Gillian’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2015)

Gillian’s comments from the Last but not Least group.

I agree with Maria that Ruby is the most important person that Eddie meets in heaven. By Ruby showing Eddie the true nature of Eddie's father's death Eddie is able to forgive his father. He is able to forgive him for the neglect and suffering that he put Eddie through, and most importantly he is able to forgive him and no longer blame him for his life at Ruby Pier. Eddie always blamed his working at the pier and having a boring life on his father, but now he forgives him and realizes that his "could have been life" was not his father's fault and he can't hold him accountable for it anymore.

I also agree with Cassie saying how Eddie is portrayed as someone disappointed in his own life and this also creates the somber tone. This can be proven as true because time and time again Eddie mentions how before the war he wanted to go to school and become an engineer, but when he got back that dream died. Eddie had to work at the pier, and only did so because he needed a job, not because he wanted to.

I agree with Maria and Cassie that the Blue Man is portrayed more as a theme than as a symbol, but I think it could be connected to a different theme as well. Forgiveness seems to be a huge theme in this book, and the Blue Man portrays it perfectly. Eddie unknowingly causes the death of this man and learns the truth while he is in heaven with him. Eddie believed that he is with the Blue Man to pay for his sins, but the Blue Man forgives Eddie because he knew it was his time to go and Eddie's time to live.

I also agree that the captain was write in shooting Eddie. Like Cassie said, the child that Eddie saw in the burning building was most likely a figment of his imagination due to exhaustion. Eddie could have also snapped at the worst time. The war got to him and he no longer wanted to be there and be a part of it, so it's possible that he subconsciously made up the child in the fire as a way for him to escape his life and the war. If the captain didn't shoot Eddie then Eddie would have definitely died in that fired, and as Michaela said, the story would definitely not be the same.

I agree with Maria about how his flashbacks show how every action has a consequence. His flashbacks from his birthdays and the people he meets in heaven are all about how they shaped his life in some way. Another example is when Eddie's childhood is described as a glass and how his dad left fingerprints of neglect, violence and silence on Eddie's glass. The actions done by Eddie's father helped shape Eddie and become the man he before he died because despite what Eddie's dad did, Eddie always sought for his approval whether it was from doing good in baseball games or working at the pier like him. If his dad didn't act like this, Eddie might not have fought so hard for his father's attention and approval.

I agree with both Cassie and Maria that the description of Eddie also creates a somber tone but also a strong one. As Eddie is described as someone facing so many challenges and conflicts and he overcomes all of them, like how he doesn't let his limp get in the way of living his life even if he is limited. And even though he went to war and could no longer go to school he still found a job afterwards and made a life for himself. I think that as the story progresses his flashbacks of his life with also show how strong he was, greatly enhancing the tone of strength.

Like Allison and Maria I also think that the glass castle is a major symbol in the book, but like Michaela said, I think that it represents Jeanette's maturing. In the beginning of the book, Jeanette is very young and believes everything her dad tells her, like how they will build a glass castle for them to live in in the future. She even helps make blueprints for them. But as she ages she starts to realize that this was all an illusion. During her time in Welch Jeanette starts to dig a hole for the castle but as her dad tells her to fill it with garbage the illusion of this dream is gone. This causes her to mature as she starts to realize not to believe everything she's told and that sometimes people brake the promises they make.

Throughout Jeannette's time in The Desert and Welch we see her tone towards her father start to change. In The Desert Jeannette believed in her father 100%. She believed him when he said he would build them all a glass castle and believed all of the stories that her dad told her when he was lying about drinking. But as time progresses Jeannette started to become more skeptical of her father as he started to break his promises. Brian and Jeannette decided they would start to create the basement for the glass castle since their dad was making no progress on it. But the reaction they got wasn't what they hoped for because Rex told them to fill it up with garbage when he had no other place to put it all. Rex always told his family stories about what he was going out to do, but in reality he was out drinking. Jeannette always believed these stories when she was told them but as she grew she started to question them "hoping that what he was satin was true but also pretty certain it wasn't" (pg. 204). In the Desert Jeannette's tone was all admiration and love for her father because of absolute faith and trust in him, but as she gets older and the promises made to her are broken she begins to have a more skeptical attitude towards him and questions his actions more.

Another example of Pathos can be seen during their Christmas in Phoenix. Jeannette's mom tells them that this Christmas will be the best one yet, and that they'll even celebrate it on Christmas Day and not a week after. They get a tree and decorate it and buy gifts or each other instead of making them, something they haven't done before. Just as the reader starts to think something good will happen to Jeannette and her family, her dad gets in the way. He drinks before breakfast starts and is staggering by the time of midnight mass. This leads to them being kicked out of the church. Afterwards when they arrive at home they decide to give her dad a present - a lighter from the 1920s. With this he decided to light the tree on fire, which destroyed it as well as the ornaments and all the presents they bought. This scene makes the readers feel empathy towards Jeanette and her family and once again shows the recurring symbolism of fire throughout the novel.

