Saving or solving ?

[DVV]

What was, is and will be the prime, current and future purpose/object of ripperology ?

Solving the case or saving the cause ?

Amitiés all.

[Mycroft]

For me the pupose is definitely solving the case. For starters, it bothers me that a murderer has got away with it and that the victims have never had any justice. I hate the thought that JtR went to his grave, possibly grinning to himself before he died, at the thought that his involvement would never be known. Also, I hate the frustration of mysteries like this, where it seems that you will never definitively know the truth. I'm sure some people might miss the mystery of the case, which I understand, but personally, if the case was indisputably and undeniably solved beyond all doubt, either by new evidence,new scientific techniques or by someone on here, I would be more than happy.

[Lord-z]

Saving, for a lack of a better term. The case will never be solved. We are hunting a rat that crawled unseen over a field 122 years ago, and 122 years worth of us have all stomped around on the field in heavy boots ever since. The rat is dead and probably has been since before any of us were ever born and if it ever left tracks, we should have seen them early but now it is too late. All evidence has been looked at so many times by so many people and even when we do find new information, it doesn't add anything new to the case or makes a suspect less likely. At worst, it adds more questions. We are fascinated by the mystery, the riddle, the whodunnit, but there is no answer anymore. I would like an answer, I would love it, but we are just guessing based on second, third, fourth and fifth hand accounts.

The future is Ripperology is pretty much the same. New theories will enter and old ones will leave, but the dance continues to the same song.

[Adam Went]

No matter what techniques are used, the identity of Jack the Ripper will never be known beyond all reasonable doubt - you could find the proverbial smoking gun and there would still be conspiracy theorists out there who wouldn't believe it. That's just the way of the case.

The best thing we can do now is explore the lives of these people who were living back then and tell their stories as accurately as possible, given that they themselves are no longer here to tell it to us. There is surely still fresh information out there somewhere to be found, and IMO, we should focus ourselves on solving the smaller mysteries within the case, rather than the wishful thinking of solving the ultimate question.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Madam Red]

I would like to see the case of Kelly's identity solved. Jack the Ripper is dead and gone, there's nothing we can do about that now. We need to focus on the lives of the victims.

[amarti9]

The case has already been saved for 122 years........and counting. JTR and his crime will live on thus giving him true immortality.

The goal will be to solve. It was then and always will be. I think the case has been solved. How? Well there have been a 1000 theories as to who JTR was and how he committed the murders. I believe one of those theories was correct. The problem is noone knows which one is right.

[kensei]

The goal should always be to solve, even after 150 or 200 years have gone by. Is it a realistic goal? Probably not, but it is still worth pursuing. I do believe that there could- just possibly- be some way in which the killer's identity might still be revealed, but I can not imagine what it might be.

[tnb]

I agree with Monty that the ultimate goal would be to solve the case. For me, if that was a possibility, I would have no qualms about grabbing it with both hands. The victims have had no justice, and to that also I would add that neither have (almost) all of the people named as suspects over the years. If the murderer could be proved beyond any doubt to be 'previously unknown person A' then not only could the likes of Polly Nicolls and the other victims rest a little easier in their graves, but so could Aaron Kosminski, Montague Druitt etc, and, where there are some, their modern-day relatives. That has to be the gold standard, to misappropriate a hideous piece of NHS speech.

I personally don't think anyone would need to worry about 'saving' the case in that eventuality, as there would still be piles and piles of research to do. I understand that for some people the field might lose its appeal once the 'whodunnit' aspect had gone, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. And would it be significantly more than the people who leave the field as it stands out of frustration at the lack of progress and/or the more ludicrous theories that the mystery gives rise to (cough, Lewis Caroll)? Just think of the new avenues we would open up to research then - who was he after all? What was his background? How did he go undetected (and more than likely unsuspected) for over a century? Did he pop up in the investigation at all? There's another 122 years of research right there!

That said I have stated before that I don't think we ever will solve it, not only due to the passage of time but because any 'proof' would be entirely subjective, and of course certain vested interests don't help with that. With that in mind, while 'solve' would top my wish-list, I think we are stuck with 'save' for now and the likely future. The compromise is that we have to ensure it is 'saved' in the right manner, in a way that is focused towards an ultimate goal - be it solving, or whatever - that is respectful, based on serious research etc, rather than merely exploiting the lives and deaths of real people to plug ridiculous, factually incorrect theories or the like.

[DVV]

We will know more and more about the facts, social background, victims, police and suspects' life, etc...but we will always deal with suspects... We'll never prove who the culprit was. And we'll never know either how to define the canon beyond doubt.

In short, we can't solve the case although it has to be the constant aim.

Another solution is to become a Trevor's follower.

Just let me think about.

Amitiés all

[Hunter]

Knowing more about the real facts, the history, culture, the people- etc- is reward enough for me. Solving the mystery would just be icing on the cake. Even without that unlikelyhood, I'm grateful for the experience, the knowledge gained and the fascinating individuals encountered along the way.

[Archaic]

Well said, Hunter!

I agree.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Gabrielle]

The murders and the name 'Jack the Ripper' will go into history forever.
Part of the fascination for him is that the culprit(s) have never been caught, the fact we do not even know for sure who exactly were his victims etc..

Ripperology, to me should be about preserving all material, gathering all information one can find and investigating it. Getting a better understanding of it, a broad picture if you like.

I think we all are driven by the mystery, man doesn't like to be unaware..
We are driven by the small hope of closing down on 'Jack the Ripper', if not naming him, at least narrowing it down.

So, in my opinion - the goal is to find and preserve what is true and what is there, solving it is what drives us to do so, even if we do not believe in solving it, we keep hoping for that new piece of evidence that will give us new insights and thus bring us one step closer.