The Chicago World Fair brought about through the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in America has posed significant value and worth to the city of Chicago. Over a six-month period, more than 26 million visitors from all over the world would flock to the fairgrounds to experience the rebuilt and vibrant city of Chicago. The 600-acre fairground would have housed 200 buildings that showcased new food, art, technology, and entertainment. Chicago became known as the White City, a place of freedom, grandeur, and security. But unbeknownst to fairgoers, there was a serial killer among them. While Dr. H.H. Holmes lured his innocent victims to his “Castle”, just blocks away architect Daniel Burnham built up the dream city of Chicago. Both these men operated at the same time in history, simply blocks apart, both creating legacies that carry to this day. Burnham and Holmes are two side of the coin of human nature. In “The Devil in White City” Erik Larson’s juxtaposition of Burnham and Holmes, and the Black City and the White City, contributes to the understanding of human nature, that one cannot be good without having done evil, and that good and evil are viewed as complementary in their mutual dependence.
Larson begins his novel “The Devil in the White City” by setting the stage, mentioning the events and people who made the fair so great. But simultaneously Larson hints at the evil lurking in the shadows. Although the reader is not fully aware of the dual nature of the human condition till Holmes’s big unveil. Larson describes Holmes as “a murderer that had moved among the beautiful things Burnham had created” (Larson 6). Chicagoans were startled by how such gruesome acts could go unnoticed for so long. The juxtaposition of...
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...in a state of balance. Good and evil coexist today, just as much as they did during the Chicago World's Fair.
In “The Devil in White City” Erik Larson’s juxtaposition of Burnham and Holmes, and the Black City and the White City, contributes to the understanding of the duality of human nature, that one cannot be good without having done evil, and the duality of good and evil, that are viewed as complementary in their mutual dependence. The respective stories of both Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes formed an entirety that encompasses both good and evil. Within several blocks of each other, two great men created a lasting legacy, one of radiance and good, the other of evil and sin. Similarly the stories of the Black and White City served to portray good and evil as a complementary relationship. Because when something exists, it exists only in contrast to its opposite.
In the book, “The Devil in the White City,” Erik Larson tells the story of two formidable men and their activities during Chicago’s World Fair of 1893. Daniel Burnham is an architect and the fair’s brilliant director. The book takes the reader through the tremendous obstacles and tragedies that Burnham faces in an attempt to create a fair that will give America its fame. However, H.H Holmes is a young doctor, who uses the attraction of the great fair and his charms to lure dozens of young women to their inevitable and tragic deaths. Not only did Chicago’s World Fair of 1893 showcase Daniel Burnham’s success as an able director and H.H. Holmes cunning nature, it changed America as a whole, introduced some lasting inventions, and influenced many historical figures of both that time and our current time period.
The World Fair of 1933 brought promise of new hope and pride for the representation of Chicago, America. As Daniel Burnham built and protected America’s image through the pristine face of the fair, underlying corruption and social pollution concealed themselves beneath Chicago’s newly artificial perfection. Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City meshes two vastly different stories within 19th century America and creates a symbolic narrative about the maturing of early Chicago.
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?
“The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson was a mix between two stories that overall worked well together. The stories worked together to convey the true overall meaning of the theme good versus evil. Good and evil are seen everywhere throughout the novel, even in the most obvious of places such as the title. Good and evil, dark and light, they all stand for the same thing. White is normally found to be pure and good. By the author naming the book, The Devil in the White City, he is trying to tell the reader that the novel is about how even in truly pure places evil will follow. Although, good and evil is the main theme of this novel, I found that if you look deeply into the way he tells the story, he is also trying to tell his reader about other themes. These other themes that you can find all throughout the book are things such as pride and determination. These other themes were very prominent and played very well into the plot and the theme of the story.
Christopher Paul Curtis wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 throughout the course of 1995. The novel follows the Watsons, a black family living in Flint, Michigan during the Civil Rights Era. In a historical context, 1963 and the early 1990s have far more in common than one would expect. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 following the church bombing in Birmingham, and yet race-based discrimination remains a problem even in our modern society via passive racism. This paper will analyze the ways in which Curtis’ The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 draws parallels between the time in which his is writing during and the time in which he is writing about. This analysis will also shed light on what can be called the “white standard,” wherein all things white are “good” or “better” and anything not-white is “bad.”
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.
The book, The Devil in the White City, takes place during the late nineteenth century. During that time, the total picture of the late nineteenth - century America that emerges from The Devil in the White City is very different than now.
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 seemed to undermine the world fair and the things that are going on within it with his murders and treachery that does grip Chicago once his evil deeds have been found out. Finally, the events that happened in the world fair that relate to the issues that occur in the late ninetieth century within the United States. The city of Chicago was in a desolate condition before it hosted the World Fair.
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur into many shades of grey allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being. Man is not inherently good or evil but they are born innocent without any values or sense of morality until people impart their philosophies of life to them. In the words of John Locke:
Through the analysis of characters and their actions, the novel Grendel suggests society has adopted good and evil’s unequal relationship for meaningfulness in life. The modern society is built on the opposite forces of nature and that evil must be challenged although good prevails it. However, evil and good is subjective which makes the true struggle between good and evil. Moreover, our every day actions are differentiated between good and evil acts. Unfortunately, while this occurs, good and evil will never be a black and white concept.
Almost 100 years ago, Chicago saw its population double in a short span of time - the majority of the newcomers being foreign-born. There were also many Americans that were migrating into the city at this time. With large amounts of foreigners bringing with them their own set of beliefs and norms, ideological clashes and a lack of conformity was inevitable. Merton’s Modes of Adaptation comes into play here with foreigners coming to a new land and having to re-adapt. This can lead to increased rates of ritualism, retreatism, rebellion and innovation and this means an increase in crime rates.
They walk amongst us, thinly veiled by thoroughly thought out plans and deceitful alibis. In a time of great wonder and excitement, a murderer hides in plain sight. The title of Erik Larson’s accurately named novel, The Devil in the White City, takes the reader through a haunting story about the simultaneous building of the Chicago’ World Fair, which brought redemption to Chicago and happiness to Chicagoans; and the revealing of one of the very first serial killers, H.H. Holmes, which brought darkness and wreaked havoc though Chicago. In this novel, Erik Larson uses juxtaposition, sinister diction, and multiple different types of figurative language to portray the intense similarities and differences of an artist whose specialty is architecture, and an artist whose specialty is murder.
The Power Of Good And Evil in Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find
Since the dawn of modern civilization the terms good and evil have been used to describe the world and the various things within it. Things ranging from the concepts of the Devil, to the kid the cut in front you in the lunch line in the third grade, evil can be defined in many ways, however, evil is generally defined as something that goes against a single set of moral principles that society has defined. This is not true because evil is something that an individual perceives that they believe will cause them harm and goes against their individual moral beliefs, not some universal concept accepted by everyone.
Stories have an opportunity to leave the reader with many different impressions. When you look a different characters within the stories the ones that leave the greatest impressions are the ones that tend to scare us. The figures in Bob Dylar’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have you been?”, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, and Stephen King’s “The Man in the Black Suite” all instill a bit of fear in the reader. They are symbols that represent the devil or devil like attributes in people and the uncertainties of human nature.