2.Why do you think Larson included the story of Holmes to go with the story of the Wolds Fair and how did the two stories represent the overarching theme of the Gilded Age?
3. As the book concludes it describes some of the overall impacts of the fair. What do you believe was the most important thing the fair did for the nation as a whole?
4. Although many of the characters at the end of the book died, what were some of their most long lasting contributions to the nation?
5. How do you think the capturing and sentencing of Holmes paralleled the end of the Gilded age and symbolize the start of a new period of prosperity?
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Discussion A's Part 4
ReplyDelete1. Geyer was appointed to find Peitzel's children who went with Holmes to find their father who according to Holmes was in hiding; when Holmes was prison for faking Peitzel's death and collecting money from insurance company. Holmes accepted his crime and said that his children were in England with a lady named Minnie Williams. Geyer became suspicious of Holmes when lots of letters and documents were discovered in tin box marked "property of H. H. Holmes." Among those letters were the letters of Carrie Peitzel's daughters which they gave to Holmes to deliver it to their mother but Holmes never mailed them, instead he stored them in a box.Also, a search by Scotland Yard had found no trace of any of them and with more then half a year having elapsed since anyone had heard from children. Geyer tried to find them by using letters from Alice and Nellie Peitzel to retrace Holmes steps hoping that the trail of the suspects will unveil some information.
2. Larson included the story of Holmes to go with story of world fair to show how Holmes was able to get away with the murders. The tall buildings and so many visitors coming from around the world to see fair and his good looks made it easier for Holmes to kill people without being suspicious. The correlation between theme of good and evil, illustrates the idea that both virtue and vice can have long-lasting impact and how crime and corruption was increasing as a result of industrialization during gilded age.
3. The fair's greatest impact lay in how it changed the way Americans perceived their cities and their architects. It primed the whole of America to think of cities in a way they never had before. People started getting new ideas of architectural beauty and nobility. The fair revealed to Americans possibilities of social beauty, utility and harmony of which they had not dream of. It helped taught people that cities that cities don't have to be filled with corruption, darkness, evil and unsafe bastions of strictly pragmatic. It could also be beautiful. The city also developed and architectural structures flourished. People throughout the world saw the fair as a model of what to strive for. Burnham was employed all around the world to apply same city wide thinking that had gone into white cities into their own cities and soon he became a pioneer in modern urban planning.
4. The fair had a powerful and lasting impact on nation in both large and small ways. Walt Disney's father, Elias, helped build the white city; Walt's magic kingdom which consisted of Walt Disney productions telling stories about the construction of this magical realm. Fair also promoted President Harrison to designate October 12 a national holiday, Columbus day. Every Carnival since 1893 included Midway and Ferris wheel and every grocery store contained products( such as shredded wheat) born at exposition. Women also got alot of opportunities and jobs during this time. Inventions like typewriters and telephones created more roles for women in societies. The invention of light bulb by Edison and even the Lincoln Memorial can trace it's heritage to fair. The fields of architecture and overall building designs carried fair's influence in future for ex: Burnham : created architectural designs such as Lincoln's Memorial. Sullivan: made first skyscraper and Olmstead: Jackson Park.
5. Capturing and sentencing oh Holmes paralleled end of Gilded age showing that after this time period evil would be slowly driven out of the nation. Bad is going to be better. The government are going to pay more attention towards to make nation prosper socially, economically and politically.