Upon reading the Diary again...

[miakaal4]

I had not read the Diary for many years, and since joining the Casebook and realising that my memory is crap, I felt to take any serious part in this site I should stop typing half remembered rubbish and do some real research. So, re-reading Ms Harrisons brilliant book, (the up-dated version) I was continuously looking out for anything skewed or "funny-looking"
The very first sentence of the Diary is full of portent, but does it tell us something that has been torn out in a previous page?
(If they knew?) "what they have in store for them they would stop this instant.
"But do I desire that? my (sic) answer is no." They will suffer just as I. I will see to that. Recieved a letter from Michael perhaps I will visit him. Will have to come to some sort of decision regards the children. I long for peace of mind but
I sincerely believe that will not come until I have sought my revenge on the whore and the whore master."
What they have in store..? So in the previous page he was considering murdering them both? As he later thinks about the fate of the children, he must be thinking that he and Florence were going to be gone? The ref to Michael prior to this thought, gives the impression that he may have been hoping Michael would take care of them? But most telling is the second line.
"But do I desire that?" my answer is no. Small m, the only mistake in the sentence and it is referring to himself. Is this out of self pity? He follows with "They will suffer just as I. I will see to that." What does this say? For me it say's that he has felt like he has had his guts ripped out, his trust has been betrayed, and his one desire is for them to feel that pain. But in the end, it is the victims in London that feel the pain not his wife and her lover.
So where am I going with this? Well I am getting the impression that Maybrick wanted to kill already. Before all this "whore" stuff. The leap from hurting/killing his wife and lover to killing whores in Whitechapel is a long one. But do the previous pages show this fantasy growing, innocent of cause? Maybrick was full of self pity at the end, the one thing he wanted to ensure was that the reader would know that HE was not really to blame, it was because of Florries unfaithfullness. Did the previous pages show this was not the case? My suspicion was aroused because five sentances down he starts with; " I am beginning to believe it is unwise to continue writing..." as yet he had said nothing that would be deemed homicidal or illegal. Had he already written something that would? Was Maybrick, right up until the very last page, being an evil devious b***ard trying to save some of his reputation? I was not an evil killer, but a gentle man driven by that whore! Of course he knew already that he was enjoying writing his plans and there possible outcomes, using the Diary as a sort of sidekick, showing how clever he was. Did he cut out the previous pages to hide the real monster? Any thoughts anyone? I will in the meantime read on....

[Tempus omnia revelat]

I had not read the Diary for many years, and since joining the Casebook and realising that my memory is crap, I felt to take any serious part in this site I should stop typing half remembered rubbish and do some real research. So, re-reading Ms Harrisons brilliant book, (the up-dated version) I was continuously looking out for anything skewed or "funny-looking"
The very first sentence of the Diary is full of portent, but does it tell us something that has been torn out in a previous page?
(If they knew?) "what they have in store for them they would stop this instant.
"But do I desire that? my (sic) answer is no." They will suffer just as I. I will see to that. Recieved a letter from Michael perhaps I will visit him. Will have to come to some sort of decision regards the children. I long for peace of mind but
I sincerely believe that will not come until I have sought my revenge on the whore and the whore master."
What they have in store..? So in the previous page he was considering murdering them both? As he later thinks about the fate of the children, he must be thinking that he and Florence were going to be gone? The ref to Michael prior to this thought, gives the impression that he may have been hoping Michael would take care of them? But most telling is the second line.
"But do I desire that?" my answer is no. Small m, the only mistake in the sentence and it is referring to himself. Is this out of self pity? He follows with "They will suffer just as I. I will see to that." What does this say? For me it say's that he has felt like he has had his guts ripped out, his trust has been betrayed, and his one desire is for them to feel that pain. But in the end, it is the victims in London that feel the pain not his wife and her lover.
So where am I going with this? Well I am getting the impression that Maybrick wanted to kill already. Before all this "whore" stuff. The leap from hurting/killing his wife and lover to killing whores in Whitechapel is a long one. But do the previous pages show this fantasy growing, innocent of cause? Maybrick was full of self pity at the end, the one thing he wanted to ensure was that the reader would know that HE was not really to blame, it was because of Florries unfaithfullness. Did the previous pages show this was not the case? My suspicion was aroused because five sentances down he starts with; " I am beginning to believe it is unwise to continue writing..." as yet he had said nothing that would be deemed homicidal or illegal. Had he already written something that would? Was Maybrick, right up until the very last page, being an evil devious b***ard trying to save some of his reputation? I was not an evil killer, but a gentle man driven by that whore! Of course he knew already that he was enjoying writing his plans and there possible outcomes, using the Diary as a sort of sidekick, showing how clever he was. Did he cut out the previous pages to hide the real monster? Any thoughts anyone? I will in the meantime read on....

