Analysis Of The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson
The Devil in the White City was written by Erik Larson and was published in 2003. By research, Larson recreates the lives of two real men in the Chicago World Fair. He uses two different plots to show some of the history during this time. One plot line is about Daniel Hudson Burnham, the man who builds the Chicago World Fair, and the other plot is about Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, the man who is a serial killer that goes through the fair to find his victims. The novel starts out by talking about how Chicago wins the bid for the 1893 World’s Exposition. Burnham and his friend/partner are given the opportunity to be the architects for the fair. While building the fair, Burnham faces obstacles, like deaths and injuries while constructing the site. …show more content…
He comes to Chicago looking for work as a doctor or pharmacist. Eventually, he finds a pharmacy job in the location close to where the fair was being built. He buys a lot right next to his pharmacy and uses that place to kill the people and dispose their bodies. Holmes kills many people here and puts their bodies in the basement of his place. Once he figured out that the fair was right next to his building, he turns his place into a “hotel” for people from the fair to stay in. Holmes kills a lot of people during the time of the fair and eventually people start to find out. He eventually leaves Chicago and hides until he is arrested for one of the crimes he did in Philadelphia. A detective investigates Holmes past, and finds out about all the people he had killed. I think Erik Larson set out to show the powerful legacy of both men in the book, Burnham and Holmes. Larson shows that Burnham left behind his energy and brilliance and his skills while making the fair, while Holmes left behind his darkness and cruelty. Larson definitely accomplished leaving their legacy in the book. He was very descriptive and used good, vivid details to get the point across. In my opinion, I think the book was very good. I’m satisfied with the ending because Holmes finally was arrested for his crimes and I think he deserved that. It was definitely worth reading because it shows that the fair had a huge impact on a lot of people, and
Summary Of The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson
1140 Words | 5 PagesChicago could emerge as a powerhouse over other populated cities in the United States and the United States could emerge as an evolving supreme nation over all others. The an unthinkably short deadline to meet, the success and the beauty Burnham was able to capture is truly miraculous. His’s intentions for the fair were pure; he truly desired Chicago to be molded into the “white city” and many would say he achieved his goal. On the opposite end of the spectrum, but a few blocks away from the exposition, Holmes also saw potential. Holmes was already a criminal, but his bloodthirsty desire grew when the opportunity arrived to prey on the people swarming to Chicago because of the opportunities and the exposition.
Ossian Sweet Chapter Summaries
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Analysis Of The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson
829 Words | 4 PagesThe World's Columbian Exposition was a magnificent fair home to ingeniously creative inventions, astounding new attractions, and fascinating celebrities. Designed by renowned architect Daniel Burnham, this dreamland served as a grand display of Chicagoan pride. Little Americans know about the fair today however, and even fewer know about the horrifying secret that lies underneath it. During the fair, American was introduced to the monstrosity of serial killers by one H. H. Holmes. H. H. Holmes exploited the grandeur of the fair to lure innocent people to their demise.
The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson
1287 Words | 6 PagesHe carefully crafted H.H. Holmes to express what a lethal psychopath the man truly was, yet at the same time, he actualized Daniel Burnham into an amazing architect who became overwhelmed with the mass he took on. I feel like the story did not work the best together, but I did understand why the
Juxtaposition The Devil In The White City
622 Words | 3 PagesThe Devil in the White City by Eric Larson contains many accounts of madness and magic that shaped society in Chicago in the late 19th century. The city of Chicago hoped that hosting the world’s fair would lift their reputation of being the “black city.” Daniel Burnham, the man who created the magic, was put in charge as the lead architect of the fair; he had to overcome many obstacles in order to create the dazzling designs that turned Chicago into the “white city.” Along with the magic comes the madness, the madness is created by H H Holmes who believes the he is the “devil” and goes through Chicago and other cities killing numerous people. Through the novel, The Devil in the White City, Larson uses contrasting juxtaposition, extreme
Dr. Henry Holmes Accomplishments
508 Words | 3 PagesHolmes would begin to steal the meds he worked with and would take them to his three story home which he had built when he moved to Chicago. His home was called the “Murder Castle”. He would lure kids and/or adults into his “Murder Castle” then he would poison and torture them. In his “Murder Castle” there were chutes and other ways to transport the bodies to the basement so he can set them on fire and burn there remains. Holmes was a very sick and evil man and would do this for quite some time until he would soon get bored with this and would go and join the fair.
The Devil In The White City Essay
1116 Words | 5 PagesThe Chicago World’s Fair was an opportunity for the city to come together and create event so spectacular to shock the world. However, as Chicago prepared to awe people with this extravagant fair the city faced skepticism on weather or not issues of urbanization, sanitation, and crime would be fixed in time for the World’s Fair. In beginning of the novel, Larson takes the reader back to the start before Chicago wins the bid for the World’s fair to be held in Chicago. The idea of the World’s Fair in the United
The Devil In The White City Rhetorical Analysis
819 Words | 4 PagesThe Devil in the White City Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Chicago World’s Fair, one of America’s most compelling historical events, spurred an era of innovative discoveries and life-changing inventions. The fair brought forward a bright and hopeful future for America; however, there is just as much darkness as there is light and wonder. In the non-fiction novel, The Devil in the White City, architect Daniel Burnham and serial killer H. H. Holmes are the perfect representation of the light and dark displayed in Chicago. Erik Larson uses positive and negative tone, juxtaposition, and imagery to express that despite the brightness and newfound wonder brought on by the fair, darkness lurks around the city in the form of murder, which at first, went unnoticed.
The Devil In The White City Analysis
1584 Words | 7 PagesThe 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.
Compare And Contrast The Devil And The White City
870 Words | 4 PagesHolmes, 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
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The Devil In The White City Book Report
1904 Words | 8 PagesThe 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.
Book Report On The Devil In The White City
897 Words | 4 PagesThe Devil In The White City is a great book. Erik Larson has produced one of the best-written books ever. The way he weaves two highly intricate plots together in one book is astounding. This is the story of two men who never met, but each played large parts in the history of the United States. Daniel Burnham and his partner, John Root, are chosen as the lead designers of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, or the Chicago World 's Fair.
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