Theme Of The Devil In The White City

The World Exhibition which was meant to be a shining beacon of the modern world to show the advancements of humankind would be tainted by the horrors brought by a depraved man considered to be America's first serial killer, H.H. Holmes. In Erik Larson’s novel “The Devil in the White City’ Larson details the ingenious architecture, science, politics, and gruesome murders of Chicago during the Gilded Age of The United States. Larson paints his picture with vivid and engaging language with incredible use of colors depicting the psychotic blue shown across Holmes's facade and the burning flame in Roots' persistence to plan the World Fair. Larson uses these themes to help the reader understand the changes the world will face as technology advances

Larsons similes and metaphors further reinforce this rich storytelling such as when he describes the clouds of smoke bellowing from the factories as “a dark cloud that hung over the city like a shroud”. Almost like a hook, these descriptions help set the scene and narrative of what's to come and drag the reader with them into the

Using language that is both clear and engaging, draws the reader in with a rich story that is short but packed with so much information with Larson's vivid descriptions. Larson employs a significant amount of dialogue that brings the personalities of the characters to life and helps the reader grasp who they truly were and what their motivations are using primary sources such as letters, diaries, and newspaper articles which add a sense of authenticity and authority behind Larson's writing. One of the works that Larson works with is the memoir of H.H. Holmes, to truly gaze into the mind of a psychopath that shows the reader the length of what Holmes would go through to try and cover up his crimes but also how truly disconnected he was to the world around him once his caricature was blown to