I found the glass castle created by Jeanette's dad as an example of symbolism in the book. Jeanette's father wanted to build his family a magnificent glass house in the desert that ran solely on solar panels so they wouldn't have to rely on anyone but themselves. This dream was never to come true though. While Jeanette and her brother Brian were in Welch they dug a fountain pit for this glass palace, but her dreams are crushed when she is told by her father to fill the hole up with garbage. The symbolism of the glass castle is connected to the theme of disillusionment. As her dad drew up many blueprints over man years Jeanette began to dream and hope for this house, but this hope was later destroyed when she eventually realizes that the hope for her glass castle was really an illusion to how she perceived her father to be a great and wonderful man when in reality he was unreliable and couldn't keep one promise that he made to Jeanette.

I agree that the above statements show the horrible neglect of the narrator's parents and how this neglect is what made her childhood different from others. The fact that he parents let her cook hotdogs all alone at the age of three was a good example of this neglect. After her accident when she caught fire cooking these hotdogs neglect can be seen once again when she's in the hospital and enjoys being there - a place where people are often scared to be - because she's served 3 good meals a day and doesn't need to worry about needing anything, letting us infer that at home her parents don't provide her with three meals a day. I agree with Sydney that the negligence of her parents can end up having her taken away from them. When she's in the hospital the doctors and nurses ask about her injuries and how she got them and if her parents ever hurt her, and I think that this will be a common thing, of people always questioning the competence of her parents and in the end her she will eventually be separated from them.

The use of similes and metaphors are very prevalent in the novel The Devil in the White City. These rhetorical devices are used to allow the readers so gain a sense of who the characters are. When describing Burnham Larson says, "Burnham was handsome, tall, strong, with vivid blue eyes, all of which drew clients and friends to him the way a lens gathers light (pg. 26)." This metaphor helps the readers see Burnham in a positive and beloved way, the same way that the citizens of Chicago saw him. When talking about Holmes, Larson writes, "He removed the apron and rolled down his sleeves. The chloroform and his own intense arousal made him feel light-headed. The sensation - as always - was pleasant and induced in him a warm languor, like the feeling he got after sitting too long in front of a hot stove (pg. 148)." This allows the reader to see the psychopathic nature of Holmes and the villain he truly is. The use of these literary devices also helps to create contrast between the two main character.

I agree with both Michaela and Allison that the purpose of Larson's note is to compare the characters Burnham and Holmes, even though later on in the book Larson constantly shows contrast between the two. In the note he compares them. He compared how they were "both handsome, both blue-eyed, and and both usually adept at their chosen skills". He says they are both very good at what they do, but later on contrasts them, saying Burnham pursues his goal of building great American structures for the good of the people and to help others, but Holmes murders people for his own satisfaction.

American patriotism can also be seen throughout Part I: Chapter 4. In this chapter James Ellsworth, a member of the board of directors of the World Fair goes on a trip to Maine. "He believed it imperative that the city protect its civic honor by producing the greatest such event in the world's history." As Michaela said, Ellsworth - as well as the rest of America - wanted this fair to be exceedingly better than France. This is why he goes up to Maine, to find Olmsted, a famous landscape architect. Ellsworth wanted Olmsted to come to Chicago and help design the fair. When Olmsted declined his offer, Ellsworth played on Olmsted's feelings of American patriotism as he "described for Olmsted a vision of a dream city designed by America's greatest architects and covering an expanse at least one-third larger than the Paris fair" and "assured Olmsted that by agreeing to help, he would by joining his name to one of the greatest artistic undertakings of the century." This works as later on Olmsted agrees to join in the creation of the World Fair.

One major contrast in the book that I found was the world's view of Chicago verses Chicago's view of itself. The world finds Chicago a very dangerous place. Women are allowed to gamble and drink freely, the economy is based on slaughter houses, cars and trains are constantly hitting pedestrians, horses are killing their passengers, and fires are taking the lives of many. The death rate also increases due to diseases and a rise in murders. But the people of Chicago have a lot of pride for their city. They are an extremely patriotic city and hope that getting the right to host the world's fair would help other people see this and that they will stop seeing Chicago as a "dirty place." They wanted to make a good impression on the rest of the country, and this all contributes to the theme of civic pride, which is seen many other times throughout the novel.

I agree with the above posts that the foot pain is related to the foreshadowing of Burnham's death. Another example can be seen when Larson said "Burnham and Millet were among the few builders of the fair still alive" and "soon no one would remain" (page 6). Later on it is mentioned that an accident occurred on Millet's ship, letting the reader infer that Millet might no longer be alive. This leaves Burnham the only builder of the world fair left. To answer Maria's second question I believe that this foot pain can also foreshadow to some of the circumstances that led to the death of Burnham. "His foot had forced him to delay the voyage, and now it kept him anchored in his suite while the other first-class passengers, his wife among them, did what he would have loved to do, which was to explore the ship’s more exotic precincts" and not too long ago he had to "ride in a wheelchair through Union Station in Washington D.C., the station he had designed" (page 3). These quotes show Burnham's lack of physically mobility and can foreshadow how when he is face to face with the murderer he will not be able to escape, which will be one cause to the lose of his life.