The Shadowy Figure of Jack the Ripper: the Most Monstrous Events in the History of London - Research Paper Example

Jack the Ripper – Research paper Jack the Ripper is one of the most enthralling and alluring murderers in history who has gained the stature of a cult killer owing to the serial killings of women that he had carried out in the Whitechapel area of London although his real existence has remained nebulous until today. In fact, he was a shadowy killer and provided enough material for the press to execute their fervor for making this story as a headline in some of the well known newspapers and editorials of London. At the same time there remained a considerable dilemma about these unbridled murders that startled the press and the public to a great extent. According to the Annual Report of the Sanitary Conditions of Whitechapel that presented a schedule of the deaths in that area, there were no reports of murders and only 71 incidents of death took place in Whitechapel due to accidents and one case of suicide during the period 1886-87 when the suspected killer had carried out the murders.(Keppel, Weis, Brown and Welch, 2005, p.2). In fact, the analysts have cited myriad reasons for this confusion such as discrepancy of records and the frequency of crimes in Whitechapel area when compared with other locations of London. The slaughter of women who were believed to be in the business of prostitution and took place during that time assumed different perceptions to the media and the people. The killings were also attributed by the press in different ways and created much rivalry in this circle. For instance, there was one group that envisaged that the mass murders were carried out by a group that was reiterated by The Times and Daily News when they quoted the killers as “High Rip” bunch of criminals who took money forcibly from the prostitutes living in that area failing which they used to kill them (Cook 25-26). The exploration of the character of Jack the Ripper, revealed a lot about human traits as a whole, about moral rage, and passion on the one hand and the investigations of police that led to over two hundred assumptions about the reality of the existence of Jack the Ripper (Murray,2004, p.53). It is intriguing and spellbinding to understand the essence of the killings as the victims of this cult killer could not gain any significance when compared with the amount of enlightenment that these murders brought about in different sects of analysts and the discernment regarding the story of Jack the Ripper of whether it was one man or two men accompanied by others. However, the idea of common men was mostly based on the fallacies and delusions that followed the killings (Cook 2009, p.30). The erroneous beliefs of people have led to the mystification of a character, which gained immeasurable significance for analysts to dissect the nature of the crime and the killer. It is hard to believe that the serial murders of Whitechapel have led to so many conspiracies and proletarian detectives and individuals pretending as historians came together for analyzing the story of these murders that would readily leave Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes behind (Cook 2009, 30-31). Moreover, the actual story of the murders that took place in Whitechapel in London or the Ripper story as it is popularly called, underwent so many bends and buckles that the actual story has gone haywire and there were more suspects than the number of killings. The manner in which the killings took place suggested that the killer had sufficient knowledge of anatomy and in most of the cases the incident took place at the time of sex. It seemed that Jack the Ripper had a strange way of deriving sexual pleasure by slicing off the organs of the females on which he pounced. The economic condition of the women who were killed was fairly bad and the killer used to take complete control over the victims (Keppel, Weis Brown and Welch 2005, pp. 14-16). Who was Jack the Ripper? Ideally, this cult killer assumed different personalities when analyzed by various critics. According to Patricia Cornwall, the author of forensic crimes who undertook the responsibility of resolving some of the most brutal killings that occurred in the Whitechapel area and the basis of the studies published by Cornwall with the title Portrait of a Killer :Jack the Ripper – Case Closed, revealed beyond doubt that Ripper, the killer was none other than the famous artist, Walter Sickert, who was the central character of Alfred Hitchcock’s novel, The Lodger along with other theories of Ripper (Murray, 2004, pp.53-54). Jack the Ripper takes us to the world of unknown and infinite and we have witnessed a number of books that explore the characteristics of this shadowy killer who terrorized London with serial murders. On deeper analysis, Jack the Ripper would not have gained the name and position or could not have become the infamous and offbeat character if it had not instigated the analysts to bring forth their views about this man. However, the killings that took place in Whitechapel and the symbolic figure of Jack is reminiscent of human attribute of violence. If it is assumed that such a figure did exist in history, it clarifies the birth of a new trend that became the subject of literary critics and historians. As a matter of fact, Jack has become such a figure that it has added a new strength to the theory of Ripperology, in which more and more texts are being added every year. With the advent of the internet, there are several web pages that include information about Jack the Ripper (Murray 2004, p 53). The serial killings by Jack the Ripper have been compared to mass murders that were mentioned in the database of HIT in Washington D.C. The nature of the killings was rarest of the rare; while most of the victims were prostitutes of Whitechapel area, there were two women who did not belong to that profession. It is assumed that those women were killed in another way and various parts of the body were examined and mutilated (Keppel, Weis, Brown and Welch 2005, pp.1-2). In fact, such was the power in the character of Jack that the story led to the success of several tabloids of London, which is evident from the following excerpts that were presented to the readers:” The previous murder of Martha Tabram on 7th August in which she received 30 stabs, must also have been the work of a maniac. This