Compelling Characters: Jack The Ripper

34 Months of Victorian Whitechapel: Ruffians, Immigrants and Soldiers.

Gruesome Comic Book Art

6 to 7 min read

Ripper Archetype in Historical Fiction

Jack the Ripper became a mythical figure and I dunno why I'm covering it to be honest, it’s a case so cold it's as frozen solid as one of Keir Starmer's pensioners! Missing evidence, lost files, and insufficiently trained police all contributed. Much like Robin Hood, Jack the Ripper is an alluring archetype depicted through quite a few compelling characters, though none as embarrassing as Kevin Costner’s smug American Lord Loxley. In this blog, I've decided to share 'From Hell' with you before writing my own shit fan fiction, before subjecting you to my thoughts on who the Ripper actually was and why.

'From Hell' Public House

Alan Moore's graphic novel, ‘From Hell,’ offers a fresh perspective, adding a rich dialectical narrative to traditional Jack the Ripper lore. It gives you a deeper appreciation of Whitechapel than many other versions, because it incorporates detailed case file information. Whitechapel pulses with life on the pages, and well developed characters like Inspector Abberline are beautifully flawed but appetisingly relatable. This graphic novel vividly re-animates a dark life, capturing London's fear of the blade and its unseen wielder. Fuck-all like the film!

Top Brass Ripper Case

In The Actual Ripper Case:

Inspector Frederick Abberline was pivotal in the Jack the Ripper investigation, with deep knowledge of Whitechapel. Unlike many ex-soldiers at the time, he lacked military training — this was a good thing because they were shit! Military trained police focused on crowd control more so than investigative skills. His colleagues, Inspector Henry Moore and Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, were skilled for their time.

'From' Hell Artwork

Assistant Commissioner Sir Robert Anderson oversaw the CID during the Whitechapel murders, akin to a premiership team manager, much needed a leader.

Son of Morowa: A Ripper Profile:

The evening never tormented my eyes, nor did it expose the cursed blemishes my whore mother gave me at birth. I watched the outline of a figure. Another Dziewica Moru. This woman wore a tired black dress that dragged along the grubby pavement as she marched into Buck’s Row, not too much unlike my own matriarch herself. Naturally, I followed. 

The cold darkness was crushing inward from every angle compacting the light that tried escape the tall gas lamps. The nights chill numbed the rash under my shirt and woollen waist coat. This lady betrayed no inkling that I was near, It felt wrong to compare these women to my mother. We should’ve been stoning them for the disease they spread, but no one did! 

Syphilis Victim

I matched her trot into the shadows, as my mind replayed scenes of a recent mistake. Recollections tugged on my waistcoat like a beggar, haunted me for acknowledgement! It was just three weeks before that very moment. The flashes still play out to this day; relentless stabbing, in and out, again and again, jolting through my head! the fleshy resistance against my knife told me of the visceral gems inside her. Vile butchery, that part was good. 

Syphilis Victim

The woman's lifeblood sparkled black under the celestial glow of the moon. I felt disgusted, because I was inappropriately aroused. I killed and desecrated her, thinking of the one who gave birth to me. I had given the woman a coin, she parted chilled knees and spoke sharply in words I could not understand. 

Syphilis Victim

She was a maiden of the Morowa dziewica. I reclaimed my coin as I stood over her bloodsoaked steaming mass. She was a symbol of our resistance across the city, because the land had been lost and filled with wickedness. My warm sticky hand stung; it slid onto the blade. 

I began to fear the eyes of Morowa dziewica, the maiden of sickness, searching for me, I knew it. I had blood lust. My family might taste vengeance, maybe degenerate to vermin like those birthers of abomination across Whitechapel. 

I could hear the clippity clop of heels, so I drew even closer. The flowing black fabric became clearer, as well as her white blouse and bonnet. Another plague maiden, a test. Moving briskly toward her, I smiled and politely spoke out in my broken English.      

‘Madam, hello, please, coin for drink?’ I said, offering legal tender. 

‘Oh bloomin' eck!’ she said, holding her chest. ‘Ah neelly add art attack!’

‘Hello, please,’ I said, walking nearer, smiling. 

‘Eya, ah, knows yew, dun I?’ she said, scowling and pointing at me with uncertainty. ‘Ave I sin yew dahn the ten bells?’

‘Coin, uh . . . drink?’ I uttered, my English was awful but it got me by. We walked, she talked, oblivious of the knife I slid from my boot. 

Newspaper cuttings caricaturised the killer

Who Was Jack The Ripper?

Jack the Ripper’s victims lacked common defensive injuries, suggesting he was familiar to them, or not perceived as a threat. A young man new to sexual based homicide, likely with schizophrenia or a similar thought disordered mental illness; I believe he was a Polish-Jewish immigrant. Language barriers likely brought social camouflaged and may have contributed delusional beliefs. Poor English prevented him from writing any ‘Dear Boss’ or ‘From Hell’ letters to the police. His actions were marked by paranoid vigilance and a deep distrust of others. Other Polish Jews may have held suspicions, or like Israel Schwartz may have witnessed him, but kept silent as per their custom. 

Wall graffiti allegedly from the killer

Victim Reports:

Martha Tabram

Bled to death after 22 stab wounds to the torso and severe wounds to vital organs.

Mary Ann Nichols

Throat cut and deep abdominal stabbing. Facial injuries and missing teeth. Mutilation. 

Annie Chapman

Throat severed and abdominal mutilation. Multiple bruises and a methodical killing approach.

Elizabeth Stride

Cut to the left carotid artery and damage to the windpipe, with no mutilation.

Catherine Eddowes 

Throat cut and heavy abdominal mutilation. Removal of several organs. Bruises on her face and hand.

Mary Jane Kelly

Profound mutilation and blood loss. Severe injury to her face, neck, abdomen, and missing organs.

Common Denominators:

Stabbing, left and right handedness mentioned, cut throat, mutilation and desecration.

Trophy Items:

Cervix, left ovary, part of the bladder, left kidney, heart

Criminology Profile:

Aaron Kominsky and Nathan Kaminsky (aka David Cohen)

I refer to Martin Fido's book and the massive Ripper online community here. Suspect details were likely somewhat muddled up by undertrained police. David Cohen is a Jewish name as well as a general expression for an unknown man in the Jewish community. McNaghten and Swanson’s accounts of Kosminski could have been much better! Kaminsky, who was incarcerated after the last Ripper murder, and Cohen lived in Whitechapel and were mentally ill are very similar.

Media portrayal of Jack the Ripper

Psychological and Behavioral Profile:

A delusional killer targeting women aged roughly around his mothers age who do sex work. Possibly organ symbolism: liver as spirit, heart as soul, eyes as windows of intent, the womb as rebirth and or reproduction. Disorganised thoughts and a deranged worldview aided bizarre but methodical planning.

Whitechapel

What's the deal?

If Jack the Ripper had not gone under the radar, missing the famous suspect list I would say he was a Polish Jew. A man not properly identified, partly Cohen, with some Kosminski, or Kaminsky. The evidence suggests a delusional man processing encounters through a disturbed mind. 

Anderson's claim of the Ripper dying in an asylum, described him as a low-born Jewish immigrant; yes it supports the theory, but again, he didn't give a full name and the book was written years later. The confusion between names like Kosminsky and Kaminsky demonstrates Victorian investigative limitations. 

Jack the Ripper is a historical character fictionalised by antiquated data processing and sensationalism that helped him avoid detection.

Share and leave a comment it'll be nice to know your thoughts!