"James Bond was inside the belly of the handsome, scented machine."
The handsome, scented machine in question is a gambling casino. The metaphor of businesslike execution with emotional detachment from its façade of enticement is one of the most appropriate in the entire Bond canon of Ian Fleming.
A slithering reptile in the casino
The whispering of the news that a young woman has failed to honor her gambling losses inside that casino is compared to a slithering reptile making its way from one player to the next. The comparison is quite effective at conveying the status of those capable of gambling in such a handsome, scented machine. The morality and ethics of those capable of maintaining their stake may go unquestioned, but nothing is more evil than the inability to meet your debt.
“James Bond’s heart was still in his boots as he was conducted again through the musty corridors.”
Fleming’s most consistent literary habit may well be kicking off the first paragraph of each new chapter with a display of figurative language. This particular example is also notable for a striking difference between how Bond is presented by the author versus how he came to be portrayed in the films. Rarely has Bond—no matter the actor playing him—ever appeared so nervous as to imagine his heart had slipped all the way down to his feet.
“Treat me like the lowest whore in creation.”
An ironic simile as erotic directive from Tracy to Bond. Considering the sheer volume of women with whom Bond has slept with, it is certainly ironic that the one who says this to him will become the one he treats most like a human being. In fact, he winds up marrying her. Then again, maybe marriage is what Bond views as whore-like treatment.
“The windscreen of the Lancia disappeared as if hit by a monster fist.”
Interestingly, Fleming turns to figurative language to describe the most shocking instance of violence in any Bond novel. The power of this simile lies in its understatement and ambiguity. The windscreen (British term for automobile windshield) disappearing is the full description—in its entirety—of the act of violence with which the life of the one and only Mrs. James Bond comes to an end. The only other details given about this shocking moment in the life of 007 are what happens after the specific homicidal action: Bond’s recognition of the identity of the killer, the car spiraling out of control and 007 losing consciousness. It is surely the most chilling single line Ian Fleming ever wrote as well as a brutal demonstration of the axiom that sometimes less is more.
