Does Sherlock Holmes Really Want to Capture Moriarty?

In some ways no. Why do I say that? I suspect for Holmes, Moriarty is like another one of the narcotics Holmes uses. Moriarty is the most interesting criminal Holmes has ever dealt with. Holmes takes the drugs when his mind is not occupied. In that sense, Holmes needs Moriarty!

Holmes must eventually catch Moriarty in order to not be seen as having failed. It reminds me of the Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta, the Mikado when Katisha thinks the executioner has killed Nanki Poo and she cries "Where shall I find another?" In Holmes' mind, he will never meet another challenge like Moriarty.

Did Holmes want to kill Moriarty? No! Moriarty's going for that fatal swim is not what Holmes wanted at all. Holmes wanted to be able to bring Moriarty back to England in shackles and deliver him to British Justice. Holmes wanted to be able to see Moriarty tried on a capital charge and then be able to attend his hanging.

Moriarty certainly did not want to die at the Falls. If a camera could have followed him like a bungee jump, he probably would have thought before he blacked out, better this than Holmes taking him back Britain, humiliating him, and then having hated British justice finish him off.

I've read about many Serial and Spree killers such as Andrew Cunanan or Herbert Baumeister who will kill themselves to avoid capture. This way, they are in control, even to the end. If Moriarty were cornered, rather than shoved over the falls, might he have taken his own life instead, with his own version of falling on his sword? Food for thought.

Holmes vs. Moriarty, The War Between Them.

Before a boxing match, you would have the comparisons between the fighters. It is known as the "tale of the tape."

This post is what drives them and how they stack up. I will also throw some other characters from the stories in and see how they fit.

Well, let's start with the bad boy himself. Some of this I am borrowing from how to plot character, others from the first book Python comedian John Cleese wrote with his therapist Dr. Robin Skynner.

They discussed four main emotions:
Anger
Jealousy
Cruelty
Anxiety


What drives Moriarty? Anger is probably the main emotion. He already has the anger in him. His parents, especially his mother feed that anger with basically telling him it is his duty to grow up and save Ireland. A sort of "anti super hero role." I tried to ask myself, is he jealous of what the British Empire has or does he desire to become part of the British establishment?
He certainly does not want to be poor, but it is not as though he will become rich and suddenly support the British establishment. That rules out jealousy. for this issue only. He wants to destroy them, not enjoy what they have.
So where is Moriarty jealous? Holmes! He resents Holmes fame. He wants revenge for Holmes blocking his plots. Mycroft is hated as an extension of Holmes.
Moriarty has cruelty in spades. The anger in him drives him to unspeakable acts. His mother and father are angry, but carry it out in different ways.
He is anxious about getting caught and succeeding. In some ways, I am not sure Moriarty is sure what "success" would really mean. An independent Ireland? Millions of dead British? If he achieved all his aims, could he turn the violence off? I tend to think he could not.

Now his nemesis Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes is angry at those who commit offenses. Jealousy does not seem to be a major role for Holmes. Holmes is part of the establishment and well off in his own right. He is anxious about not failing and solving his cases. For Holmes Moriarty is the most intriguing problem, but just that, a problem to be solved.

Where does Dr. Watson come into this? Money is not an issue. Jealousy? "Watson, you are a British jury," cries. In other words, the British everyman and enough to make Moriarty positively jump up and down with rage. Watson is the proper British gentleman. He hates Moriarty just for that reason. He is anxious for Holmes safety and makes it clear he would dearly love to shoot Moriarty like a rabid dog.

Professor Moriarty's wife Ana? Anger runs in her family. The emotions come out like a torrent when the Professor is killed.

There is a lot of emotion here. It is swirling like a constant storm.

I've Created a Monster

My poor show host (and potential publisher) cringed when she read the piece you have just seen. My friend Rita said "you have a vivid imagination." I thought, "gee, isn't that what is said about folks in the mental institutions. However, I digress.

I had a discussion with a friend in my Toastmasters club who is an attorney. The "is Moriarty is Psychopath or a Sociopath? Some definitions:

Psychopath

Sociopath

These from Wikipedia are a little more complex. My friend basically boiled it down to this:

The psychopath has a mental illness. He genuinely cannot control himself and doesn't realize his improper actions are wrong in anyway.

The sociopath realizes they are wrong, but genuinely does not care. Other are objects, there to be used.

Anger

I put that up, because there is no question. Moriarty is certainly angry. He certainly sees the British as a threat to him, his family his people. He sees them as unjust and that they are humiliating Ireland. I am just throwing this out here. What I am asking the reader to do is figure this out for yourself. Is the anger genuine, or is Moriarty a sociopath who is using the suffering of the Irish people for his own gain? Well let me rephrase that, the anger is there but is he using it to help his people only to build his empire? Something tells me if Moriarty were living today, anger management would not sit well with Moriarty. He will take his anger and go home.

Of course, as Holmes thwarts him more and more, the anger keeps building. I was reading about the Buddhist way of dealing with anger. That would not go over well with the good professor either.

Why Would Moriarty Attack Holmes.

The publisher and show host Dindy Robinson asked me an important question tonight. Why would Moriarty go after Sherlock Holmes? Why not go straight for the top and assasinate Queen Victoria?

Well, it would ruin a good story LOL! To paraphrase John Cleese, "what's the bloody point if Moriarty is Sherlock Holmes worst nightmare if Moriarty doesn't confront Holmes?" What I worked out is that Moriarty blames Holmes for his difficulties. Moriarty thinks he can go around having British officials killed up the food chain until he hits the top. Holmes is the only man out there able to thwart Moriarty.

You can also carry this out on limb. (Please put the saw away, LOL)! Moriarty spent a childhood being raised to hate the English, to see what the English did to Ireland, what happened in the Potato Famine. His schemes start kicking his enemies in the side and now this...Holmes makes an apperance and thwarts it all. Moriarty would never admit it, but Holmes emasculates him and he is the weak little boy again. The English thwarting the Irish. Moriarty is becoming more and more out of control, emotional and megalomanical.

Nature vs. Nurture.

Two words close in meaning but different meanings. Nature vs. Nurture. Was Moriarty the "bad seed" or made by his environment.

A friend who is a psychotherapist wrote the following:

"The question you leave your audience with was an age-old question of environment vs. genetics. It seems that it is now accepted by most psychologists and even philosophers that both genetics and environment impact the formation of personality. Given this, the question becomes moot. This means the reader is going to have to dig deeper if they want to attribute evil actions to something. What can you give them to do that? Think it might rest in an individual's spiritual evolution?"

In other words you, the reader are going to have to decide for yourself whether Moriarty would have been evil regardless, whether his experiences made him that way or a little of both.

The writer T.J. English just wrote Paddywhacked, a history of the Irish Mob in America. The last chapters describe the last major Irish American gangster, James (Whitey) Bulger. He described Bulger as the "bad seed" in an otherwise conservative, churchgoing family. So who knows where one ends and the other begins. For those who watch the Sopranos, in the story Tony Soprano is seeing a therapist because of what he is and does. In his mind, he was born into the mob life, he does not have a choice.

I am going to post some side notes about some folks I am going to be introduced to who should have become violent and have had experiences no one should have to deal with. More later.