The Devil In The White City Analysis

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

Erik Larson has organized The Devil in the White City chronologically, alternating between the construction of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the evolution of a serial killer. In doing so, Larson is able to explore the details of the fair in-depth, while keeping the interest of the reader. By using this organizational structure, Larson is also able to tell the gruesome tale of a serial killer without scaring away his audience. Overall, the pairing of these two stories helps to balance out the novel.

(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.

Erik Larson uses a skilled combination of rhetorical strategies and syntactical devices throughout Devil in the White City to not only paint a comparative narrative but also to create powerfully alluring atmosphere that highlights the juxtaposition of the eriness of serial murders with the detailed description of the Chicago World’s Fair. Through the employment of foreshadowing, juxtaposition, and deliberate humanization, Larson creates a vividly compelling account of two stories for the purpose of assembling a story that is rich with complexity and, when it come to certain characters, controversy as to the nature of certain characters.

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

In the nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses Imagery, dark tone, and oxymorons to portray H. H. Holmes, whose point of view is half of the story, as the Devil incarnate: evil and subhuman.

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 sight is so inspiring that all conversation stopped, and all were lost in admiration of this grand sight. The equal of it I have never seen, and i doubt very much if i shall again’” (Larson 271). Erik Larson’s nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City centers around the Chicago World’s Fair, also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition, and two of the men whose lives were intertwined: Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes. Daniel Burnham was the chief architect who built the World’s fair with a grandeur image in his mind; in contrast, H. H. Holmes used the fair to masquerade his horrific and numerous murders, exploiting the fair. In The Devil in the White City, author Erik Larson uses vivid imagery, captivating tone, and figurative language to portray the dreamlike qualities of 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?

Erik Larson states, “The juxtaposition of pride and unfathomed evil struck [him] as offering powerful insights into the nature of men and their ambitions.” This quote relates to the premise of his book The Devil in the White City, which tells two different stories based around a central theme of the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. One tells of the adventures and horrors that came with being the important figures behind the production of something as great as the exposition. The story focuses mainly on the architects, and even closer on the man who became the official leader of it all, Daniel Burnham. Intricately woven into the tale of the building of the fair is a story that is powerfully more

The U.S.A., a superpower of varying converging forces entering the twentieth century, led by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. In Erik Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City, he illustrates the entire Fair, from start to finish. Before the famous Chicago World’s Fair, there were countless problems the city and the nation faced. There was pollution almost everywhere the eye could see, then the infamous Chicago fire of 1871, and the notorious Civil War. Chicago was a dismal and unfavorable city, that is, until the renowned 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Led by Daniel Burnham, the city saw a colossal change in its environment and people. The three main converging forces that created a blueprint for America to enter the twentieth century was

In 1893, Chicago had the pleasure of hosting the World’s Fair to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492. In the novel “The Devil In The White City”, written by Erik Larson, tells the story of two different men who had an impact on the World’s Fair. Both men impacted the reputation of the fair and of Chicago with their actions and accomplishments.

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.

Erik Larson is the author of Devil in the White City, a book paralleling the story of H.H.Holmes and the building of the Chicago World Fair. At the beginning we are introduced to the beginning of the next world fair. It is going to be held in Chicago, a city known for being dirty and having disease and sewer problems. In contrast, the architects of the world fair want it to be known as the white city, a place of wonder and history full enough to spend a week exploring. At the same time, we are also introduced to Holmes, whose given name was Herman Webster Mudgett, and the beginning of his obsession with women, that he later murders. Larson constructs his book differently than other authors, using organization, contrast, and emotions in unique

The theme of good and evil is prevalent throughout Erik Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City, as David Burnham and H.H. Holmes provide two contrasting personality types. Holmes, a psychopath, is extremely dangerous and lethal while on the other hand, Burnham is hardworking and is in the midst of doing a great honor for the city of Chicago. The juxtaposition of good and evil in the book is evident as Larson trades off characters.