I believe that - after mentioning this very briefly to Robert Smith via email - it was thought by some, during the original investigation, that the diary carried on before the first paragrapgh that we now see. The main reason for this, is that the the first word of the diary does not start with a capital letter, whereas all the others do.

The 'what they have instore for them' line is, as you infer, very interesting. You can take it to mean women (or whores) in general. It could even refer to a lover of Florence's whom we do not know enough about. Florence is well known to have had several lovers on the go, including some one called Williams, I believe. (forgive me if I've got the name wrong).

The inference that Maybrick had the will to kill before the Whitechapel killings is probably correct. After all, according to the diary, he did start with one in Manchester. He was also known to have a bit off a temper, which is stated by at least two people that I can think off.


Kind regards,


Tempus

[Phil H]

Please play in the mud children, but come in for your bath before it gets dark.

[miakaal4]

But was he a psycopath?

Thanks Tempus you are right mate, he could well have been thinking "whores" or someone else when he was promising pain. I was also wondering what you felt about his mental state. Would a real psyco have brief regrets? And would he have the feelings displayed toward his children and later, his wife? He seems to be trying to become a monster but his mind wanders to things he wants kept separate. Was it temporary madness perhaps because of the poisons, or was he just evil?

[Tempus omnia revelat]

Thanks Tempus you are right mate, he could well have been thinking "whores" or someone else when he was promising pain. I was also wondering what you felt about his mental state. Would a real psyco have brief regrets? And would he have the feelings displayed toward his children and later, his wife? He seems to be trying to become a monster but his mind wanders to things he wants kept separate. Was it temporary madness perhaps because of the poisons, or was he just evil?

Hi, miakaal4

The mind of any individual is a difficult thing to judge. It depends on what type of (if any) mental health problems he had. I am bipolar, so I am well aware of the many different switching thoughts that can occur in the brain at any one time. But even this is not standard across the board. If he did have some kind of mental illness, then I suggest it was something along those lines. Depending on the severity of the illness, when in mania, it is possible to think and do anything, and then, immediately after, go back to normal again.

It is interesting to note, miakaal4, that at one point in the diary he mentions that a doctor he has just visited (Drysdale, Hopper/Hooper. Sorry, can't remember of the top of my head) says that, in his opinion, that there is very little wrong with him. After this, Maybrick says 'strange the thoughts he placed in my mind.

Now, Maybrick was well known to be an habitual user of arsenic. So when a doctor says to him that there is nothing wrong with him, even though he knows himself that he has been taking much more than is safe, this may have invoked Maybrick in to some kind of grandiose sense of invincibility. The thoughts placed in his mind could well have been: If I am taking this much, and I am still OK, then I must be invincible. Again, I am speaking from personal experience here. It is just a thought.

In the end, I do not think Maybrick was a psycho or evil; however, yes, he may have had some mental health or 'psychological' problems that manifested themselves at brief periods throughout his life. That is perfectly possible.


Kind regards,


Tempus

[DVV]

So, re-reading Ms Harrisons brilliant book

Brilliant is the word.
As much as The Famous Five versus Pinocchio.
Well, almost.

[Phil H]

DVV - please don't mock the afflicted. Diaryists are fragile flowers that need to be allowed their obsession. They don't like it when light is thrown onto their darkness.

WE know they're crazy - but they believe they're the only ones here!

[DVV]

Phil, I found the above dialogue between Diaryist #1 and Diaryist #2 delightful. We need more.

[DVV]

Now, Maybrick was well known to be an habitual user of arsenic.
Tempus

And he wore old lace underpants.
Hardly an evidence that he was the Ripper, but enough to raise an eyebrow.

[Sally]

Well, I think you're both being quite mean to the Diaryists

After all, individual mileage on what constitutes evidence is known to vary...

...Considerably.

[Phil H]

But evidence from the fourth dimension, Sally?

[Sally]

But evidence from the fourth dimension, Sally?

As a famous sleuth once said, Phil - 'Once you have disregarded the improbable, whatever remains, however impossible, must be the truth'

(or something like that)

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

When I read all the arrant nonsense the Diary has generated, I wish that in 1988 I had kept my mouth shut and not mentioned the possibility of there being initials visible on the wall in the MJK photograph.

Regards,

Simon

[The Grave Maurice]

That was an important observation, Simon. It certainly had me thinking, for a while, that the diary might be genuine.

[Simon Wood]

Hi GM,

The diary is about as genuine as a $20 Rolex.

Regards,

Simon