Part Three: In the White City

The fair has just opened to the public, and though many things still are yet to be finished [such as the Ferris wheel, cleaning, landscaping, etc.] it is seen as a success in the eyes of the public. Even more astounding to the public is that, in such a time of economic hardship, the fair was built at all! Introducing the newest innovations, technologies, patents, inventions, and foods the fair is truly a pivotal and marking point of the Gilded Age; it is a representation on it's own of how industrialization and the economic boom have changed America imperatively. Even in a time of economic hardship, people still have the leisure time and money to come see the fair. We also see the recognition that the World Fair is receiving from other countries when Spanish royalty Infanta Eulalia pays Chicago a visit-- especially the fact that she seems to secretly like Chicago at the end of her trip. We also see the declining of traditional social norms of females in this part, as nonconforming behavior is steadily being excused of the women. They now can show a little bit more skin, and have more freedom in the city life than ever before.
As the fair progresses, we see H. H. Holmes' murders also gaining momentum, as it is implied in the book that he has killed countless of his guests at his hotel. This symbolizes that as the prosperity in America grows, corruption too grows with it.