murder occurred on a Bank Holiday. On the Bank Holiday preceding another woman, Emma Smith, was murdered in equally brutal and even more barbarous fashion by being stabbed with a Stick. She died without being able to tell anything about her murderer” (Cook, 2009, p.26). The history of the world must have witnessed merciless killings from time immemorial, but the mysterious nature of these murders followed by the fact that all of them were women must have contributed so many ingredients to the newspapers to promote their business and enhance their publicity. However, most of the newspapers could not fathom the nature and reason of these mass killings that took place in the Whitechapel area as a result the newspaper owners had little idea about the ways in which the killings were to be presented to the readers. While some newspapers followed the way in which police probed the deaths of these women, there were others that moved in a different direction. The police were unable to establish any major connection between these murders except for the fact that the victims were women (Cook 2009, pp. 27-28). The killings that took place in the Whitechapel could not be probed with effectiveness because the files and documents were destroyed at different times owing to various reasons such as fire or otherwise. However, several documents were taken away by people due to lack of supervision. For instance, the police officers who were responsible for carrying out the investigations of the case including Edmund Reid and Frederick Abberline also reiterated a similar notion about the lack of suspects and evidences that could have been the key to resolve the series of murders (Cook 2009, pp. 31-32). The Whitechapel murders that took place one after the other evoked a new era in the history of mass killings and led several novelists to produce works of fiction about an equally fictitious character who existed in the minds of many people, but the mystery of his presence could not be unraveled until today. One of the major points that can be discussed from the killings by Jack Ripper is about behavioral trends and patterns of human beings. Although, the character of Jack became inspiration for many in the literary circle, it is for no good reason that he is remembered by many except for the curiosity that the murders have initiated in one way or the other. It is true that during the latter years there was much hue and cry raised by the senior police officials about resolving the Whitechapel murders, which is observed by people like Reid as nothing more than promoting the sales of books. The character of Ripper assumed the proportion of folklore much against the brutal nature of the killings that took place in Whitechapel. The most surprising fact is that the character of Ripper could retain a place of its own despite the killings that regularly took place and the victims were massacred without any reason. After examining the nature of the killings that took place in the area of Whitechapel, the most important aspect was to probe the reason for such a crime. Who was Jack and what could have prompted him to kill so many females?; the sadistic approach of Jack was exhibited clearly and somewhere it unraveled the cruelty that resides inside human beings to a great extent. Although it is absurd to think today, but Jack symbolized the evil character of humans, but it would be too short to leave it here. The ghastly acts of murder and descriptions of each one of them being more brutal than the previous one became an aspect of terror in the city of London as the following example stated:” The wound was about two inches wide and blood was flowing profusely. She was immediately conveyed to the Whitechapel mortuary, when it was found that besides the wound in the throat the lower part of the abdomen was completely ripped open and the bowels were protruding. The wound extends nearly to her breast, and must have been affected with a large knife. As the corpse lies in the mortuary, it presents a ghastly sight. The victim seems o be between 35 to 40 years of age, and measures 5ft 2 in. in height. The hands are bruised and bear evidence of having engaged in severe struggle (Cook, 2009, p.57). It seemed from the descriptions of these murders that the indignation borne by the murderer could not have been mere enmity. Despite the fact that the series of murders did much more harm than expected, it represented an act of shame as a man is naturally known to have more physical strength than a woman. Moreover, the killings were not simple; as a matter of fact, no human being would have to be killed with such violent intentions unless it reveals that the killings were prompted by some reason. While the police were virtually embezzled for catching the shadowy figure of Jack the Ripper, the entire city was closely waiting for the news of another murder. The newspapers gathered enough material for the people of a city that was always bustling with noise and crowd and exhibited a pride of its own. The serial killings by Jack the Ripper can be described as one of the most monstrous events in the history of London as the mystery remains unsolved until today (Cook 2009, p. 55). While there are few incidents that can match the brutality of these killings there are so many things that need to be explored before fantasizing character and creating the status of mystery. It is undoubtedly true that the hoax that surrounded these killings has left signs of indelible brutality for over a century that is yet to be given a free rein. References 1. Cook A. 2009, Jack the Ripper, Gloucestershire. 2. Keppel D.R., Weis G.J., Brown M.K. and Welch K. 2005. The Jack the Ripper Murders: A Modus Operandi and Signature Analysis of the 1888-1891 Whitechapel Murders, Vol.2, No.1. Retrieved on March 29, 2014 from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5a9b6e2a-d756-42a9-ae95-1cda83896e2f%40sessionmgr114&vid=4&hid=125 3. Murray A. 2004, Jack the Ripper, the Dialectic of Enlightenment and the Search for Spiritual Deliverance in White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings, Vol.16, no.1. Retrieved on March 29, 2014, from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?sid=acbbb9ac-3797-4566-9970-054f9bcb7381%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=125&bquery=jack+AND+the+AND+ripper&bdata=JmRiPWFwaCZ0eXBlPTAmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl Read More