Coney Island in the words of Edward Tilyou is a place where people “cut loose from repressions and restrictions, and act pretty much as they feel like acting—since everyone else is doing the same thing.” Coney Island capitalized on the uptightness of the Victorian era, drawing in the masses to a hedonistic wonderland. Its creators knew how to make the people come to a park celebrating everything that society deemed unacceptable. The people were invited to escape the austerity and self-consciousness of everyday life without being judged. Visitors to Coney Island could not only awe over the seven deadly sins on display, they could actually participate in them. Sinning was allowed because retribution was also showcased. One could be a glutton, a sloth; one could lust and litter, but there would not be much time until one was engulfed in flood and fire. As Maxim Gorky noted, “All the spectacles in this city have one purpose: to show the people how they will be punished after death for their sins, to teach them to live upon earth humbly, and to obey the laws.” Coney Island even made punishment appealing; the public was able to find thrill in a burning building because they could escape unscathed. People are helpless against resisting even a brush with immortality. Those who thought up the amusements of Coney Island were driven by “a passion for gold,” in Gorky’s words. They understood that people would pay to leave the confinement and dreariness of living, even for a short while. All together the people would come to break the rules; these slaves to conformity would figure that if others could indulge in a day at the park, it must be okay.