The Devil in the White City good vs evil

Good Versus Evil The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson depicts that wherever there is good, there is evil as well. The note included by Larson, ¨Evils Imminent¨ depicts this: ¨Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow¨ (pg. xi). Larso shows this conflict of good and evil by comparing the two main characters, Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes. Burnham is the head architect for the World Fair Exposition in Chicago circa 1893, taking on a daunting challenge. In contrast, Holmes is a sly psychopathic physician, who opens a hobbled together building to serve as a hotel for the fair that is equipped with gas chambers and kilns which are responsible for the deaths of many young women. Erik Larson's main purpose in The Devil in the White City is to reveal the conflict between good and evil through the comparison of Daniel Burnham, a lofty successful architect, and Henry H. Holmes, a greedy scheming murderer. Besides the use of Burnham and Holmes, Larson used many plot elements to show the conflict between good and evil. He calls the fair the ¨Ẅhite City¨ Burnham built this image and describes it, ¨The exposition was Chicagos conscience, he declares, the city (Chicago) it wanted to become¨ (Pg. 225). The ¨Black City¨ includes all of Chicago out of Burnhams world fair, including Holmes' building. This name represents the crime, dirt, and truth of Chicago. Larson explains this, ¨The White City was the perfect city of Daniel Burnham's dreams, a vision shared by all progress-minded Chicagoans of everything their Black City should and could be¨ (Pg. 210). The image of daylight and darkness helped define the White and Black cities, it was safe to go to the fair at night, but unheard of to roam the streets of Chicago in the dark. Burnham being tagged by the White City and Holmes marks the Black City, they