White City Critique

Serbian poet, Dejan Stojanovic, once stated, “Devil and God – two sides of the same face.” When looking at Chicago during the Columbian Exposition, there were two sides of Chicago known as the white city and the black city. The white city was the fairgrounds where the World Fair occurred. The black city, however, is the rest of Chicago where the crime, poverty, disease, and filth was represented. Erik Larson constructs the black and white city in Devil in the White City by incorporating figurative language, imagery, and juxtaposition.

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

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.

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.

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 1890’s, America was celebrating it’s 100th anniversary by creating the Columbian Exposition in Chicago which would hence establish Chicago and America’s place on the world’s stage. The Columbian Exposition would be visited and attended by millions of people from all different places and all different kinds of people would visit. America was competing with not only time but also with the Paris Exposition. With only a few years to plan everything and to have every building constructed, Burnham and Root found a team of dedicated architects who deliberately found a way to get the job done just in time for the grand opening. After an enormous amount of stress building the fair, it was completed and they were proud of their accomplishments.

“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.

The motives of a person reflect who they are. In the book, Burnham had a goal to make the Chicago World’s Fair the best it could be. One way he did this was by noticing the need for a clean water supply. He believed “that the fair’s workers and visitors needed a better, safer supply [of water]” (138). This action made the exhibition a greater success and more appealing. Burnham also chose to use Westinghouse electricity to illuminate the White City better than the previous arc lights could. His actions were meant to help the country as a whole. Erik Larson showed how there are people who strive to use their

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’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

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

In the book The Devil in The White City by Erik Larson, the city of Chicago is used to show the great failures and successes of the United States. The story takes place a few years before and during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair) in Chicago. Larson focuses on the stories of Daniel Burnham, the director at the exposition, and Dr. H.H. Holmes, a serial killer. Daniel Burnham shows how America is a land of opportunity, and even in the face of many hardships succeeds in his goal of having a successful exposition. The Devil in The White City reflects the extremes of character in America because it shows American ingenuity, optimistic naivete, and the complete loss of morality.

The Devil in the White City, a history by Erik Larson, tells the story of two men in late-nineteenth-century Chicago. Daniel Burnham: a famous architect known for his towering skyscrapers, and Dr. H. H. Holmes: a criminal known for insurance fraud, and eventually, murder. Holmes (one of many aliases, his real name being Dr. Herman W. Mudgett) decided to build a large hotel that he referred to as a “castle” to lure young women to their deaths while visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition, a fair Burnham designed. It’s obvious that the author, Larson, knows this topic incredibly well and spent a lot of time researching. He includes so many specific details and facts about the fair and Holmes’ crimes that you feel as though he must have experienced it all himself, and it creates a sense of realism.

According to the text and video, Burnham is a genus architect who built the incredible White City. He was urban designer and architect who got famous not just for his job in Washington DC, NYC, but also for his work in Chicago for the most well-known fair in the world. Shortage of time could not prevent him to make a legendary fair which host almost one third of the country population. Unfortunately, he got serious injury on the tour while he was sailing to the Europe with is peruses family. After his accident on the Olympic ship, he had to sit on the wheelchair which was an unpleasant event for him. Daniel Burnham was a strong man who did not get disappointed even after he had to sit on wheelchair. He had greats ideas for the Chicago Fair

The novel in my eyes is stupendous. I love how he describes the action filled-moments. The detail really immerses you in the story. He finds a way to make everything seem a little dark. How he writes makes everything have a dark tone. He could be writing about a puppy and you'd have chills down your spine. The conflict and action sequences that occur in the book appeal to me. Although the book is well written, it has some minor flaws.