relationships. Burnham had close friends such as John Root, and he stayed faithful to his wife Margaret. Holmes restrained from letting anyone become close so they wouldn't learn about his crimes, additionally he had multiple wives whom he never divorced before marrying another. Furthermore, decisions that Burnham made when creating the fair were beneficial to the people around him. For example, the fair created jobs, gave people hope, and improved Americas reputation. Holmes made decisions that were beneficial only to himself and harmful to others, such as manipulating people, committing insurance fraud, and murdering young women. After analyzing these men, it is clear that Burnham represents the good in the world, while Holmes represents the
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 attachment “Murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed america” to the title hardly does the novel justice. Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, a nonfiction novel that surrounds the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition. The novel follows the lives of two real men, Daniel Burnham, the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and H.H. Holmes, the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims. Many new inventions were introduced at the fair, such as Juicy Fruit gum, the Ferris Wheel, and many other novel ideas that impacted the lives of many people for generations. The beautiful fair Burnham creates provides the perfect distraction and lure for Holmes’ activities. In his novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson suggests that good and evil coexist in the world by using charged language, imagery and juxtaposition to show although people view the fair as a perfect dreamland immune to evil, it still lurks outside in the dark, influencing the rest of the world.
They were both successful in creating a name for themselves; Burnham for his architecture success and Holmes as a psychopathic murderer, being tried and executed for nine to twenty four murders. Through Burnham and Holmes, Larson shows the ¨ineluctable conflict¨ between good and evil is neverending.
Daniel Burnham and Dr. Holmes are two very different men with unique backgrounds who choose to fill their brief allotment of time in distinct ways. Due largely in part to his upbringing, Burnham chooses to spend his time engaging in the impossible. Holmes, on the other hand, decides to spend his time engaging in the manufacture of sorrows, which is foreshadowed by his childhood experiences.
The biggest similarity between the two characters is their drive, or ambition. Larson compares the challenge Burnham faces as “monstrous” to finish the fair (33). Burnham’s have completed many daunting projects and for this to be compared to monstrous emphasizes how colossal it will be. Burnham’s ambition has already been shown throughout the book, but this will be a bigger test of self-motivation needed to complete such an inhuman project. Burnham and Root defeated “gravity” itself, which shows the reader how ambitious Burnham is trying to do the impossible (33). Larson shows the stretches and
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 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.
(insert an attention grabber, such as a quote or question). In Erik Larson's “The Devil in the White City”, (a nonfiction novel that spans the years surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair) that recreates the lives of two real men, Daniel Burnham, the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and H. H. Holmes, the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims. Larson uses intense imagery, juxtaposition, and allusion to create pure and immoral tones between Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes. In the novel Larson uses intenses imagery to thoroughly illustrate the coexistence of good and evil.
The Devil in the White City reads, “As word spread that a young, handsome, and apparently unmarried doctor now stood behind the counter, an increasing number of single women in their twenties began to patronize the store”(Larson 46). You can’t build a log cabin without wood, and you can’t be a serial killer without victims. Victims are an essential part to the art of murder. As a result, he had a plentiful picking because he was “young, handsome and apparently unmarried”. These attributes make Holmes a very charismatic person. While Holmes was being escorted to his death, the novel reads, “This was a difficult moment for his guards. They liked Holmes. They knew he was a killer, but he was a charming killer”(Larson 386). Even though the guards knew Holmes was a despicable person, they still liked him and found him “charming”. His charisma was such a potent attribute, even if people knew the real him...as seen in the text….they stilled “liked him”. They knew he had murdered innocent women and children, but still founded him “charming”. As can be concluded from the examples, Holmes’s charisma served him well in becoming a long time anonymous perpetrator.
Tucker Max’s famous words state that “the devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.” H. H. Holmes, a main character in Erik Larson’s 2003 novel titled “The Devil in the White City,” exemplifies Max’s statement. This novel recreates the lives of Daniel Burnham, the architect of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and H. H. Holmes, the mastermind serial killer who takes advantage of the fair to find his victims. Larson demonstrates the contesting forces of good and evil within the World’s Fair among his use of figurative language, allusion, and imagery to emphasize that evil can lurk in the shadows as well as in plain sight.
The Columbian World’s Exposition of 1893 marked an important time in American history. The overall fame of the World’s Columbian Exposition, or also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, is in large part due to the spread of ideas and inventions that originated at the fair itself. The novel, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, depicts a clear portrait of the fair’s impact in the time leading up to, during, and after the exposition. The fair established itself as a metaphorical historical monument, in the way that it honored the past and served as a memorial to Columbus, and the way that it impacted future societies and events. The fair began as a show of superiority on part of American society, over all other countries, like France or England. Regarding competition, the fair sought to “Out-Eiffel” Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower, for architecture, and to outclass the rest of the world in all other fields. The fair also served to foreshadow the growing powers of America both intellectually and militarily; the spirit and ideas shown at the fair showed the emergence of intellectual superiority that would only serve as a sample of the achievements of society that were yet to come. The intellectual productions of the fair can be attributed to the architectural firm coordinating the event, Burnham and Root. The firm was headed by Daniel Burnham and John Root, both accredited as the brightest in their field. Under their management, the Chicago World’s Fair
The Chicago World’s Fair occurred in 1893 to commemorate American history, specifically the landing of Christopher Columbus. This event had such a mass popularity that a book was written to commemorate the fair itself; it was titled, The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson. The portrayal of history in this novel is quite accurate when expressing the time period of the late nineteenth century in an elevated format, which allows the reader to draw comparisons of how the time mirrors the present, as well as differences in the ways it contrasts modern living, and most importantly allows a grasp of a total picture of the time period itself.
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.
The Fair, with its mix of East and West and everything in between, became a microcosm of the country that was building it. In it, you see all the conflicts that were going on in the country at the time. Probably the most obvious is the labor that built the fair. At this point in history, the working class of the country, and indeed the world, were slowly, but unstoppably moving toward unionization, fairer working conditions and change that is very much the same as the working class of today. You also saw the unchecked, without government regulated capitalism, and the very strong personalities of the men who ran the fair. In my opinion, it was the personalities of the leaders of the fair, as much as anything, that resulted in its amazing pace and scale of construction being pulled off. Burnham is a
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