Analysis Of The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson

The Devil in the White City is a nonfiction novel, written by Erik Larson, which focuses on the time spent during the building of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The Fair was designed to commemorate the landing of Christopher Columbus in America. The novel, instead of focusing on just one story, splits into two distinct plot lines of two real men, whose lives were destined to become intertwined. They, however, could not be more different in character. The first man, named Daniel Burnham, is the architect who is put in charge of building the Fair. The other is the serial killer, H.H. Holmes, whom exploits the opportunity the fair brings to find his victims. Larson chose these two extremely different people to present the reader with the concept

Daniel Burnham is considered to be the protagonist in this novel. He is very ambitious, persuasive, and passionate about his work. Burnham and his partner, John Root, are asked to take part in building the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as head architects. It is pointed out that Burnham struggled in school due to “a severe case of test anxiety” and was not known to stick with a job for too long (Larson pg.19). Burnham even made fun of himself by saying “There is a family tendency to get tired of doing the same thing very long” (Larson pg. 19). So despite the obvious lack of training, Burnham was not the kind of man whom would let this get in his way of doing something that he loved. This shows just how ambitious he was from the beginning despite the lack of education being a glaring obstacle to overcome. He had a more hands on approach to his training then most architects of his time and according to the novel “he had done

Holmes, on the other hand, is the antagonist in the novel. He originally comes to Chicago as a doctor and takes up a job at a pharmacy were he weasels the place away from the owner to obtain more wealth. He uses this wealth to scam, lie, and cheat his way through life and builds a hotel, above a bunch of scam businesses, to lure unsuspecting women into his clutches. Holmes is very skilled at manipulation, charm, and deceit. Larson states that Holmes appeared as an “appealing delicacy” to women, unaware of his obsessions (Larson pg. 36). The fact that a man can entrance women so easily shows how much effort and experience Holmes had under his belt when he first got to Chicago. He knew perfectly how to make the women fall for him and guarantee that he would have an endless supply of subjects for his “hobby.” His way with words was even more effortless as seen when he conversed with Mrs. Holton, owner of Holton Drugs. The novel states “He was good with conversation, and soon she revealed to him her deepest sorrow. Her husband was dying and managing the store had become a great burden” (Larson pg. 37). Holmes knew that he had to start somewhere in this new place and he wasted no time by manipulating Mrs. Holton into giving him the information he needed to weasel the store from underneath