The Downside of Achievement: Root in The Devil in the White City Anonymous 11th Grade

Novels are often written to convey an inherent truth of life. However, when a nonfiction book is written and the inherent truth is still prevalent, one must take notice of the lesson to learn. This concept occurs in The Devil in the White City, a nonfiction work by Erik Larson describing the events leading up to and during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago; it is arranged in a novelistic manner, and it is accompanied by a life lesson, just as in a traditional novel. One of the characters, John Root, and his role in the World’s Fair, illustrates the lesson that although one may work tirelessly, the realization of his dreams may never come.

In The Devil in the White City, Root is prevalent in the beginning of the novel as the architectural mastermind behind the construction of the Fair. His partner, Daniel Burnham, “believed Root possessed a genius for envisioning a structure quickly, in its entirety” (Larson 26). Throughout his presence in the book, he is portrayed as not particularly business-savvy, but instead extremely knowledgeable - he is the brains behind the Burnham and Root company. Unfortunately, he dies of pneumonia before the construction of the Fair begins. Even though he is the more hardworking and possibly the more...