At first glance there is little to connect Joe Goldberg (in our novel this week) and Jack the Ripper, but Schmid portrays the panic and fascination with the Ripper as something that the media created. On p. 33, Schmid describes the public panic in 1888 when Jack the Ripper stalked and killed his victims as motivated by the media. Is our fear of Joe the same as a Victorian Londonite’s fear of the Ripper? Or is our fascination with serial killers dramatically different in the 21st century? Give specific media examples or points from our novel this week to detail why or why not.
