John Webster’s revenge tragedy The White Devil explores themes of passion, vengeance, misogyny, and murder all while under the literary confines of an ultimately ambiguous title. The disputes that come with the words ‘white’ and ‘devil’ are seemingly antithetical. The word ‘white’ comes with implications of light colours, purity, God, etc. Whereas the word ‘devil’ comes with darker, almost black, connotations and is ultimately the exact opposite of the adjective describing it. Webster’s title communicates
life I have read many books. However, “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson is the most impactful of them all. “The Devil in the White City” is full of manipulation, unexpected killings, and World Fair construction problems. “It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history” (Larson). “Devil in the White City” has changed my perspective on people
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson contains extremely detailed information of the happenings during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 between two men whom had never met. This #1 National Bestseller includes the years of building before and during the Fair and the challenges that came with the famous architect, Daniel H. Burnham. The pages also contain disturbing information about the urban serial killer, Dr. H. H. Holmes, who brutally murdered at least nine individuals throughout the years
Ali Humbrecht Honors 3110 Dr. Pethel A Book Review of: Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. New York: Random House, Inc., 2003. 388 Pages. If asked to picture late 19th century Chicago, one may describe an urbanizing, industrializing and rapidly growing city; most do not think of murder. The Devil in the White City is an enthralling, creative nonfiction novel which takes the reader on a journey throughout the years surrounding
Azalea Bhola Mrs. Deslaurier US HIST 1302 4 April 2018 Book Review #3: Devil in the White City Summary The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, is a nonfiction novel that brings two real-life events in Chicago together into one cohesive account of the past. In the late 1800s, in Chicago went through one of it was among the city's most memorable changes, the World's moments as it underwent the Worlds Columbian Exposition. Larson recreates the stories of Daniel Burnham, the architect on the
Erik Larson researched profusely, to create the literary nonfiction novel, and developing a movie, Devil in the White City, published and copyrighted in 2003. The book is entirely based on the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. The book set in Chicago through 1890-93, and then, during the latter part of the book, in Philadelphia 1895. This book follows two main plots, each pertaining its own main character. One plot follows Daniel Burnham, the architecture lead and main visionary of the 1893 Chicago World's
Erik Larson’s nonfiction novel, The Devil in the White City, focuses on the building of the World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, to celebrate the 400 year anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of the United States. Larson throughout the book demonstrates that where there is good there is evil between two characters: Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes. When people of America were given the task to build an architectural masterpiece for the Chicago World’s Fair, there were
The author, Eric Larson, tells the true story of two different men and what goes on in Chicago circa 1893 at the Chicago World Fair. The book, "The Devil In The White City" tells the story of H. H. Holmes and Daniel Burnham. The book has two plot lines. One plot line centers on Burnham, being a architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The other plot line focuses on H. H. Holmes, the serial killer who uses the fair to get his victims. I found the book to be very informative but also difficult
The Devil in the White City is a literary nonfiction novel that ranges from the years surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which is also referred to as the World’s columbian Exposition. The World's Columbian Exposition was designed to commemorate the landing of Columbus in America. This unsequenced novel is divided into four different parts. The first three parts of this novel take place in chicago during the 1890-1893 era. Part four of the novel makes the reader feel as if
The Devil in The White City By: Erik Larson Landon Tackett Publisher: Crown Publishers Year: 2003, Number of Pages #432 Plot: The novel spans the years of 1890-1895. There are two main points throughout the story. One is about a man by the name of Daniel Burnham who was a architect who built the Chicago Worlds Fair. The other concentrates of H.H. Holmes a serial killer who uses the fair to find his victims. The book is overall is pretty interesting and keeps me intrigued in the parts of H.H
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
The Devil in the White City Erik Larson’s historical nonfiction book, The Devil in the White City, uses well over one hundred historical sources to piece together a vivid depiction of The World’s Columbian Exposition and the high stakes of its improbable success in the middle of America’s most vice-filled city of opportunity, all the while the infamous “Torture Doctor,” H. H. Holmes, hides in the shadows. Ultimately, the author portrays gilded age America as a place of wonder and terror, of progress
“The Devil in the White City” “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
In The Devil in the White City, two main characters with different stories were put together in a strange, yet interesting way. There was H.H. Holmes who was a doctor, a pharmacist, and serial killer, and Daniel Burnham who was an architect. Erik Larson chose to put these two characters and their two stories together in one book to show industrialization, urbanization, and modernity. During the twentieth century, America was finding itself a way out of a lot of hard times, especially in Chicago.
The Devil in the White City is a literary nonfiction novel that is centered around the World’s Fair in Chicago. The subtitle of The Devil in the White City is “Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.” As Erik Larson describes so vividly, the fair did just that. From the way electricity is distributed through homes, to the length of our working hours or days in a week, to cultural icons, and amusement parks. There is a brief but fascinating link between the Fair and other inventions
The great impact of the World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World Fair, was shown in The Devil in the White City. Although the main plot of the novel concerns H.H. Holmes, an infamous serial killer who completed his work during the time of the fair, the bright culture and growing importance of knowledge during the 1890s were illustrated. The Chicago World Fair showed the development of culture and infrastructure in the Untied States through unification, shifting ideas, and competition;
and white city; a clash between good and evil. The Exposition held in Paris a few years prior unveiled the Eiffel Tower, possibly the most remarkable landmark of the time. In order to prove itself, America had to create a fair that would at least equal this engineering marvel. The first of the two men was Daniel Burnham, a gifted architect and the Fair's chief builder and organizer. He represents the American idealism that you can achieve the impossible, as was done at the Fair. The "White City"
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
Evil’s Overpowering Affects From the years 1890-1895 Chicago faced the effects of good and the overshadowing effects of evil. Devil in the White City is a book that puts this concept into one and makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing theses events themselves. The two main paradoxical characters, Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes, are the epitome of good and evil. Throughout the book, Burnham tries to bring good to Chicago while Holmes takes the good and turns it into something more brutal
The Devil in the White City is a novel that spans the years surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also known as The World's Columbian Exposition, which was designed to commemorate the landing of Columbus in America. The novel focuses on a main character, Daniel Burnham, who is the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World’s fair. Throughout the novel, Daniel Burnham encounters many obstacles that threaten the success of the fair at all stages of construction and successfulness