Thunderball Literary Elements

Thunderball Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction - Adventure

Setting and Context

The Bahamas, late 1950s/early 1960s, the islands being part of the British Commonwealth

Narrator and Point of View

Third person narrator, James Bond's point of view

Tone and Mood

Adventurous, exciting yet filled with urgency

Protagonist and Antagonist

James Bond and the US and British governments are the protagonists, with SPECTRE led by Ernst Blofeld forming the antagonists

Major Conflict

The conflict is between Blofeld whose organization has stolen the atomic bombs and the US and British governments who do not want to pay the required ransom but want to find and disable the bombs

Climax

The underwater battle between Largo and Bond, as Bond is under imminent threat of death at the enormous hands of Largo but is saved at the last second by Domino Vittali

Foreshadowing

The expression on Largo's face when Bond deliberately uses the word "SPECTRE" during their meeting at the casino foreshadows his membership of the organization

Understatement

M says that his stay at Shrublands will be a bit of a challenge which is an understatement as someone who smokes, drinks and enjoys rich food as much as Bond does will most likely find the experience tortuous

Allusions

Bond refers to Adolf Hitler many times alluding particularly that if it wasn't for Hitler his doctor would have been making a lot of money in his native Germany

Imagery

"It was a room-shaped room with furniture-shapes furniture and dainty curtains. The bed was provided with an electric blanket. There was a vase containing three marigolds beside the bed and a book called Nature Cure Explained by Alan Moyle, MBNA."

The furniture is unremarkable and everything in the room is austere contrasting with the dainty curtains and also the simple flowers which seem to be part of the focus of Shrublands.

Paradox

The submarine room where Bond and his swimming platoon prepare for entry to the ocean has tanned, athletic seamen in nothing but their bathing suits at one end and the paradox of pale engineers who have never seen the sun dressed in overalls at the other

Parallelism

There is a parallel between Bond's desire to get even with Lippe and Lippe's desire to get even with him whilst patients at the Shrublands

Metonymy and Synecdoche

"The control tower had been searching for them on the radio" - the tower itself was not searching but the term was used to mean the men working in the control tower

Personification

"The herb garden, row upon row of small nameless plants around a central sundial, smiles up at him."

The author attributes facial expression and an outward reflection of a happy disposition that personifies them

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