In the note “Evils Imminent,” Erik Larson writes “Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow” [xi]. The purpose of this novel is to compare and contrast the book's main characters, Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes. The characters have contrasting personalities and feelings, but a few similar motives to a certain extent.
Daniel Burnham was a successful architect that built, with the help of others, the great Chicago world's fair of 1893, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition. Holmes, on the other hand, sought out his fame by becoming one of the world's first serial killers,
…show more content…
along with Jack the Ripper. Larson's mentioning of the "White City" and the "Black City" can lead one to believe that he was inferring that the two 'cities' show the contrasting of good versus evil. It is shown that Burnham represents the White City by building a famous fair that attracted millions of customers. The fair "revealed to its early visitors a vision of what a city could and ought to be" (247). I believe it gave not only the citizens of Chicago, but the citizens in all of America hope for a new change in a time of economic downfall and uncertainty. Holmes represents the Black City by the evil that he has bestowed even more upon Chicago's already piling plate of crime. Burnham can be thought of as a genuine example of a change for the better. He proceeded to use his "allotment of time" to help build up his country's architectural future. He gained the respect of others in return. Holmes, on the other hand, often used his charm and fairly good looks to practice evil. He manufactured sorrow by secretly murdering the women he encountered in Chicago. His true psychotic form perfected his fake persona as a warm-hearted and gentle man, but with a sinister side. Larson shows the differences of the two character's not only by their arrangement of the fair, but by their relationships with others as well. Throughout the whole book, Burnham stays faithful to his wife, Margaret. However, Holmes proceeded to have several wives while continuing to have physical and romantic altercations with other women. The book also reveals how Holmes didn't have any bona fide male companions, since he confessed of Pitezel that, "It will be understood that from the first hour of our acquaintance...I intended to kill him"(386). Burnham, contrarily, had multiple close relationships with men such as Root and Millet. This reveals the chilly emptiness and emotionless feeling in Holmes's heart in comparison to Burnham's warm and love filled one. In spite of their seemingly endless list of differences, both Burnham and Holmes, in my opinion, have a fair amount of similarities.
Although one may not have been the right way, they both were successful in making a name for themselves, which I believe that they both ambitiously strived for. Burnham for his great work in architecture, and Holmes for his 'great' path to growing as a psychopathic killer. They both happened to have a way with people. They just had a way of making the person they were interacting with feel comfortable and welcome with their charm. Burnham and Holmes, I noticed, both had a way also, of persuading people to contribute to their company. For example when Burnham convinced Olmstead, who initially didn't want to help him, to become a main architect of the exposition. Holmes also persuaded Mrs. Horton, the owner of the pharmacy, to sell the establishment to him. They both seemed to be clever men, Burnham for his business-like talents, and Holmes for his ability to escape conviction of a vast amount of murders and unpaid debts. Holmes always seemed to be constantly firing and hiring new workers to prevent them of becoming suspicious of his dirty work. They both, without a doubt, had the ambition and drive to conquer each and every one of their goals in their lifetimes. Whether it was Burnham with his goal to build the World's Fair or Holmes with his goal to use the World's Fair to execute his evil inclinations. They both have made history in becoming
the pioneers of things we see today in our time. Burnham designed one of the very first skyscrapers while Holmes was one of the first recorded murderers. The steady comparison between good and evil shows the reader wherever there is good, there is evil. In "Evil's Imminent", Larson reveals that evil is everywhere and the conflict between good and evil is never-ending.
One story describes the planning of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair that had been proposed to celebrate the four hundred years since Columbus landed in America. The idea didn’t get much attention until a year earlier, when Paris held a world fair and unveiled the Eiffel Tower. Not to be outdone, America decided now it was a matter of who would hold a fair that would put France’s fair to shame. There was a dilemma of where the fair would be built New York or Chicago, but votes were tallied up and the majority of the vote was Chicago. Among the many architects in Chicago, the main job of the designing the fair was given to Daniel H. Burnham. He needed a companion to help him with the design and other features of the fair, so he chose John Root, a very close friend of his and former associate. Because of the amount of time it took to decide where to build the fair, The White City was believed to be impossible to construct because of time con...
...re linked by a single magical event”—the creation of Chicago’s World Fair (xi). Burnham was able to use his power to create something revolutionarily and fantastically good by inviting new ideas to the world and Holmes used his power to effortlessly get away with murder an astounding amount of times. With this, they both found their way to the World Fair.
