Devil in the White City, TheBy: Erik Larson
Category: HISTORICAL NONFICTION
Guide Created By: Harriet and Ella
Discussion Leader(s): Harriet and Ella
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Guide DescriptionThe Gilded Age comes alive in this nonfiction book peopled with famous characters of the 19th century. The magic and mystery of the World's Fair in Chicago is beautifully described and interwoven with a tale of America's first serial murderer.
Plot Synopsis"A vivid account of the tragedies and triumphs of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the concurrent depravities of America’s first serial killer. In roughly alternating chapters, former Wall Street Journal reporter Larson tells the stories of Daniel H. Burnham, chief planner and architect of exposition, and Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, whose rambling World’s Fair Hotel, just a short streetcar ride away, housed windowless rooms, a gas chamber, secret chutes, and a basement crematory. The contrast in these accomplishments of determined human endeavor could not be more stark—or chilling. Burnham assembled what a contemporary called 'the greatest meeting of artists since the 15th century' to turn the wasteland of Chicago’s swampy Jackson Park into the ephemeral White City, which enthralled nearly 28 million visitors in a single summer." Kirkus Reviews
Questions
- Why do you think the author begins his book in conjunction with the sinking of the Titanic? What symbolism, if any, may be inferred?
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"It was this big talk, not the south westerly breeze, that had prompted NY editor Charles Anderson Dana to nickname Chicago 'the Windy City.'" - "The Trouble is Just Begun" (chapter from The Devil in the White City)
What did the boastful perceptions of "success" and "size" have to do with Chicago's desire to host the Columbian Exposition?
How did Chicago regard New York City and the Eiffel Tower?
- What personal strengths do you feel enhanced the successful architectural partnership of Burnham and Root?
- What is the meaning of the phrase "the necessary supply"? (described in the chapter with that title) The bizarre insurance scheme surrounding that phrase, concocted by Mudgett/Holmes, clearly indicated Holmes's willingness to handle unthinkable "material." What did the scheme indicate about the personality of Holmes himself?
- What was Frederick Law Olmsted's vision for landscape architecture? How much time did he feel was necessary to do an excellent job?
- Why didn't Henry Holmes hire an architect for the building he constructed? What special features did he design in his building?
"Chicago's fair, unlike any other before it, would be primarily a monument to architecture." - "Pilgrimage" (chapter from The Devil in the White City)
What vision of Chicago was Burnham trying to promote through the fair? What image of Chicago did he hope to overcome in the public mind?
- Why do you feel the eastern architects hesitated to accept the assignment of working with the World's fair?
Dr. Harvey Cleckley described the prototypical psychopath as "a subtly constructed reflex machine which can mimic the human personality perfectly...so perfect is his reproduction of a whole and normal man that no one who examines him in a clinical setting can point out in scientific or objective terms why, or how, he is not real." - "A Hotel for the Fair" (chapter from The Devil in the White City)
Do you agree that Holmes conforms to this prototype? If so, in what ways?
- "Five of history's greatest architects" were on their way to Jackson Park in Chicago. Had they been told the truth about the "landscape," would they have come? Why did they continue with the project after seeing the repulsive and remote site?
- Do you agree that "function" should be the only or the primary consideration in a building's construction? This was Sullivan's, and later, Frank Lloyd Wright's opinion; if this policy had been adopted, what might the Fair buildings have looked like?
- Larson contends that the Fair possessed a "tranformative power nearly equal to that of the Civil War." What have you read in the book so far that suggests this might be true?
- Olmsted was concerned about the purpose of the Fair. What should have been the purpose and was it ever stated? What is the purpose of any World's Fair?
- Were the little stories about the election of a mayor and a character named Patrick Prendergast puzzling? Why does an author do this in the middle of a novel?
- Do you understand the difference between AC and DC electricity and why the AC bid by Westinghouse was cheaper and helped change the history of electricity? If that was so, why did the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Edison, urge the Fair's officials to use DC when he came to visit the grounds?
