Essay Questions

What makes this entry in the series such a departure from earlier Bond novels?

The James Bond that is presented in this adventure is allowed to demonstrate an emotional depth considerably lacking in previous entries. His long resignation speech which opens the second chapter illustrates a depth of complexity manifested as frustration at being given work he considers beneath his agency. And, of course, this is the novel in which the notorious ladies’ man and perpetual bachelor falls in love and marries. The plot also seems a little off-model from previous stories. Rather than focusing on traditional Cold War stratagems or megalomaniacal psychopaths and technological weapons of mass destruction, the villain united brainwashing techniques and biological warfare in an intricate plot aimed at bringing down political power through economic upheaval. Everything seems just a little off-kilter from the conventional expectations of a Bond story even though—as will be further noted—nearly every single individual stereotype commonly associated with a “Bond story” is present.

What makes this entry seem like the epitome of the stereotypical Bond story?

Due to the film adaptations more than the novels, a certain template of the James Bond spy adventure has developed over time. As with any stereotype, some of the elements making up this template actually occur less frequently than it is commonly thought, but after all nobody remembers or cares what James Cagney actually said because “You dirty rat!” is impossible to exceed. An almost inconceivably high number of familiar elements associated with a James Bond story—regardless of the specificity of location or storyline—are found within this novel. There is the high stakes game of cards in the elegant casino. There is the exclusive resort hotel frequented by the rich. The action includes skiing in the high snowy mountains of the Alps. And the climax includes and machine-gun attack from a helicopter on a villain trying to make his escape by bobsled!

What is SPECTRE?

SPECTRE stands for Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. It is a worldwide organized crime organization that does not espouse any particular political ideology. In his resignation letter, Bond explains that he has spend the past year acting like a detective than a spy as he has traveled around the globe trying to any remaining proof of the continued existence of either SPECTRE or its lead, Ernest Stavros Blofeld. Since the supposed destruction of SPECTRE following Operation Thunderball, Bond has been in pursuit to determine if it has be reconstructed either under the leadership of Blofeld or someone else, as he writes in his letter, “I have found no trace of this man nor of a revived SPECTRE, if such exists.” Part of the plot of the this novel explains that the reason Bond could not locate Blofeld was that he had since undergone plastic surgery to alter his appearance and that SPECTRE is still very much in operation.