Holmes Vs Burnham Analysis

643 Words3 Pages
devil in the white city: burnham vs. holmes Erik Larson writes, “Beneath the gore and smoke and loom, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging in the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow. Larson’s purpose is to compare and contrast the two main characters, Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes. One is a successful architect and the other is a successful serial killer. Burnham was the famous architect that built the World’s Fair in less than two years. Holmes is America’s first serial killer. Larson refers the “White City” to the “Black City” to show good versus evil. Burnham represents the White City by building an amazing World’s Fair that brought over 40 million visitors and Holmes represents the Black City by the evil he brings to it. Burnham made society better by using his “allotment of time” while gaining the respect of others. In doing this, he changed people’s perception of their own city during…show more content…
Burnham stays true to the same wife, Margaret throughout the entire book. Holmes on the other hand, had multiple wives: Clara, Myrta, and Georgiana. Holmes never divorced any of these women before marrying the next women. While Holmes was married to all these women, he also had flirtatious interactions with many other women. Larson never once discussed Burnham interacting with any other women except Margaret. Also, Holmes didn’t have any male companions as opposed to Burnham who had a close relationship with Root. This reveals the cold loneliness in Holmes’s heart compared to the warm lovingness in Burnham’s. The constant comparison between good and evil shows the reader that it’s inevitable, where there is good, there is evil too. In “Evils Imminent”, Larson divulges that evil is
Open Document