The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson gives readers an insightful look into what it was truly like living in Chicago in the 19th century, showing the power struggle over good and evil in these confusing times. The book follows two, at first, seemingly unrelated storylines. The first is the building of the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, the other about a serial killer known as H.H. Holmes. The book begins with a prologue of a Mr. Daniel H. Burnham aboard a ship, the Olympic, with his wife, Margaret in 1912. As Burnham looks back, remembering sad accounts of friends who helped him in the great accomplishment of building the fair, we as readers sense that something bad happened earlier on in his life, probably during the times of the fair. Burnham, of course, as the …show more content…
He listens intently, and talks to them in a way that makes them feel important. They see him as trustworthy and respectable-the perfect man. Time after time, we see his charisma and charm make women fall in love with him. Falling ever deeper in the ways he touches them, and seems to break all the rules, but also his gentleness and the manner in which he carried himself. We soon come to see though that he is not the man he shows himself to be. I believe the way in which Larson conveys this message shows his readers that the face of evil can sometimes be hidden quite well in disguise. In fact, immediately in the book, we start feeling the suspense that comes from a well-written mystery novel, wondering what Holmes’s next step will be. After moving to Chicago, Holmes starts the building of his hotel, covering up the secrets within by constantly hiring and firing employees to do the work without ever actually paying anyone. Throughout the construction, he finds out that the Fair will be held in Chicago, and subsequently calls his building “The World’s Fair Hotel”, his mystery castle, where soon we learn about the awful things that happen