Literary Analysis Of The Devil In The White City

Literary Analysis of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Erik Larson is the author of numerous best-selling books, such as The Devil in the White City, which was based off Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Larson splits this book into two plot lines, one focusing on serial killer H.H Holmes and his ideas and plans; and the other focusing on John Root and Daniel Burnham, who were talented architects that were appointed responsible for building the fair. The dominant theme of this book is the representation of good and evil. Larson can apply this theme to both plot lines and does an incredible job of combining the plot lines into a well written and understandable novel that is filled to the brim with suspense. Larson’s use of vivid descriptions allowed the author to portray Chicago’s successes from an abominable reputation that the city of Chicago once had.

The start of the novel The Devil in the White City by Erick Larson talked about how atrocious Chicago was, there were little to no good aspects of the city, the prologue gave the audience the feeling of dread, fear and disgust. The city’s and nation’s only hope was the World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the World Fair. There was a battle between the largest cities in America over who was going to host the fair. Numerous votes were counted over the span of a week, at the end,

Larson did an amazing job of describing all stages of the World Fair, as well as all the incidents that occurred. Larson was able to vividly describe everything that was happening in the book, allowing his audience to create an image in their mind; this really helped with understanding what happened as well as why it happened. Good and Evil could be referenced to many incidents in this book and Larson did a fantastic job of incorporating that theme into the book. After reading this book, I’ve come to realization that neither good or evil would lead to triumph or