This is an idea I've seen bandied about by a variety of authors who approach the thing from different angles, but never seem to have connected it one to the other: that the "From Hell" letter is written with the intent to be read aloud with a distinctly 'non-English' accent.
Probably the most compelling evidence towards this end is the spelling of "preserved" as 'prasarved', which, when spoken out loud, sounds almost exactly the stereotype of the Irish brogue.
If this is the case, then I feel it's safe to say that the author, whatever his (or her) relation to the crimes, was not Irish or "foreign", for the simple fact that non-Englishmen who are capable of writing English write it just the same as the British do. If this was a deliberate effort to cast aspersions on an accented foreign underclass, then it almost inevitably follows that the author was not a member of it.
How do you feel on the subject?
Probably the most compelling evidence towards this end is the spelling of "preserved" as 'prasarved', which, when spoken out loud, sounds almost exactly the stereotype of the Irish brogue.
If this is the case, then I feel it's safe to say that the author, whatever his (or her) relation to the crimes, was not Irish or "foreign", for the simple fact that non-Englishmen who are capable of writing English write it just the same as the British do. If this was a deliberate effort to cast aspersions on an accented foreign underclass, then it almost inevitably follows that the author was not a member of it.
How do you feel on the subject?
Comment