ipl-logo

Literary Analysis Of The Devil In The White City

1070 Words5 Pages

Literary Analysis of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Erik Larson is the author of numerous best-selling books, such as The Devil in the White City, which was based off Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Larson splits this book into two plot lines, one focusing on serial killer H.H Holmes and his ideas and plans; and the other focusing on John Root and Daniel Burnham, who were talented architects that were appointed responsible for building the fair. The dominant theme of this book is the representation of good and evil. Larson can apply this theme to both plot lines and does an incredible job of combining the plot lines into a well written and understandable novel that is filled to the brim with suspense. Larson’s use of vivid descriptions allowed the author to portray Chicago’s successes from an abominable reputation that the city of Chicago once had.
The start of the novel The Devil in the White City by Erick Larson talked about how atrocious Chicago was, there were little to no good aspects of the city, the prologue gave the audience the feeling of dread, fear and disgust. The city’s and nation’s only hope was the World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the World Fair. There was a battle between the largest cities in America over who was going to host the fair. Numerous votes were counted over the span of a week, at the end, …show more content…

Larson did an amazing job of describing all stages of the World Fair, as well as all the incidents that occurred. Larson was able to vividly describe everything that was happening in the book, allowing his audience to create an image in their mind; this really helped with understanding what happened as well as why it happened. Good and Evil could be referenced to many incidents in this book and Larson did a fantastic job of incorporating that theme into the book. After reading this book, I’ve come to realization that neither good or evil would lead to triumph or

Show More
Related
1904 Words | 8 Pages

The Devil in the White City gives a unique glimpse into how there is both bad and good existing in the city. In my opinion the point of the book was to show how both good and bad coexist in one place. Sometimes with the knowledge of the other existing. The book was written by Erik Larson and published by first vintage books. Published almost 14 years ago the book is still relevant today and still has much to teach us.

Read More
1246 Words | 5 Pages

The Devil in The White City, by Erik Larson is a curious piece of history work, the book is not historical fiction nor is it a basic book of history. Mister Larson has created a book that is an essential work in understanding America and her people in the early 1890’s and the rise of Chicago as being one of the most important cities in the United States. Before the magic that transformed Chicago into the famous White City, Chicago was known by a different title: The Black City. Chicago in the late 1800’s was not an easy or clean place to live in, as one Chicagoan, Ben Hecht, states “It was pleasant, in a way, to know that outside their windows the devil was still capering in a flare of brimstone.” What change Chicago from staying as the dangerous

Read More
376 Words | 2 Pages

In The Devil in the White City, a world’s fair is being built in 1893 and Chicago is the chosen destination. Two architects, Daniel Burnham and John Root, are awarded the job of setting up the construction of the fair. Their main goal being to surpass the amazement of the building of the Eiffel Tower in Paris a few years before. Burnham faces many problems throughout the construction of the fair, one important one being that his partner, John Root, dies at the beginning of the organization process for the fair. Burnham is left to be the main architect and is faced with a lot of pressure coming from Chicago and the rest of the United States.

Read More
597 Words | 3 Pages

Erik Larson's Devil in the White City is a true crime novel about the darker side of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It is a book about the crimes and murders committed by H.H. Holmes at the fair and how they served as a reflection of Chicago. Throughout the novel, Larson skillfully employs a variety of literary devices, such as foreshadowing, repetition, and symbolism, to enhance the narrative and reveal the Gilded Age's dark underbelly. Larson uses foreshadowing throughout the novel to create suspense and keep the reader interested.

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

The Devil in the White City Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Chicago World’s Fair, one of America’s most compelling historical events, spurred an era of innovative discoveries and life-changing inventions. The fair brought forward a bright and hopeful future for America; however, there is just as much darkness as there is light and wonder. In the non-fiction novel, The Devil in the White City, architect Daniel Burnham and serial killer H. H. Holmes are the perfect representation of the light and dark displayed in Chicago. Erik Larson uses positive and negative tone, juxtaposition, and imagery to express that despite the brightness and newfound wonder brought on by the fair, darkness lurks around the city in the form of murder, which at first, went unnoticed.

