The Abyss

The “Abyss”, as London’s East End was appropriately called, was a boiling pot of human suffering. People were living like animals, but actually worse than animals, in the streets of London. Their biggest concern was where they would sleep that night and if they could find food. Poor people were treated like sub-humans and turned into indentured slaves at workhouses just so they wouldn’t starve. The homeless were not allowed to sleep in the parks at night, and bobbies would walk around and make them move. They were deprived of sleep, and then punished during the daylight hours for not being able to find a job. Jack London was appalled by this cruel treatment of his fellow man, and yet there was really nothing he could do about it except hope that people would read his book and realize what it was like in East London. It was almost a different world, where people were tough or they died. I’m very glad to have been born in the United States in this modern age. And it isn’t so difficult to understand how Jack the Ripper managed to kill so violently and not be caught.