ipl-logo

Holmes The Devil In The White City

2072 Words9 Pages

The Devil In The White City The book The Devil In The White City features a lot of interesting events, including the rejuvenation of the city of Chicago, so it may hold the Chicago World’s Fair, but also takes into deeper account the personalities of some characters. However this book also holds historical records of the person that created the serial killer archetype, which is said to be an important factor in shaping modern society. In this book Holmes, represents the Serial archetype; however, in order to be successful he pretended to be the official hero, and this pattern holds up in the modern content. In this book we see how the city of Chicago goes from being a place where most tourists find unattractive and doesn’t amount …show more content…

Holmes managed to get his victims back to his place. Daniel got his victims to walk with him to the woods, where he pretended to be looking for a shortcut to the pastor’s church, and when his victims followed him, he would go deeper, start off by raping them and then killing them. They both did this to lure their victims away from people, so it would be easier to get away with killing them. In the book Aggression and Violent Behavior, the author (Miller, Laurence) describes a serial killer as a White shark, saying that “….. sharks do not attack their prey at random, but stalk specific victims, lurking out of sight. The sharks hang back and observe from a not-too-close, not-too-far base, and hunt strategically.” Miller also said that older sharks were “…. like their human counterparts, learn from experience and improve their hunting technique over time”, the first couple of girls Daniel raped he didn’t kill them, one of the girl reported him, and so Daniel was arrested, ever since he got out, he’s been killing his victims, to avoid being arrested again, in other words he learned from his experience like the sharks do. Serial killers are also said to have a physical appearance as someone who was likely "quiet, inoffensive looking man" who was "neatly and respectably dressed." (Verhoeven). Holmes always appeared well dressed and with his charms gave of the impression that he was harmless. However Daniel on the other hand, didn’t appear well dressed, he was living on the streets most of the time, which is the reason why he appeared as a damsel in distress for he wore tore clothes

Show More
Related

  • The Devil In The White City Character Analysis

    581 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the course of his The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson describes Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair through the eyes of two different main characters: Herman Webster Mudgett—a psychopathic serial killer who builds his famous “death castle” on the outskirts of the fairgrounds, and Daniel Burnham—the director of works for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Larson employs the use of many contrasting themes within his writing including success and failure, but perhaps most importantly, murder and beauty. In order to emphasize said themes, Larson juxtaposes the accounts of his two main characters: Mudgett and Burnham. There is no doubt that the manner in which Larson portrays Mudgett is sketchy at best. Rather than introducing him with a concise description, Larson familiarizes the reader with Mudgett over the course of several chapters.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Foreshadowing In Devil In The White City

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    Erik Larson's Devil in the White City is a true crime novel about the darker side of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It is a book about the crimes and murders committed by H.H. Holmes at the fair and how they served as a reflection of Chicago. Throughout the novel, Larson skillfully employs a variety of literary devices, such as foreshadowing, repetition, and symbolism, to enhance the narrative and reveal the Gilded Age's dark underbelly. Larson uses foreshadowing throughout the novel to create suspense and keep the reader interested.

    Read More

  • Serial Murder Gender

    2042 Words  | 9 Pages

    According to Keeney and Heide, “Male serial murders have tended to inflict a great deal of damage to causing death and to engage in the torture of their victims prior to death” (385). For instance, Dennis Rader-- the BTK killer-- had a routine when it came to his victims. He would bind them, torture them, and finally kill them. Serial killer Ed Gein, while notorious for inspiring numerous beloved horror movie killers, would create spoons, bowls, belts, and other household items, accompanied by skin suits, from his victims bodies. Along with having a gender specific ways of killing, serialists also vary by gender when selecting

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson

    699 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Devil in the White City is a nonfiction novel, written by Erik Larson, which focuses on the time spent during the building of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The Fair was designed to commemorate the landing of Christopher Columbus in America. The novel, instead of focusing on just one story, splits into two distinct plot lines of two real men, whose lives were destined to become intertwined. They, however, could not be more different in character. The first man, named Daniel Burnham, is the architect who is put in charge of building the Fair.

    Read More

  • Jeffrey Dahmer Case

    834 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jeffrey Dahmer was a notorious serial killer who liked to pick up men in bars telling them he was a photographer and he wanted to take their picture. Once at his place he would offer alcohol and drug them so they could not get away. Dahmer was a sadistic sexual serial killer who liked to have control over his victims even after they were dead. Dahmer who would dismember his victims’ bodies often saving their skulls or other body parts also practiced necrophilia and cannibalism.