- An engineer from Pittsburgh just suddenly, while sitting in a meeting headed by Burnham, was inspired by an idea that was rich in detail - an idea that was to "out-Eiffel Eiffel." Is it believable?
- Another sudden inspiration came out of a similar meeting that was to make the Chicago World's Fair one that was beautiful to behold and unforgettable. What was this one all about?
- The National Commission in Washington, who was spending enormous sums on the Fair, and the Exposition Company of Chicago, who also had much at stake, were constantly at odds with each other. How could this squabbling have been avoided and which one, in your opinion, should have had complete control?
- Would modern young women be as naive as those that were seduced and flattered by Holmes?
- The numerous setbacks that caused such devastation at the Fair were either the fault of Burnham's haste, contractors' shoddy work, or nature. Which, in your opinion, was to blame?
- What happened at the Dedication that was to be remembered to this day?
- The author has relied heavily on articles in the Chicago Tribune for many of the facts in this book; however, could he have known all these details or are some of them, necessarily, fictionalized?
- What were Olmstead's worries prior to Opening Day of the fair? Burnham's?
- What was your reaction to the Opening Day ceremonies?
- Were you surprised that so many exhibits of the fair still remained incomplete AFTER Opening Day? What work still had to be done?
- Immediately after the fair opened, the nation went into an economic decline. What methods did Daniel Burnham and Frank Millet use to try to increase public attendance?
- In the very short chapter "The World's Fair Hotel," we understand that Holmes is engaged in frequent murder even though no such incidents are described. How does the author make these implications?
- Prendergast writes a postcard to a certain W. F. Cooling. "I am candidate for corporation counsel," he writes. "If I become corporation counsel, you shall be my assistant." What is terrifying about his statement?
- Why did the refusal to grant Buffalo Bill Cody a concession within the fairgrounds prove to be a very expensive mistake?
- What is the meaning of the phrase "night is the magician"?
- What made the Ferris Wheel so popular and spectacular to the fairgoers?
- What advantages would have accrued to the Exposition if the Ferris Wheel had been approved earlier and completed earlier?
- What were Olmstead's recommendations to increase fair attendance?
- Let's talk about the wonderful chapter "Rising Wave." It's chock full of marvelous anecdotes, famous names and the "feel" of the turn of the century. What caught YOUR attention?
- Do you feel that it was fair to charge Daniel Burnham with responsibility for the terrible Cold Storage Tower fire?
- The Mayor of Chicago closed all businesses for "Chicago Day" at the Fair so that everyone could attend. Have you ever known such a thing to happen in a city before? If you have, what occasioned such a shut-down?
- Would you have agreed with McKim, Burnham and others that the Fair was too beautiful to be allowed to simply "fall into disrepair" after closure? What would you have done with it?
- Were you surprised by the persistence of Detective Frank Geyer who just refused to give up in his quest to find Holmes' victims?
- Did you read the chapters of Holmes' murders and the last chapter wherein he was found guilty? Would the book have been popular without the addition of a serial killer?
- Why do you think the author, Erik Larson, inserted the Holmes' chapters into the book?
- There is a statement in the chapter titled "The Tenant" that reads: "In that day the possibility that a man had killed three young children was still considered a horror well beyond the norm." Isn't it today considered as such?
- Is the fact that our population has increased many times since then a reason why we are beseiged by such horror stories in the media? Every evening on TV there are stories of such murders. Is this healthy? Do you watch many of these programs?
- The chapter "The Fair" cites the impact the Fair had on people, places and dates. In your opinion, which of the many on the list would you consider the most important to America and to your own life?
- Do you believe it is strange that the Ferris Wheel still manages to be called by the name of the man who invented it? Can you think of other inventions that still retain the name of their inventor?
- After reading of all the deaths in this book, did you still enjoy it? What did you enjoy the most in the book?
- Was the title of the book sensationalized for profit, or do you believe it was an appropriate title?
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