Holmes is the "bad guy" in The Devil In The White City, and Chicago is the "White City." However, is the depraved Holmes much different from a city of opportunity like Chicago? The similarities are striking. When Holmes built his building, he viewed laborers as replaceable tools; the turnover rate was high. When Chicago industrialized, workers lost their identities and became replaceable cogs in the big machine. Holmes seems good on the outside, but that is simply a facade. Chicago seems like a great new land of potential, in which jobs are plentiful and upward social mobility is possible for everyone, but that is quixotic -- the reality is that most are working class and will remain that way for the remainder of their lives. Those who affiliate with Holmes are left abandoned or dead; many who affiliate with Chicago are left decrepit or get killed while working (or by Holmes). So, are Holmes and Chicago that different, or are we as people who hear about Holmes's brutally killing multiple women and children simply biased?