Evil Imminent

       In The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson portrays the lives of two men during the 1893 World Fair in Chicago. An architect working to design the fair and the other a serial killer working as a henchman to the devil. In the note, “Evils Imminent”, in the beginning of the book Larson writes, “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. In the end it is a story of the ineluctable conflict between good and evil, daylight and darkness, the white city and the black.” Larson does this right at the beginning of his book before the story even begins, using techniques with his language to make the reader ponder and start to wrap their mind around a story of mystery and murders, a nonfiction story.  He use “Evil’s Imminent” as an introduction to reveal what his novel will contain; two men of good and evil, Burnham and what would be the stories, Chicago’s  evil imminent, Holmes. Larson uses words like gore, smoke, and loam to establish the scene of the crimes and the where the story will take place in Chicago in the 1800’s full of people, smells, behaviors only known to people of this time.  In this page we are able to understand what conflict the novel will be presenting, the main idea.  Burnham and Holmes are described as blue eyed and passionate similarly.  However, a clear contrast is Burnham’s passion is for architecture while Holmes’s is for murder.  These men will both rise to the top famous of their actions while both using passion and personal determination, they will showcase their lives for everyone to see. The main difference between these men is their use of talents. Burnham used his talent and expertise to design and build large edifices; Holmes used his keen nature and good looks to design and carefully execute murderous acts. Also, their title and attitudes were different. Burnham was a high-profile, respected, famous architect who was proud of his accomplishments; Holmes keeps his work off the record and under the table. When juxtaposed, they are very similar in their successes, but when further inspected, the light and dark, good and evil are revealed. I find it nothing short of miraculous that he was able to lead the fair to completion in so short a time, against obstacles that would have stymied a lesser man. Meanwhile, here was Holmes, himself something of an architect, building a hotel that was a parody of everything architects held dear — yet that in its own way was equally, if darkly, miraculous: a building designed for murder. I found it so marvelously strange that both these men should be operating at the same time in history, within blocks of each other, both creating powerful legacies, one of brilliance and energy, the other of sorrow and darkness. Throughout the story we notice a direct juxtaposition with good and evil, light and dark, the White City and black, which just as the scene is contrasting it flows well with the characters who are being contrasted and developed at the same time.  The note that Larson leaves for us to read prepares the audience for what they are really about to leave, giving only a hint, and showing that good and evil will be at war in the story but only time will tell who will rain superior through the perfection.