Literary Devices in The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
This story is all about Chicago. So if you love the City of Broad Shoulders/City That Works/ Windy City/Second City, you're in for a story that's more satisfying than an Italian beef sandwich durin...
Narrator Point of View
No fancy tricks here: this is historical non-fiction, not magical realism.Our narrator is likely author Erik Larson, recreating for us the events that unfolded in Chicago before the turn of the cen...
Genre
The Devil in the White City is a true story, cover to cover. At times we wish it weren't 100% fact: we'd actually probably sleep a little better if we could dismiss H.H. Holmes as a totally fiction...
Tone
As we're dealing with the two sides of human nature here—you know, the side of human nature that wants to build perfect cities and the side of human nature that wants to build murder castles—it...
Writing Style
Larson's not messing around here either: he's a straightforward writer and is clearly more about delivering the facts than doing stylistic loop-de-loops. But that doesn't mean that this book doesn'...
What's Up With the Title?
"I was born with the devil inside me," writes Dr. H. H. Holmes in his confession (1.10.25). Whether he's actually the spawn of Satan or not—and we're guessing "not"—Holmes certainly has some de...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." Daniel H. Burnham, Director of Works, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893"I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact t...
What's Up With the Ending?
We enter into The Devil in the White City a bit like we begin the movie Titanic: we already know what's going to happen in the end. Chicago will pull off the greatest world's fair in history and Ho...
Tough-o-Meter
Erik Larson's writing style isn't that difficult to navigate—the Devil in the White City is super-straightforward, alternating chapters to talk about the Chicago World's Fair and H. H. Holmes' mu...
Plot Analysis
We got the bid!Chicago is selected to host the 1893 World's Fair, and famed architect Daniel Burnham is named director of works. There's lots to be done, including hiring architects and constructio...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Anticipation Stage and "Call"When we first meet Holmes, he's loving the smell of slaughtered hogs in the morning (we're sure he likes napalm, too). Holmes marries women and kills them off, and he s...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
Chicago is chosen as the host city for the 1893 World's Fair. Architect Daniel Burnham is ready to get to work right away, but the city doesn't seem to know where to put the fair. Meanwhile, across...
Trivia
Steaminess Rating
When it comes to sex, pretty much the only thing that's steamy in this book is the Chicago summer of 1893.But, real talk: The Devil In The White City is messed up. If it were a movie, the MPAA woul...
Allusions
Sherlock Holmes (1.3.47) Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe (1.3.23)L. Frank Baum (5.1.1)This is a work of nonfiction in which author Erik Larson used only primary sources to recreate. All of the figu...