What do you think of Holmes’s claim that he was the devil? Can people be inherently evil? How would you explain his strange allure and cold-hearted behavior? Incorporate examples from Larson (the author) to illustrate your ideas.
The idea of "evil" is certainly up for debate. The book centers on the Chicago World's Fair and on how two very different men shaped its legacy. Intertwining the story of a "good" man and an "evil" man shows how each lived in the same space and time of history, walking very similar paths. Chicago in the Gilded Age was a hotbed of activity as its population and world standing rapidly increased; the creation of the modern skyscraper, the grandest fair the world had yet seen, and four violent deaths a day all occurred in 1890s Chicago. Burnham and Holmes’ stories show the two sides of this era, good and evil, and how they both lived in and thrived off of the city’s climate.
