Liz Stride: Why No Loud Cry?

[c.d.]

But why would she not consider herself in danger, Tom?

c.d.

[Tom_Wescott]

She may not have realized she was in mortal danger until the knife had already done its work.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Moriarty]

I would imagine that being manhandled to the ground was perfectly ordinary for late 19th Century prostitutes in the East End. It certainly would not of itself signify mortal danger, would it?

[c.d.]

Hi Tom,

Yes, but the question remains, at what point did Liz start to realize that she was in danger? Why not appeal for help to Schwartz and the Pipe Man when she had the opportunity to do so?

c.d.

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi CD,

We can't say that Liz didn't cry loudly following the fleeing of Schwartz. We can only say that no one heard her cry. Keep in mind that, according to Schwartz, BS Man was yelling Jewish epithets on a Jewish street, yet nobody heard him.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[c.d.]

I know that we are all over the place with Liz threads but I thought maybe we could simply focus on this one issue (yeah, right).

It has always puzzled me why Liz "screamed three times but not very loudly", according to Schwartz. This doesn't strike me as the expected reaction from someone who is in fear of their life.

I think it is a fairly safe assumption that Liz had heard of the murders of Tabram, Annie and Polly and that a murderer named Jack the Ripper was roaming the streets of Whitechapel. She is alone, late at night when she is accosted by a man (possibly drunk) who we are told is grabbing at her and throwing her to the ground. Would not her first reaction be to think that she herself might now be face to face with Jack himself? She sees Schwartz and the Pipeman who might be able to save her. You would expect her to scream bloody murder (no pun intended) and appeal desperately to Schwartz and the Pipeman to save her. But her reaction is three not so loud screams as though she was more startled than anything else. What can explain this?

1. They were pulling in opposite directions and one of them unexpectedly let go so that it was more in the nature of an unintended accident.

2. Liz was clueless and did not realize that she was in serious danger.

3. Liz knew her attacker, perhaps Kidney or another lover and thought at worst only an argument would ensue. (I'll give credit to my friend, Fisherman for this one).

4. Schwartz did not speak English and could not understand anything that was being said. Perhaps the BS man said something to Liz that reassured her that she was not in danger such as "next time, you'll get much worse" or "don't let me catch you out here again." (I'll give credit to my friend, Tom Wescott for this one).

If it is number four, then I can see the BS man simply walking away after this although it is possible that his actions did not match his words and that he went on to kill Liz.

Any thoughts?

c.d.