Many people know the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but less are familiar with the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is told in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The novel was published in 1996 and written by Gregory Maguire. Though on the surface it seems like another fairytale, this story has a much deeper meaning. Through the use of content, symbolism, and context, there is much more to The Wicked Witch of the West.…
In addition, Larson provides a problem in both plot lines for each character to solve. Daniel Burnham faces many challenges, and setbacks while building the Chicago World’s Fair. For example, “The dome was too much — not too tall to be built, simply too proud for its context. It would diminish Hunt’s building and in so doing diminish Hunt and disrupt the harmony of the other structures on the Grand Court” (Larson 114). This quote exemplifies one of many problems Burnham faced. Burnham overcomes almost all obstacles to help provide the right buildings for the…
Mr. Larson likes to embroider the past that way. So he relentlessly fuses history and…
The story begins in 1890 when the bidding of the location for the first World Fair in honor of Columbus discovering the Americas is released. The author, Eric Larson, introduces the stories mood by describing Chicago as a morally declining city making it the perfect target for someone like H.H. Holmes. Larson tells that in this time period someone could easily vanish forever and could ,9 times out of 10, be blamed on the recurring acts of homicide, diseases, and "accidents".…
The good coming from the grandeur of the World’s Fair. This event was only orchestrated due to America’s need to be better than Europe, specifically France, after they had their own Paris World’s Fair in 1889. With Larson’s use of language, he is able to accurately display just how great this product was supposed to be. Another aspect of the “good” side of the World’s Fair is Daniel Burnham. Burnham has to prove his personal worth, through his work, to his peers and to himself. He vowed that one day he would be the greatest, and this was his chance. He is nothing less than a beacon of hope for the city of Chicago, a place of unfathomable corruption and disgust. Not only was he responsible for his own reputation, he was also responsible for the reputation of the city itself. Chicago was eager to prove itself among the elite cities of the United States, and Burnham was the medium to accomplish such a goal. This man was the sole reason for the success of the World’s Fair, which not only put Chicago on the map as one of the “greats”, but also displayed the unity and perseverance that was capable from Americans slowly dipping into a…
The author’s argument(s) or what he’s attempting to accomplish with the book, analyze those ideas, and then assess whether he succeeds. (critical thinking)…
For every man who devotes his effort and intelligence into enriching the world, there will be an equally powerful man who intends to counterbalance the goodness with malevolence. In The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, the intertwining tales of Henry H. Holmes and Daniel Burnham show that good cannot exist without evil, just as evil cannot exist without good. In the midst of one of Chicago’s finest architectural happenings, one man is working meticulously to create the most extravagant architectural endeavors of the time, whilst another man is working equally hard to be detrimental to those who are drawn in by the 1893 World’s Fair. Although the two characters seem paradoxical, they are similar in their people skills and obsession – but differ in their relationships and legacies.…
Although the Chicago World's fair of 1893 only lasted 6 months, I had an enormous impact on the city of Chicago, its people, and indeed the entire country. Up until that point in its history, the US had done nothing on the scale of the world's fair, and was regarded as a country of barbarians and cowboys by much of the world, especially Old Europe. The fair was a perfect way for the US to disprove this. In building the fair, they would be placed in direct competition with France, who had built a magnificent fair only a few years before. If Chicago could at least build a fair on par with the Paris fair, it would prove to the world that the US was a cultural, military and political force to be reckoned with. Because of the fair's gigantic scale, it became a microcosm of the conflicts and the tenor of the times.…
In the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, it discusses the city of Savannah, Georgia and the people that live there during the nineties. The author encounters several different kinds of people and events throughout the city Savannah that he was not really expecting. Savannah has several underlying issues even though people act as if things are fine. After further analysis, the main issue is even though things in Savannah may appear to be diverse; there is still harsh discrimination against African Americans and homosexuals.…
Since the fair was introduced, the reader could predict the immensity and great work of this attraction. Not only were many new inventions created, but also many ideas were inspired by this fair. Because of the great success and its original ideas, I believe that the World’s Fair “had a powerful and lasting impact on [Chicago’s, the world’s and] the nation’s psyche.”…
In Erik Larson’s “Devil in the White City” his character Olmstead said “that we are always personally under an agitating pressure and cloud of anxiety.” This quote directly resonates with my life and how I subject myself and my body to physiological symptoms of anxiety, especially towards things that are not that serious. One task that causes me to feel uncomfortable is calling a stranger on the phone. I will delay making the call even if it’s regarding a minor question such as finding out the opening and closing times for a store. It’s on the edge of becoming a professional handicap, because calling is a useful way to get a faster reply. Still, I would rather opt for sending an email regardless of how time consuming it will be to get a response.…
Chicago during the Gilded Age. Larson transports readers to a moment in American history that…
John Hick defined evil as “physical pain, mental suffering and moral wickedness” For Hick, the consequence of evil is suffering…
Duality exists in all aspects of the world- in the light of the stars against the dark of the night sky or the vibrant spring colors and the desolation come winter. The dual nature of this world has added deep lines between right and wrong, but of course both will present themselves and both will always, in some way, shape, or form, affect one another. In the Devil in the White City the author, Erik Larson, not only informs the audience about a colossal architectural turning point for our nation, but he entices the reader into a state of jittery tension that is enforced by continuous amounts of alarming duality.…
An Analysis of Good and Evil in the Movie High Noon and Application of the Ethical Theories of Kant and Mill…