People of various groups form conclusions based on their prior assumptions and experiences they believe to be true. Often times, people will disguise how they appear by altering the ways they naturally look, speak and act in order to influence the behavior and thoughts of others. However, some find that what they assume is not always the reality of the situation. If the situation is looked into a little deeper and the motives of others are understand the motives to a greater extent, one will find themselves acting differently. In Devil in the White City, Erik Larson proves that appearance can be deceptive to the truth of reality.
Devil in the White City focuses on two plot lines that unfold simultaneously during the years spanning the Chicago …show more content…
H Holmes. Holmes arrives in Chicago during the time of the fair and starts by obtaining a pharmacy through fraud. He soon buys a plot of land across the street from his pharmacy, and creates a hotel complete with passages, chutes, basements and secret hallways in order to provide a convenient way to kill people after a nearby park is chosen to become the site of the fair. Holmes begins to become involved with a numerous amount of women, who after gaining their trust kills them, and also commits many frauds while acquiring a significant amount of debt he did not plan on paying off. At the end of the Chicago World Fair, Holmes burns down his hotel, claims the insurance and flees the city. He kills his partner, Benjamin Pitezel, and is eventually tracked down through Pitezel’s insurance company …show more content…
The Ferris wheel was unfinished, and the attendance rate was a mere ten thousand people because of the failing economy that caused possible visitors to stay at home. The grading and planting of the grounds around the Krupp Pavilion, the Leather Building and the Cold Storage Building was also incomplete. “Too many features of the fair remained unfinished, Burnham acknowledged” (Larson 240). In order to attract people, Burnham acted as if the Chicago World Fair was entirely completed and assigned special days to honor individual states and nations to encourage attendance. Although he seemed to have done his share and responsibility in the fair, he still needed to manage everything that went along with its production. This demonstrated that the sight of the fair being finished was deceptive to Burnham as there were other factors that needed to be taken care of that were not as apparent at first glance, and this gave off an illusion that the fair was completed when it, in reality, was
Devil in the White City focuses on two plot lines that unfold simultaneously during the years spanning the Chicago …show more content…
H Holmes. Holmes arrives in Chicago during the time of the fair and starts by obtaining a pharmacy through fraud. He soon buys a plot of land across the street from his pharmacy, and creates a hotel complete with passages, chutes, basements and secret hallways in order to provide a convenient way to kill people after a nearby park is chosen to become the site of the fair. Holmes begins to become involved with a numerous amount of women, who after gaining their trust kills them, and also commits many frauds while acquiring a significant amount of debt he did not plan on paying off. At the end of the Chicago World Fair, Holmes burns down his hotel, claims the insurance and flees the city. He kills his partner, Benjamin Pitezel, and is eventually tracked down through Pitezel’s insurance company …show more content…
The Ferris wheel was unfinished, and the attendance rate was a mere ten thousand people because of the failing economy that caused possible visitors to stay at home. The grading and planting of the grounds around the Krupp Pavilion, the Leather Building and the Cold Storage Building was also incomplete. “Too many features of the fair remained unfinished, Burnham acknowledged” (Larson 240). In order to attract people, Burnham acted as if the Chicago World Fair was entirely completed and assigned special days to honor individual states and nations to encourage attendance. Although he seemed to have done his share and responsibility in the fair, he still needed to manage everything that went along with its production. This demonstrated that the sight of the fair being finished was deceptive to Burnham as there were other factors that needed to be taken care of that were not as apparent at first glance, and this gave off an illusion that the fair was completed when it, in reality, was