    Read More

  • The Devil In The White City

    670 Words  | 3 Pages

    Erik Larson's iconic book The Devil in the White City relives the events leading up to the World's Fair of Chicago that occurred in the late 1800s. It is a novel of contrasts, as the title first evidenced. The Fair was known as the “White City”, as it was both literally white and a bright example of the magic America and the world could offer. In contrast with this image is the devil in the personality and nature of Holmes, committing horrible acts only a few blocks from the Fair. The question points out more contrasts.

    Read More

  • How H. Holmes Changed America's Culture Of The Gilded Age

    156 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy are all infamous American serial killers, but none of these serial killers legacy comes close to H. H. Holmes’s legacy. H. H. Holmes was America’s first documented serial killer who was activated during the Gilded Age. However, not many people know much about H. H. Holmes and how he changed America’s Culture of the Gilded Age. Holmes embodied the dark side of the late 1980s in America, which most Americans wanted to hide. When told about the I-search assignment, Holmes’ legacy and impact he had on America’s culture were one of the first ideas I had.

    Read More

  • The Devil In The White City Essay

    1116 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Erik Larson’s novel The Devil in the White City takes place during the Gilded Age. During this period of time everything appears good and golden on the outside when in reality everything was full of corruption. In the novel, the author takes the reader to the city of Chicago, where the city is “swelled “in population causing the city to expand in all “available directions” (Larson 44). As Chicago became the “second most populous [city] in the nation after New York” there was an urge that city show off to the world and the nation of how great it was through the Chicago World’s Fair (Larson 44).

    Read More

  • The Devil In The White City Analysis

    1584 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Devil in the White City The Devil in the White City is a historical non-fiction book written by Erik Larson that reads like a novel. The book follows two, real main characters, during the building and existence of the Chicago World’s fair. The first is an American architect named Daniel Burnham.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Devil And The White City

    870 Words  | 4 Pages

    Holmes, the mysterious serial killer. Burnham and Holmes have many similarities, the biggest one being their sheer determination to reach a goal or get what they want, which is used towards the manufacture of good, or the manufacture of sorrow. However their differences separate them apart, their biggest difference being their actions, as one build the World’s Fair and does this for the wellbeing of everyone, while Holmes uses his talent to kill many people, and cause commotion in Chicago and such. In conclusion, Erik Larson tries to show the underlying difference between good and evil, and how no matter what, evil is accompanied by good, and vice versa. Even the title of the book “The Devil in the White City” shows the most prominent theme of this amazing novel, by Erik

    Read More

  • Jeffrey Dahmer Research Paper

    1943 Words  | 8 Pages

    A serial killer can best be described as a person who commits a series or murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. A disturbing fact about serial killers is that most of them should be eminently identifiable. Serial killers commit their acts specifically in one place, therefore, give the residents of the community, its police force, and even their neighbors ample opportunity to find out what they are. The fact they are not caught is attributed to three factors. The first being the characteristics of the victims, which in Jeffrey Dahmer's case he prayed mostly on gay men.

    Read More

  • Why Did Holmes Choose Chicago

    824 Words  | 4 Pages

    The most influential people in Chicago during the time of Holmes’ killings were worried about one thing: The World’s Columbian Exchange. Men like Daniel Burnham were working thousands of men, day and night, in order to finish the Fair on time. This too was killing innocent men. Most people in Chicago were preoccupied with their own lives, they rarely noticed when people went missing. The selfishness in Chicago and the fear of ruining Chicago’s reputation, enabled Holmes to get away with

    Read More

  • The Devil In The White City Book Report

    1904 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Devil in the White City gives a unique glimpse into how there is both bad and good existing in the city. In my opinion the point of the book was to show how both good and bad coexist in one place. Sometimes with the knowledge of the other existing. The book was written by Erik Larson and published by first vintage books. Published almost 14 years ago the book is still relevant today and still has much to teach us.

    Read More

  • The Positive Effects Of The Great Chicago Fire Of 1871

    1183 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O’Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, ‘There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight!’ (Abbott)” In 1871, a disaster arose in Chicago and reshaped the city permanently: a fire scorched around three square miles of land, leveled thousands of buildings, and stole hundreds of lives (“Chicago Fire of 1871”). Although the effects of this tragedy were harrowing, it actually served as the catalyst which allowed Chicago to become one of America’s largest, most influential cities.

    Read More

  • Animal Abuse In Serial Killers

    1865 Words  | 8 Pages

    Animal abuse is a big part in determining a psychopath, even though not all psychopaths become serial killers, or even commit crimes. If a psychopath does, in fact, turn out to be a serial killer, when the FBI profiles them, one of the main things that they look for is people who abused animals when they were younger or, people who still abuse animals today. They do this because animal abuse is one of the most common things that serial killers share in common. Also, most psychopaths have this in common. More than half of serial killers, or psychopaths, abuse animals (Meyer 9).

    Read More

More about Holmes The Devil In The White City

Open Document