The Devil In The White City Essay

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“I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing” (Doctor H. H. Holmes, during his confession). H.H. Holmes is known today as America’s first serial killer and is estimated to have killed between 40-200 people, mostly women, during the World’s Fair of 1893. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, follows the story of murderer H.H. Holmes and his acquisitions of his victims, and the story of Daniel Burnham, the man behind the miraculous 1893 World’s Fair. Published in 2003, The Devil in the White City quickly became a bestseller. This nonfiction book chronologically follows the lives of these two men before and during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Although …show more content…
Its effectiveness stems from it’s description, narration and exposition. Larson’s use of exquisite detail from beginning to end, and consistency in narration and facts make the book effective in educating the reader. The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago is well known, but events like H.H. Holmes murders and how Daniel Burnham engineered the fair are often overlooked. This book sheds light on the massive juxtaposition of good and evil that occurred at The World’s Fair. The two main themes of the book are murder and magic, murder being the story of Holmes, and magic being the magnificence of the World’s Fair create a juxtaposition of themes. The fair was a feat of architecture and hard labor, and H.H. Holmes executed mass killings, both of these things happened within a few blocks of each other. This juxtaposition at the fair is marveling and shows two extremes that people will go to; a whole city coming together to build the greatest fair in history, and a man building a murder castle and taking 200 lives. The juxtaposition of good and evil at the fair proves that there is juxtaposition everywhere, even where people are least expecting it. The fair had a lasting and immeasurable effect on America, and this book does an amazing job of capturing its
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