Blog 4: Extended reflection on Devil in the White City

In the note "Evils Imminent," Erik Larson writes "Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow" [xi]. What does the book reveal about "the ineluctable conflict between good and evil"? What is the essential difference between men like Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes? Are they alike in any way?

The title of the novel itself, "The Devil in the White City," already eludes a contrast, striking evil in visible good. Quite obviously in the novel, Burnham represents the greater good and some what innocence, as holmes reflects evils and impurity. Also Chicago reeks danger and evil whilst the fair and 'white city' are set up for triumph and good, however these two men and cities intertwine and have a lot more in common then it may seem.
As we read Burnham gives his heart and soul to make this fair great, for the reputation of America and even greater the reputation of Chicago. Holmes turns this good thing into something evil, by using it to lure people he will murder into his hotel. The book's two most powerful figures, the great architect Daniel Burnham and the psychopathic killer, Henry H. Holmes, in many ways embody the opposing forces of the age. Burnham was responsible for building the White City, overcoming a series of crushing professional obstacles and personal tragedies to make the Fair the magical, awe-inspiring event that it was. He brought together some of the greatest architects of the day and convinced them of the importance of the Fair, and somehow got them to work together to achieve what many considered to be an impossible project in an astonishingly brief amount of time. Simultaneously, in the shadow of the White City, Henry H. Holmes set up his own World's Fair Hotel to take advantage of naive young single women arriving in Chicago from surrounding small towns. Using his mesmerizing charm and an uncanny ability to fend off creditors and police, Holmes bent his victims to his will and committed a series of murders as cold-blooded as any in American history.

But The Devil in the White City is about more than just two men. It is about America on the threshold of the twentieth century— when all could all gaze in wonder at the magnificence of the White City.

So even burnham as good and holmes is evil they both have similar life styles and goals, both strive and work hard as well as using thier looks and charm to accomplish things, and both with thier striking blue eyes. Nevertheless, good and evil no matter how similar are forever seperated by ill intentions on trhe evil part, Burnham would never manipulate or find pleasure in such evils in the way that holmes does, and I do not think holmes could be satisfied with leading a life in the same way burnham did.