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Okay, I do not want the city I live in to burn down like Chicago did. However, the beginning of this chapter had me feeling that way. The first part of this chapter talks about how the fire was an opportunity for the people of Chicago and the United States as a whole to come together and unite as one. With stories of heroism talk about how the fire improved the character of people, burning “away vain essentials to reveal the sound and solid integrity of the people” (Smith, 137), the fire seemed like it was not a disaster at all, and in fact a positive event. However, despite the fact that the fire did enable the city to come together to rebuild and improve, it was far from a good thing, after all, many people lost their lives and about a third of the city was destroyed.
This disaster gave criminals a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of people who had been displaced from their homes. This disaster brought out the best in some, but “more disturbing perhaps was how the fire brought out the worst in supposedly good people” (Smith, 151). People of all ages and sexes took part in criminal practices such as looting abandoned buildings, some even resorted to murder.
This chapter started with the good and ended with the bad. It seems like most writings do the opposite. However, despite that fact, I believe that when writing about a disaster such as this, it is the right way to do so. When reading about a disaster one should not come away with a good feeling. Yes, there were some positives in the disaster, I believe it is human nature to find at least some good out of almost anything, but I think it is good that Smith ends with talking about the negative aspects of the fire, because after all, as ramsescastillo03 proves with this by writing that the fire had, “people running for their lives creating “havoc” in the burning streets and while others were crushed under buildings or looting most of the empty shops” it was a negative event.