Erik Larson

Larson especially illuminated the despair of Mrs. Pitezel, the mother of three children who were murdered by Holmes. He describes her speaking in the courtroom and says, “She wore a black dress, black hat, and black cape and looked pale and sad.” Also, throughout the story there are many explanations of family members searching for their daughters that traveled to Chicago and had stopped communicating back home. Although Larson never elaborates on the reaction of…

Throughout Devil in the White City, Larson uses different characteristics and events to give the reader a wider, better idea of who Holmes really is, as well as letting the reader draw their own conclusions about characters that may not be as foregrounded as others. We are given hints on how other people view Holmes, including females. While he was described as rich and good looking, at the same time, he gives a look and feel, a sort of devilish impression. Larson writes of Holmes (in terms of…

to Americans and immigrants. Yet, those who were not rich were forced to work in horrible conditions for little pay in order to stay 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…

They had been warned by the Germans, but still went on the ship, which would eventually lead to the death of more than half of the people on the ship. The chapter called “Lost” mentions another example of over-confidence from the British. Larson says, “It looked easy. The planners even imagined they might be able to complete the drive to the Black Sea with ships alone. An old saying applied: Man plans, God laughs. The result was a disaster--lost ships, thousands of men dead, and another immobile…

Take Home Exam No.2 The Devil in The White City, by Erik Larson , is a wonderful deception of Chicago in the late nineteenth century. Larson writes the book in the style of a novel but it is a historical non-fiction. Larson follows the journey of two contrasting characters.Daniel Brougham an architect from Chicago that oversee’s all of building of the Worlds Fair of 1893. The other is H.H. Holmes, the psychotic serial killer works out of his own home. On the surface, the two characters seem…

I chose to read about H.H. Holmes in The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic, And Madness At The Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson because I wanted to learn about something new rather than the alternative athlete that I’ve done biographies on in the past. The novel shows the stories of two different people during the time of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, one…

Larson, Erik. Isaac’s Storm: A Man A Time, and The Deadliest Hurricane in History. New York: Crown Publishers, 1999. Larson’s Isaac’s Storm: A Man A Time, and The Deadliest Hurricane in History perfectly depicts two main things throughout its story. It depicts the arrogance of that generation spurring from the excitement about, and confidence in their new technologies , inventions and break throughs, and the severity of the consequences that could follow if you weren’t humble. It is the story of…

homicides. However, most of the time, the motive is not clear. One explanation of this could be a personality disorder known as antisocial personality disorder. Many serial killers have this disorder. As he is described in Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, H.H. Holmes possesses symptoms of antisocial disorder. People with this affliction are described as “a person [whom] exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or…

that’re sick and twisted Holmes made headlines with his killings. It wasn’t until people came to discover what really went on in the city that it earned its dangerous title. We know that the city is a place for precaution when Larson explains that, “Vanishment seemed a pastime” (Larson, 102). During the building of the World’s Fair people went missing to never be seen again. With all the distractions that the fair brought the Police force couldn’t handle the protection of the general public. A…

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is set during the 1893 World Fair in Chicago, Illinois, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. The event, which would cover over 600 acres and bring well over twenty seven million people was developed by the architect Daniel Burnham. Burnham and his partner at the time, John Root, set out to put Chicago onto a stage of positive reputation and honor. They must both overcome a series of delays and obstacles,…