One half of the story was of a man named Daniel Burnham, who was a famous architect of his time. It’s in this half of the story that can you see the good part of the city. Pride can be seen mainly throughout his story. His life in these pages was based on the construction of the World Columbian Exposition which was a fair held in Chicago in 1893. This magnificent fair was in honor of one of America’s most well known discoverers, Christopher C. Columbus. This was the 400th anniversary of his discovery of the new world. Through Burnham’s pride and his determination, he was able to complete the fair in almost a year. However, it was not truly ready for opening day due to a few construction issues, such as the world’s f...
Academic colleagues like, David Greenburg, would have been exasperated, part from envy of McCullough’s ability in not only story telling but to sell and he would object to the approach of this book. The colleagues would tear at the lack of compelling rationale for an overused topic, as well as the scene setting, and meager analysis.
In fact, there was such a multitude of faults that “at night the lights and the infilling darkness served to mask the exposition’s many flaws” (254-255). This statement is extremely ironic to the beliefs of good versus evil, also mentioned as light versus dark. The fact that the darkness, or the evil, hides the flaws of the exposition serves to explain how darkness and immorality is needed to succeed in something as ambitious as the World’s Fair. Larson proves to his audience how momentous figures and events could not be possible without a lack of morality. Likewise, with this ironic statement, he demonstrates how said immorality is dismissed by the public. Irony is also used to convey the true nature of men as opposed to how they let themselves be perceived. Through the entirety of the book, Holmes is a metaphor for such irony. He is described in every scene in which he is present as “charming” and “warm,” but in reality he was a sociopathic serial killer. Others saw him only the way he presented himself, which was approachable, for he kept all of the darkness that festered inside of him hidden. To elaborate on Holme’s manipulative ways, Larson tells a specific story of Holmes taking two children to Indianapolis. When he bought an apartment, he requested help to set up a large wood stove in the house. When asked why he
Two men with two different ways of life are connected through a time period and these two words: determination and dedication. Erik Larson does a great job developing these two characters in The Devil in the White City. On one hand, Daniel Burnham is trying to build the world’s fair in Chicago, on the other H.H. Holmes is a dedicated doctor who is determined to open a hotel for the world 's fair. Burnham is determined and works diligently to get the job done, and he won’t stop for any reason. Holmes driven dedication towards this isn’t for the common reason of making money, but instead he wants to create a safe place that he can murder people. The major difference is that Burnham choose the better path, so he was able to help others in the process. Burnham gave a blank canvas to so many inventors and creators, so that they could change the way things are viewed in the world. These two men show the opposite ends of the spectrum, which is why we have different results caused by their determination and dedication.
Andrew Carnegie, a robber barron that took advantage of his poor employees and his relentless competition, his personal intentions and innovations in the steel industry and philanthropic distributions positively changed America's society and views of education. Early 19th century, the American industrialist of the time, we're gathering good fortunes through Carnegie's ideas and initiatives. This man started out onto the road to wealth and success, starting from rags to the riches and earned the reputation he brought among himself, bringing him into American history. For those who exploited others on the road to wealth were automatically labeled as “robber-barrons" i.e. John D. Rockefeller, Ph.D. Nevertheless, those whose personal success positively impacted the United States, earning the title of the" captains of industry" surprisingly Andrew Carnegie happened to do both.
They walk amongst us, silent and unseen until the ghastly moment of their horrid crime takes root. These are the killers, spawned from the Devil’s own seed, while others are nurtured in the squalid ruins of their environment. Devil In The White City, authored by Erik Larson, is a story that takes a close look at the World's Columbian Exposition, the world's fair that Chicago hosted in 1893 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. The fair was tainted by deaths, a serial killer, and an assassination. The lead architect, Daniel Burnham, and the serial killer, Henry Howard Holmes, play pivotal roles in the events that unfolded before, during, and after the fair. Throughout this novel, we are informed of many possible
As the sweltering, hot sun signified the start of a scorching afternoon, a young boy lay in the fields harvesting vegetables for another family. He had been enslaved to perform chores around the house for the family, and was only given very few privileges. While his stomach throbbed with pangs of hunger, he continued cooking meals for them. After the family indulged in the cozy heat from the fireplace, he was the one to clean the ashes. Despite his whole body feeling sore from all the rigorous work he completed, the young boy had been left alone to suffer. As months passed by, he desired independence. He wanted to cook his own food, make his own fire, harvest his own plants and earn money. The lad soon discovered that he needed faith and courage to break away from his restricted environment. When put in a suppressive situation, every person has the aspiration to escape the injustice. This is what Harrison Bergeron and Sanger Rainsford do to liberate themselves from the external forces that govern their lives. Harrison, the main character of “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a strong, fourteen year old boy whose talents have been concealed by the government. Growing up in an environment where equality has restricted people’s thinking, Harrison endeavors to change society’s views. Rainsford, the main character of “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell, is a skilled hunter who believes that animals were made to be hunted; he has no sympathy for them. Stranded on island with a killer chasing him, he learns to make rational choices. While both Harrison and Ranisford are courageous characters, Rainsford’s prudence enables him to overpower his enemy, whereas Harrison’s impulsive nature results in him being ...
