Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Part III: In the White City
This was the opening day of the fair. The day when all the hard work was about to pay off. The day that joy and pride among the people of Chicago. The determination of Daniel Burnham is shown through the finishing of the fair when he pushed Olmsted and Ferris to finish their projects. There was unfinished projects such as the landscape, walkways and roads, and the ever-glorified Ferris Wheel. Plus attendance for the fair was abnormally low due to the fact that this was in the midst of the Panic of 1893, so because of the economic situation of the people, it was hard to afford the fair and the prizes and goods that came with it. On the other side of the book, H.H. Holmes is continuing with his murder spree with victims like Anna. For me as a reader, H.H. Holmes's murders are very predictable throughout the story because of the situation of the city as well as the government because everyone is so caught up with the fair and the city that majority of the people don't know what's going on "underneath" the city.
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With the economic hardships of the time period, the crimes and transportation dangers were also a major factor that caused a low attendance of the fair as well. With Holmes' predictable murder, we see the gilded age of Chicago even more. Chicago is finally being seen with less beauty and pride and people are able to realize the corrupt factors of the city and nation. It seems as if the Fair is to compensate for the disasters that are occurring in America more than to suffice the pride of the new nation.
ReplyDeletePart three was definitely an eye-opener to the morals of the story and the gilded age. However, we are still able to see that industrialization and urbanization played a positive role. For example, the Fair itself shows how people are able to enjoy life for more purposes than just working and are able to have recreational times.
Overall, with the growth of a new nation, we are able to see many positive benefits and negative consequences to it.