Devils Thumb

alive. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson offers a great insight into the life of Chicago before and after the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (or The World’s Columbian Exposition) occurred. Larson uses the disturbing and gruesome stories of a serial killer named H. H. Holmes (or Herman Webster Mudgett) along with the life of the architects behind the Chicago World Fair to get a sense of what Chicago was going through in the late 1800s. The historic events that are covered in The Devil in the…

The novel I read was The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. The Devil’s Highway is a true story about Mexican immigration to the United States. It retells the devastating journey of the group of men who attempted to cross the U.S. border by entering one of the deadliest regions in Arizona known as the Devil’s Highway. There were twenty-six men who entered the region, and only twelve survived. This journey was the largest number of border-event deaths in history. Urrea introduces each…

In Larson’s book The Devil in the White City, Larson portrays Jackson Park, the location of the Chicago World’s Fair, in different ways, based on the characters’ knowledge of the park. He uses three characters’ quotes and thoughts to give the reader an image of the park: Olmsted, Burnham, and the east coast architects. The image he gives the reader is never perfect, but the first impression he gives the reader is acceptable. At first, Larson describes Jackson Park as a place that may not have…

Propaganda in “The Jungle” The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a novel exploiting the lives of Lithuanian immigrants in Chicago during the Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century. The immigrants have a goal of achieving the American dream, and as the story goes on they are faced with the horrors of the meat packing industry. Upton Sinclair is a yellow journalist and muckraker during the progressive era, therefore the story is bound to have exaggeration in order for him to succeed in…

In The Devil in the White City, the events of the World’s Fair in Chicago are recounted in stunning clarity, hearing about the architects involved and their own personal journeys. From the beginning as well, the readers are informed about H. H. Holmes, the serial killer who resided at the Fair’s doorstep. Since the killer’s identity is already spoiled for the audience, Erik Larson is forced to resort to other means of captivating his readers and holding them in suspense. Throughout Larson’s…

The Devil In The White City Essay #1 The majority of people will realize this book is different after just reading the first two chapters of The Devil in The White City. Rather you find out the book is being told from two stories being jumped back in forth between two totally different men in chicago during the world fair, or the interruptions of flashbacks, and little details you come across from Erik Larson's own research. This sounding like chaos Larson still has his book set up with a…

their own unique ways. However, in the year 2006, they all combined their efforts and flawlessly co-starred in the blockbuster the Devil Wears Prada. In this hit comedy-drama, Hathaway stars as Andy Sachs, a quirky graduate student looking for a job in journalism. Luckily, she lands a job that “a million girls would kill for;” a job at Runway magazine (the Devil Wears Prada). Once Andy steps into the Runway building, it is apparent that her fashion sense and style is lacking when compared to…

JoJo Henderson 1302/History Devil in the White City Response In the late the 1880s the U.S. Congress made the announcement regarding the World Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair available to the public. The fair was intended to celebrate the 400-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to the new world. Four cities submitted bids to host the fair including: Chicago, New York, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. The competition between these four cities…

Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City…,” focuses on the life of Herman Mudgett who went by the alias H. H. Holmes. Holmes enters the plot fresh off the train “…dressed well, conjuring an impression of wealth and achievement.” The city of Chicago, at the time, was perceived to be the land for those eager and hungry for wealth. To Holmes, Chicago not only presented the opportunity to make money, but it also presented the opportunity to commit murder. Chicago was such an advantageous place…

Men and the women who conformed to men in this system could be happy while she couldn’t do so. In the book, even during her healing process, Esther rejects the reign of men by saying “What I hate is the thought of being under a man’s thumb, A man doesn’t have a worry in the world, while I’ve got a baby hanging over my head like a big stick, to keep me in line.” The Bell Jar is a piece that Sylvia Plath has written because there was a voice she couldn’t silence in her, as she says.…