Devil In the White City Blog #2

I do believe that the entire Fair, in its extravagant size and cost, an exhibition of arrogance. The world’s Fair, in fact, was made to surpass the Paris World’s Fair. America wanted to send their message to France that, they too, can also create a fair that would be treasure by many. France World’s Fair is the pass and Chicago’s World’s Fair is now the present.

        When first planning for a place to build the World’s Fair, cities such as Washington D.C. or New York City sound like the right place to build it. However, Chicago won the voting over those big cities. In the early 19th century, Chicago is not the place to have something as big as the “World’s Fair” since the town is too poor, it has no goods in it. Chicagoans were desperate that the World’s Fair can eventually turned their hometown into one a the top city in America. To accomplished such task, Chicago architects wanted to build a much better Fair compared to the one in France. Plus, they don’t want to fall behind from those of New York, Washington D.C. or even France, it's time for them to show their abilities.

        The World’s Fair was indeed built with arrogance. The World’s Fair is very big in size, and some believed that perhaps the Ferris Wheel supposed to replace the Eiffel Towel on Paris. Also, the Fair was supposed to last for hundreds of years, however, it cannot even stand more than six months. Since the architects changed the construction of the White City’s walls from granite to staff, it decreased its ability to stand. Even though it cost an enormous amount of money to build this World’s Fair, did not go to waste. Since the Fair did attracted thousands of people each day, it stimulated both Chicago and the nation’s economy. Although, it did collapsed after six months but America didn't lose any profit.

  The World’s Fair is indeed an act of arrogance, however, it does not necessarily paralleled with evil. Some places can have large gatherings of people as well but it’s not necessarily engender themselves in violence nature. There are many protests, like homosexual rights, in America where there are large numbers of people, but it don’t immediately start a serial killer.

      Chicagoans overcame many challenges to have the World’s Fair be built in their hometown. During the time, America wasn’t all that great. There weren’t many technologies or transportations than compared to now. People come to the Fair from all over the world to see the site would either stay in the nearest hotel owned by Holmes or find a different place to stay. The World’s Fair became a place where serial killers find it’s easy to do their work and go without getting caught. It’s just the situation that make the World’s Fair became the target of evil.

Devil In the White City Blog #1

       The Devil in the White City is a book about the World's Fair in 1893 and how it's full of good and evil. The book reveals that there is an “ineluctable conflict between good and evil”; these two go hand in hand. The World's Fair sounds like a magnificence place to be, a place full of new items that can only be available at the World’s Fair. Burnham and Olmsted, the creators of the fair, wanted this place to be the most amazing, unforgettable place that people have ever been. The World’s Fair drew many people across the world, it attracts thousands of visitors each day. At the same time, this place allowed young women to feel adventurous, and at the same time “safe”. However, if there is light, then there must be dark. Just like the quote suggests, good and evil exit within each other. Furthermore, the World’s Fair calls out to thousands of visitors, it also calls out to evil intender. Men such as H. H. Holmes looks at the World’s Fair as a place that would benefit his pocket.

These two characters, Burnham and Holmes, have a few essential differences between them. One of the differences is their view of the Fair. Burnham looks at the Fair as a happy place, a place that will offer news beginning to the visitors. He wants his visitors to be able to remembered and experienced an amazing time at the Fair. Burnham wanted to make Chicago the top city. On the other hand, Holmes views the Fair as a place where he can easily make money without being noticed. Another difference is their passion about their work. Burnham loves architecture. When he was young, he had experienced many jobs but never really stick to it. When he encountered architect, Burnham became passionate about it. He wants to do his best and make the best architecture, a factor that led him into building the Fair. Likewise, Holmes is not passionate of anything. He just wants money, in ordered to accomplished that, he kills people using the World’s Fair- built by Burnham and Olmsted - to reel in his victims.

Despite their differences, in a way, they both do share similar qualities. Both men are genius. Burnham is an amazing architect. He loves his job and always try his best by building the World’s Fair and the first skyscraper. Holmes, being a serial killer, is also a genius man. It’s hard to believe but Holmes is a smart man. He built a hotel full of complexity. Seriously, Holmes is not an architect but he can build something as amazing as  that complex hotel. The hotel has tons of rooms and stairs that led to nowhere. It’s built as a place where Holmes can easily accomplished his work. He kills people and sale their skeletons to local Colleges or Universities. Also, he graduated from college and has a license of a physician. He uses his license to gain trust from his customer. These two men indeed a genius but their views are definitely different than each other.