Larson Blog #1

In the very beginning of The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, there is a note titled “Evils Imminent”. In this note, Larson talks about the two men Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes. Though the two hadn’t met formally, they are the two main people spoken of in the book. Burnham is an architect while Holmes is the first urban serial killer. The reason they are linked is because Burnham built for the Chicago World’s Fair and Holmes killed during the fair. Throughout the book, there is definitely a struggle between good and evil. This is mostly coming from Holmes, because he was not always a murderer. I believe that Holmes mostly became a murderer because of his childhood. Also, this is how the book shows some of the “ineluctable conflict between good and evil”. What really defines being good or evil anyway? Is being good simply telling someone something nice or is it more than that? Does being good mean that one must be good for the whole of their life? These questions certainly apply to this book because Holmes is basically pinpointed as bad. Now, that’s not to say that being a serial killer is all right, because it’s not alright in the least. This is to say, however, that Holmes may not have been all bad for all of his life. The poor man was bullied for being smart, wouldn’t that make someone at least upset? Burnham, on the other hand, is not necessarily marked as good or bad. In the very beginning of the book, Burnham is on a boat ride. He wants to send a message to a man he knows on the sister ship. However, the man is refusing to accept the message. This makes Burnham angry and uncomfortable and insists the man get his message. What Burnham doesn’t know, though, is that the sister ship is having some technical difficulties and the ship Burnham is on is going to go help. Though he feels slightly concerned for his acquaintance, he still feels a little rejoice that for once he came out on top. After all, Burnham’s friend (Frank Millet) had always been trying to get the upper hand. Millet did indeed ride the bigger and better ship than Burnham. Now is this little feud considered bad? Does having a competition for who can have or do better things make oneself a bad person? Could Burnham now be considered evil? These questions are exactly why there is an ineluctable conflict between good and evil. I would say that this is how the two main men are alike. Both men are angry and upset about something. In fact, they are both wounded as well. Though Burnham’s wound is physical and Holmes is more on the mental side, this makes them alike to some extent. They are also, however, vastly different. For one, Burnham isn’t a murderer and he does not posses the capability to be that cruel to another human being. On the other hand, Holmes does this with ease and may not even consider himself a psychopath or a murderer.