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Losing something and never being able to have it again can be a destructive feeling and the many inhabitants of Chicago knew that in 1871 as they lost nearly everything to the great fire of that year. As a result of a fire that not only affected the local people but the nation, people of all kinds look to explanations as well as ways of turning such a disaster into something positive as Carl Smith indicates in his piece called, “Faith and Doubt.” Due to this unusual look at the reaction of America at the time, I find this piece interesting as it looks more at the effects in the immediate aftermath rather than the long term effects like most historians tend to do. Take Chicago Mayor Roswell B. Mason’s establishing of October 29th as a special day of prayer in reaction to the fire as he stated, “of humiliation for those past offenses against almighty God, to which these severe afflictions were doubtless intended to lead our minds…” (Biel 133). By reading such sources, this allows modern historians to examine how closely linked religion and society was at that time. Yet beyond people using religion once more as a Swiss Army Knife, it was also interesting to read about how Chicago business men of that time that attempted to twist the disaster like Joseph Stephen Wright stating, “so has there never have been such cheerful fortitude in the face of destruction and ruin” (Biel 145). This reflects on a common theme by Smith of people trying to explain or make sense of the disaster and than trying to make it into something very positive. The post by rhruska also mentions how writers of the time took advantage of Chicago’s bad repudiation and by using “the fire as a metaphor for cleansing,” they crafted Chicago into a Phoenix that they believed will rise again. With this kind of mentality, it is no wonder why Chicago did indeed die but come back from the ashes in a way that makes such a fire a distant memory.