The Devil in The White City describes how wherever there is good, there is evil. The Chicago world fair was being built out of good reasons. Mainly to show the world the greatness of America. However while the world fair was being built, a serial killer had other plans on how to use the world fair to his own advantage. He decided to create a hotel to lure people into it, and then kill his guests. The world fair may have been for just reasons, but evil found a way to use the world fair to its own advantage. Also Burnham even created a really big group of security. The purpose was to stop crime, but even the upgraded security force couldn't stop Holmes' plans. This just shows that no matter what you do, evil will always exist among good. There is nothing to stop it. Also no one could ever talk Holmes out of being a killer. He says that people are born into their profession, and he was born a killer. People cannot get rid of his thrill of killing, and the fact that people are born with the fascination of killing just proves that there is no way to end evil. This shows what the book means by "the ineluctable conflict between good and evil"?
The main difference between Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes is that Burnham is sane why Holmes is a psychopathic killer. Burnham mourns at his friends death, like Root's, while Holmes enjoys the sport of killer people. Burnham uses his intelligence for good, and tries to help the whole country by building the fair. Holmes uses his intelligence for his own purpose; killing people for his enjoyment. Their motivation is also very different. Burnham wants to prove to the whole world that Chicago is capable of building a world fair that can greatly surpass Paris. While Holmes does everything for himself. He does it to satisfy his yearning to kill people. He has some sick fetish of killing people, and develops a great enjoyment from it.
Holmes and Burnham also have many similarities. They are both greatly ambitious, resourceful, intelligent, and energetic. The main similarity however is their determination to get their job done. They will do whatever it takes to finish their work. They are both very good at fulfilling their goals. They do not believe anything is impossible. They set a standard, and do everything they can do to surpass it. They are hardly ever satisfied, and will continue to improve their building until they are almost perfect. They both also do whatever it takes to succeed. The world thought that there wasn't enough time to build the world fair in Chicago, but he didn't give up and worked endlessly until it was done. Holmes also didn't start off with enough money to build a hotel. He was able to use his charm and wit to buy a pharmacy and make enough money to finally build a hotel, and even evade paying for many other things, which allowed the hotel to be built. So their main similarity is their determination to fulfill their goals.
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