"Whoever Fights Monsters": A Second Literary Masterpiece for Understanding Serial Killer's Minds...
Do you know what frightens us most as human beings? At least, I will speak from my perspective and point of view: and yes, I am referring to falling into the most absolute oblivion. For this reason, among many, many others that I could explain to you, I have decided to honour from my humble pavement and possibility one of the greatest investigators, detectives, founder of criminal investigation procedures, military and above all, curious and author of one of the most influential books I have ever read? And yes, I am referring to the enormous Robert K. Ressler. Who is credited with coining the term "Serial Killer", and who knows a lot about criminal minds. We're about to see him in his book....
What has oblivion got to do with the author of "Whoever Fights Monster"? Well, the answer is as simple as it is curious... Mr. Ressler is, along with John Douglas and Ann Burgess, the author of one of the most important books of the 21st century. And I say well, book, because in the light of the success of what these subjects did in the 70's and 80's, the investigative thesis that they did and developed together, transcended the manuals of understanding and comprehension of the FBI, which was the institution that financed it and that provided them with the necessary context to not only classify crimes and criminals according to their behaviour or footprint, but also by their violence, childhood background and behaviour.
When we talk about "Whoever Fights Monster", we are honestly talking about more than a decade of interviews, compilations, note comparisons, annoyances, bureaucracies that interrupt a life's work, and a mental, social and family stress that none of us could, even for a moment, fully comprehend. And I add even more context so that what I'm saying can be faithfully understood... Have you seen "Mindhunter", on Netflix? The series is about a trio of FBI investigators, trying to understand the minds of the worst and most notorious serial killers in history, at the height of this scourge in the 80's....
Mindhunter is the visual representation, or adaptation, of another fantastic book written by J. Douglas, "Mind Hunters" in the 90's, after he retired from the bureau... But that's another story, apart, by the way. This book, which I try to explain its importance in this post, goes hand in hand with the rigorous, cold and analytical look of Robert Ressler, who shows us what is really behind murderers, rapists, cannibals, fratricides, murderers, real monsters who hide in broad daylight, and that the media of all kinds, have been responsible for idealising and romanticising to a sickening extent, reducing the danger and highlighting yellow and sensationalist characteristics.
Let's not forget that the car in the book shows perspectives and incidences within the interviews he had to conduct for the FBI's Violent Crimes Classification and Use Manual. It is under this prerogative that the word "Serial Killer" appears, is reproduced, is massified everywhere, and reaches us today. The sadly curious thing is that, at best in our collective memory, we don't usually remember those who dedicated their lives to shed light on all of us and to document what goes on in the complicated, twisted and clearly fascinating psyches of these individuals who, infamously, have become more popular than their victims?
Thus, in each of the chapters within the book, we can see how an investigator details everything he comes across. From the coldness and taboo of a man who never admitted his crimes like John Wayne Gacy Jr, to the fear and incomprehension of young rapists and murderers, who ended up doing what they did because they had been brought up in harsh, unloving upbringings, with a marked naturalisation of violence and dehumanisation of moral values that accelerated the transformation of the behaviour of these individuals.
Personally, this is what I love most about all of Mr. Ressler's books, but especially this one. And that is that, as an author and researcher, he doesn't try to have a value judgement that influences the reader's judgement (and boy, could he have one...). He was literally sitting in front of the worst criminals who ever lived!). He just limits himself to showing all the edges of his investigation, and to show us as if it were a criminal case in court, the elements that make up each crime, but not seen from the accusing finger of prosecutorial justice, but from the psychic and behavioural components that made these atrocities possible.
A clear example, which I paraphrase from the book, is the following: Charles Manson is one of the most notorious serial killers in history. Almost on a par with Jack The Ripper and Ted Bundy, but he never murdered anyone. There is no physical evidence of that... So why his sentence, and where does his myth, his dangerousness, stem from? In "Whoever Fights Monster", we can see, as readers, that criminal behaviour is so varied and vast, that sometimes influencing others is more dangerous than acting alone. In other words, manipulating, convincing, promulgating hatred and modifying behaviour collectively, as Manson did, can be terrifying?
Perhaps even more than picking up a gun or a knife and committing crimes with one's own hand and execution. These are the reasons behind Manson's sentencing, which not only meant justice for the families of the victims, which included a woman 8 months pregnant, but also served to set a legal precedent for future crimes as has been done ever since.... This book is an invitation to open one's mind, and to see the procedure behind the selection of the minds of every murderer, rapist, and violent murderer. No crime is the same as any other, although the patterns of behaviour always remain the same.
Oddly enough, because Robert Ressler went down in history as a famous investigator of serial killers and dangerous rapists but also as an efficient and pioneering FBI profiler. Much of the latter element can be seen in the book, where we put together like a puzzle, all the remaining pieces that are needed to understand how the mind of a killer works. And this is key, because in the face of horror we tend to react with passion and anger, rejecting what we dislike.... And that is a mistake, because in order to learn, you have to know how to fight and interpret the "monsters"... Those who live among us, lurking, stealthily and shrewdly....