Read More
427 Words | 2 Pages

The big bosses of Chicago were suspected of sending agents to Europe to spread the tales of how much money immigrants could earn by going to America to work, “and so he had sent his agents into every city and village in Europe to spread the tale of the chances of work and high wages at the

Read More
1584 Words | 7 Pages

The Devil in the White City The Devil in the White City is a historical non-fiction book written by Erik Larson that reads like a novel. The book follows two, real main characters, during the building and existence of the Chicago World’s fair. The first is an American architect named Daniel Burnham.

Read More
1276 Words | 6 Pages

The tagline of the book reads “Murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America.” This tagline does mention the World’s Fair, but the primary thing that it addresses is “Murder” as it fits this word first and on it’s own line. Also, there is no mention of the city of Chicago which is the main focus of the earlier part of the book. It isn’t until the end of the book that the focus shifts to follow Holmes’s story, but this is after the police had begun to investigate him. The reason that this shift in focus works is because it provides the book with a clear cut end.

Read More
870 Words | 4 Pages

Holmes, the mysterious serial killer. Burnham and Holmes have many similarities, the biggest one being their sheer determination to reach a goal or get what they want, which is used towards the manufacture of good, or the manufacture of sorrow. However their differences separate them apart, their biggest difference being their actions, as one build the World’s Fair and does this for the wellbeing of everyone, while Holmes uses his talent to kill many people, and cause commotion in Chicago and such. In conclusion, Erik Larson tries to show the underlying difference between good and evil, and how no matter what, evil is accompanied by good, and vice versa. Even the title of the book “The Devil in the White City” shows the most prominent theme of this amazing novel, by Erik

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the course of his The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson describes Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair through the eyes of two different main characters: Herman Webster Mudgett—a psychopathic serial killer who builds his famous “death castle” on the outskirts of the fairgrounds, and Daniel Burnham—the director of works for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Larson employs the use of many contrasting themes within his writing including success and failure, but perhaps most importantly, murder and beauty. In order to emphasize said themes, Larson juxtaposes the accounts of his two main characters: Mudgett and Burnham. There is no doubt that the manner in which Larson portrays Mudgett is sketchy at best. Rather than introducing him with a concise description, Larson familiarizes the reader with Mudgett over the course of several chapters.

Read More
1183 Words | 5 Pages

“Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O’Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, ‘There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight!’ (Abbott)” In 1871, a disaster arose in Chicago and reshaped the city permanently: a fire scorched around three square miles of land, leveled thousands of buildings, and stole hundreds of lives (“Chicago Fire of 1871”). Although the effects of this tragedy were harrowing, it actually served as the catalyst which allowed Chicago to become one of America’s largest, most influential cities.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

The quality of goods was sub-par. Sinclair uses the theme of poverty to give readers a closer look into the brutal lives of immigrants coming to

Read More
1116 Words | 5 Pages

The Chicago World’s Fair was an opportunity for the city to come together and create event so spectacular to shock the world. However, as Chicago prepared to awe people with this extravagant fair the city faced skepticism on weather or not issues of urbanization, sanitation, and crime would be fixed in time for the World’s Fair. In beginning of the novel, Larson takes the reader back to the start before Chicago wins the bid for the World’s fair to be held in Chicago. The idea of the World’s Fair in the United

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

“The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster”-- these Faust legends tell stories of ordinary men with thirsts for wealth and luck only in exchange for their very souls. Both were written in different time periods, where certain events and happenings influenced each of the stories and their conflicts. Washington Irving wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker” during a time of economic boom (1824). Stephen Vincent Benet wrote “The Devil and Daniel Webster” during a time of economic depression (1937). Despite the stories’ titles, both have different resolutions, depictions of the devil, and saving graces in the end.

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

In The Devil in the White City, author Eric Larson expresses, in explicit detail, the irony of both the good and evil occurrences

Read More

More about Literary Analysis Of The Devil In The White City

Related Topics

Open Document