Extended Reflection Journal - The Glass Roof

The World's Columbian Exposition was one of the most extravagant, mesmerizing, eclectic, and marvelous fairs ever to grace American soil.  Reason being was the competition with Paris and the national pride the architects shared in their country.  This fair was to show the world what the United States was capable of and to prove that they were indeed some of the finest architects and constructors of all the nations.  For most, the exposition was a thing of beauty, an object to glorify and a symbol of prosperity.  But this World's fair also emanated an air of arrogance and hubris, with its gigantic buildings and enormous landscapes.  People doubted it would ever be completed, and if it did, then surely not in time for opening day.  They figured it too big a dream and too much for such a small group of men, who were only human, to accomplish by themselves.  Their growing imaginations and their capacities to create were seen in the domes of the buildings and how high they rose.

The Fair was too grand for its own good.  Though it looked magnificent at first glance, and it was towards the beginning, there were symbols of dramatization and cockiness around every corner.  The designers and builders of the fair wanted each of their monstrous buildings to stand out among each other and other well-known giants from around the world.  Their creations had to be just a little bit bigger, just a little bit louder than all the rest.  But in trying to do so, they created a temporary feat, not one that was meant to last for centuries after.  The glass roof was one example of their arrogance.  It was a beautiful idea and perfect for the summertime light.  But as soon as winter came around and all of that Chicago snow fell, alas, the delicate glass roof was not strong enough to hold and caved in on itself.  If the architects intentions were only to build something that would last for a short period of time, to give off only a moment of greatness, then they achieved their purpose.  But I believe, for those men, they would have wanted their greatest accomplishments to stay around and be cherished forever.  So they could be know until their dying day as the ones who created the World's Fair.  But their hubris in designs and size caused their dreams to be short-lived and crumble with time.

Their creative and artistic acts were sure to be the envy of all other architects who visited the fair.  And just as in other situations involving the good fortune of others, there comes the sin of jealousy and the want to be better or destroy what can't be claimed as one's own.  There is almost always a parallel of darkness and destructiveness when creative acts are made.  People can become so enveloped in the fact that the one thing they wish to be theirs the most can't ever be possessed, they turned to rage and angst.  Defacing property is a common reoccurence or, more so in past times, the burning down of a building or statue.  Also, another more hidden parallel would be to take advantage of someone else's work and use it to one's own benefit.  It may not always be for something good either and cause the once grand creation to develop a bad and murky reputation.  Holmes is a perfect example of someone who took advantage of the fair's mystical qualities and used its power to draw in his victims.  Chicago's World Columbian Exposition was henceforth associated with Dr. H. H. Holmes and his mysterious murders during the fair.

Extended Reflection Journal - Burnham vs. Holmes

The Devil in the White City conveys a constant theme of good and evil and how the two are intertwined.  Larson switches every other chapter from Burnham's story to Holmes', a seemingly back and forth between someone who is bringing good into this world and another who is taking good from it.  One lesson learned right at the start is that no matter where you go or how great of a thing you think you're doing, evil things will always lurk in the shadows.  There will always be a "black" city within the "white."  In this case, Holmes uses the wonderful, reinventing idea of the world's exposition to his advantage and sets traps for all of the innocent travelers that have come to revel in the fair's glory.  When comparing and contrasting Burnham and Holmes to one another, we must first evaluate their essential difference: the intention behind their madness.  Burnham does and says everything for the continual progression of society and to bring about one of the greatest architectural feats ever to have been attempted.  Holmes, on the other hand, brings no benefit to the people and his actions are only out of self-pleasure and lust for human flesh.  Though it may seem like the two men could never be alike, they have one quality that ties them together: obsession.

Holmes is, as Larson says, the "harbinger of an American archetype, the urban serial killer" and so created the precedent for many American serial killers in later years.  His extreme attention to detail and persistence in building a fool-proof house gives him the exact obsessive qualities of that of a psychopath.  He makes sure the furnace is just right and the even eliminates any odors from the burning bodies, as well as testing out his vault to make sure it was sound-proof and dampen the screams.  He almost when as far as pushing his wife's uncle off the roof of his building to avoid him finding a fraud check Holmes had written.  He was so obsessed with death that it did not scare him, not did it disturb him that he killed to kill, and not for something like revenge.  Burnham now did not go around killing people, but he had his own obsession with building his massive fair and getting the Board of Architects essentially "on board."  Sullivan wrote that in his firm Burnham was fixed with an "irrevocable purpose in life, for the sake of which he would bend or sacrifice all else."  He also said that "Daniel Burnham was obsessed by the feudal idea of power," meaning that he wanted nothing more than to take control and would give up all he had in order to succeed in his line of work. 

These men both set precedents in their time.  Burnham created towering skyscrapers and the archetype of the obsessive, over-working business man.  Holmes created the archetype of the modern serial killer and his various ways of executing a murder.  Both have played key roles throughout society over the years and molded the way we live today, under constant pressure and long hours, and under constant fear of people unknown.  With all the "good" that arose from this era and its industrial advances, "evil" came as its partner, making people wary and cautious as they walk in the shadows of these corporal giants.