Good And Evil In Erik Larson's Devil In The White City

Madie Levine

AP Lang

10-5-15

Devil in the White City

Throughout Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, the juxtaposition of dark and light exemplifies itself literally through the obvious physical dynamics of the plot as well as figuratively through the motives, personas, and circumstances of the contrasting central characters- Daniel H. Burnham, the renowned and capable chief architect and and Dr. H.H. Holmes, the manipulating urban serial killer. Larson depicts perfectly the intertwining of both the “black” and “white” moods of Chicago during the World’s Fair- telling the stories of the two men who possess distinctly differently focused fates but are indefinitely linked by the common phenomenon of the ground-breaking fair. While Burnham

Larson not only is able to achieve this parallel through retelling the concurrent pursuits of each man, but their defining characteristics. The good and evil aspects of the novel are represented in the souls, actions and contributions of Burnham and Holmes which adds yet another distinction between the two internal and opposing atmospheres of Chicago during the time of the World’s fair. Larson is suggesting that a source of evil may be always evident in even the most perceivably great of times; and is able to display that as the wrath of Holmes competed against the triumphs of Burnham. Throughout Devil in the White City, Larson is able to demonstrate the true presence and evident difference of light and dark during the Chicago World’s Fair by exploring the story of the honorable and accomplished Daniel Burnham who propelled the fair to success, and the contrasting pursuits of the deceiving killer Dr. Holmes to reiterate

However Larson, in Devil in the White City, persuades readers to look into the deeper personal qualities and motives of both Daniel H. Burnham and Dr. H. H. Holmes as the contrasting light and dark elements of the time period. Larson divulges that good and evil may exist hand in hand- and although possess monumental differences, have similar effects and importances. Larson juxtaposes the admirable, confident and accomplished character of Burnham to symbolize the positive attributes and effects of the World’s Fair with the ways of the dangerous and relentless Holmes to show the contrast between the two and reiterate their evident relationship through the fair that so greatly impacted their lives. Larson recognizes this middle ground between the two men who represented good and evil and concurrently reveals their stories to signify the everlasting difference between the dark and the light. “The White City had drawn men and protected them; the Black City now welcomed them back, on the eve of winter, with filth, starvation, and violence” (Larson