In Red Harvest, in both his description of both “Poisonville” and it’s inhabitants, Hammett uses contradicting language, and often iconic reoccurring imagery to express the deterioration of American morals with the growth of underground crime, judicial politics, and the emergence of the femme fatal. The characters in the novel, including the operative himself are willing to lie, cheat, and kill in cold blood for their own personal gain. Although infidelity, greed, and self-preservation are expected from characters involved with the murders and inner crime ring; the story becomes more complicated when characters like the operative, and chief of police begin to get their hands dirty. Bringing the age-old crime ad punishment theme to a higher tier where the reader is unable to make an impulsive decision on who is a “bad guy”, and who is a “good guy”.
To honor Christopher Columbus’s arrival and in the new world the World’s Fair, nicknamed the Columbian Exposition, was held in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago circa 1893, in The Devil in the White City, the book tells the true tales of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World's Fair. Only a few blocks from Jackson Park, the fairgrounds, a man by the name of Herman W. Mudgett, aka Dr. H. H. Holmes, arrived at Chicago looking for work as a pharmacist or doctor. Holmes actually is better known for being the serial killer who lured his fair goers to their deaths in his elaborately constructed "Murder Castle". Erik Larson graduated with summa cum laude, the highest of three degrees of praise, as noted on a diploma from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Russian history, language and culture. He received a masters in journalism from Columbia University, after a one year off. His first job was at The Bucks County Courier, where he wrote about murder witches, environmental poisons, and other things that are equally as pleasant. He wrote articles for The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and other publications. As his writing improved and became more well know, he became a featured writer in the Times Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Larson has written many books. Most of the books he wrote are non-fiction books and are about historical events. For example, Larson wrote In the Garden of the Beasts Love, Terror & an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin, this book goes over William Dobb’s career as an Ambassador in Germany, at the time of Hitler’s rule during the 1930’s.
God is presented as being all-powerful and all-knowing. He’s aware of all the shortcomings and misdeeds of humanity for every individual person. The existence of God and the afterlife are two questions that merely rely on the matter of faith and belief. Jonathan Edwards and Anne Bradstreet both have relatively similar religious beliefs; however, their individual view point on God could not be further aside from one another. Jonathan Edwards preaches a literal fear of an arbitrary, unpredictable and vengeful God (Baird). Anne Bradstreet, on the other hand, believed with human error in a loving, trustworthy God.(Baird) It is almost unimaginable that these two authors’ views are traced back to puritanism due to their vast differences.
Can you imagine someone who is loving, courageous, and innocent? You might think of superheroes or the protagonist in an action movement, many ordinary people may possess all these qualities. J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, depicts the heart-wrenching story of a young teenager’s battle to fit with the world around him. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, describes a young boy's comprehension of his surroundings while protecting his little sister. Holden Caulfield and Jem Finch are portrayed as innocent, courageous, and loving children who learn new lessons as they move forward through their long journey, life. Although, at first sight these two characters seem completely different, upon closer inspection they actually
Much the same argument applies to elements of social criticism in The Naked and the Dead. The existence of such elements is obvious: the criticism of the army as an institution that informs every incident in the novel; the attack on totalitarianism that emerges from the discussions between General Cummings and his aide, Lieutenant Hearn; the grim portrait of American society developed through the I and R platoon, especially in the "Time Machine" biographies of eight enlisted men and two officers (Cummings and Hearn). Yet we must still ask how these features function in the novel as a whole.
...ther." (14) Each of the grotesques depicted follow a unanimous theme of being gifted, creative dreamers. Unable to satisfy their hunger for life and expression, their desolation is multiplied. The most critical theme found throughout Anderson's stories is the clear reflection of real life. The problems faced by the people are actual troubles faced by society at large. The only difference is that these tribulations, as well as their effects, are exaggerated to make a point. Everyone lies to himself or herself at one time or another, and living outside one's heart is not uncommon. All individuals have some way of uniquely expressing themselves, some passion to focus their lives on. Perhaps Anderson is trying to warn us that the decision to establish all of one's existence on an absolute truth transforms people into grotesques, and thus their truths into lies.