The Devil In The White City

Erik Larson's iconic book The Devil in the White City relives the events leading up to the World's Fair of Chicago that occurred in the late 1800s. It is a novel of contrasts, as the title first evidenced. The Fair was known as the “White City”, as it was both literally white and a bright example of the magic America and the world could offer. In contrast with this image is the devil in the personality and nature of Holmes, committing horrible acts only a few blocks from the Fair. The question points out more contrasts. The quote “What a human downfall after the magnificence and prodigality of the World’s Fair…”(334) refers to the "before" and "after" of the Fair, and once the Fair ended and all the visitors left, there was little to none of the magic

Once the Olympics are over, there is nothing particularly positive left behind in the host city. The specially made buildings and other areas are not generally useful and fall into run downed states , and the regions near the sites were in the same shape, perhaps even worse than before. The events prospere, but the people around it and built it did not. This can be related back to how the Fair affected the city of Chicago. Chicago was not a rich city to begin with, and the harsh conditions of weather, crime, and just living conditions took a serious toll on the inhabitants. It was an area on the rush of becoming what it is today, but during the time it was no place to live peacefully. The Fair in was built primarily by people who needed work desperately; however, once the Fair was built, the work was gone and the conditions of these laborers remained the same. The contrast is between the extravagant White City which the world came to see and the city around it which was still dirty and miserable. All the glorious innovations displayed at the Fair promised a bright future; in contrast was the deprivation of the then current