Characterization
Highsmith characterizes Ripley as a "suave, agreeable and utterly amoral" con artist and serial killer who always evades justice. Film critic Roger Ebert describes Ripley as "charming, literate, and a monster". Book magazine ranks Ripley #60 on its list of the 100 Best Characters in Fiction since 1900.
Ripley is epicurean and sophisticated, living a life of leisure in rural France. He spends most of his time gardening, painting or studying languages. This is financed by a stolen inheritance, a small income from the Buckmaster Gallery and his wife's allowance from her wealthy father. He is polite and friendly, and when the Pritchards appear in Ripley Under Water, their poor taste and manners immediately offend him.
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