Thunderball Quotes

Quotes

"Bond's excitement waned minutely. It was never a good sign when M addressed him by his christian name instead of by his number. This didn't look like a job - more like something personal. There was none of the tension in M's voice that heralded big, exciting news. M's expression was interested, friendly, almost benign. Bond said something non-committal."

Narrator, Chapter One

Bond lives for the high pressure situations that his job in espionage usually provides. He cannot stand normalcy, or the nice, genteel environments where there are no international criminals, spies or assassins. Usually when he is called in for a job there is already an atmosphere of excitement. M can bark orders because Bond cannot wait to leap into action. He refers then to Bond as 007 because he is not a friend, an individual over whom he has some sort of pastoral responsibility, but rather he is a member of a team, a number rather than an identifiable name. When M is genial and friendly and addresses him as James there is usually something mundane in the offing that he knows Bond will not like and M therefore tries to exert his authority with friendliness rather than by giving orders. This quote shows Bond's mindset and the type of mentality that he has that makes him perfect for international espionage, a dirty, dangerous world of excitement and action.

She was an athletic-looking girl whom Bond would have casually associated with tennis, or skating, or show-jumping. She had the sort of firm, compact figure that always attracted him and a fresh open-air type of prettiness that would have been commonplace but for a wide, rather passionate mouth and a hint of authority that would be a challenge to men. She was dressed in a feminine version of the smock worn by Mr Wain, and it was clear from the undisguised curves of her breasts and hips that she had little on underneath it. Bond asked her if she didn't get bored. What did she do with her time off?"

Narrator, Chapter Two

Bond is obsessed with women and finds himself preoccupied with thoughts of them a large percentage of the time. They generally fall into two categories - his type and not his type, although falling into the second category does not seem to hamper his desire to hit on the woman in question. In a way he is quite chauvinistic as can be seen from his observation that a woman with authority can be a challenge to a man. He does not seem to see women as equal. He is confident in his own ability to be irresistible to women and therefore does not feel the need to come up with a particularly creative chat-up line.

"Bond, fretted with indecision and the fear that he and Leiter were making majestic fools of themselves, forced himself to face one certainty - he and Leiter and the Manta were engaged on a crazy gamble. If the bomb was on board, if the Disco veered north for the Grand Bahamas and the missile station,then, by racing up the North-Wedt Channel, the Manta might intercept her in time.

But, if this gamble came off, with all its possibilities of error, why hadn't Domino made her signal? What had happened to her?

Narrator, from Bond's point of view, Chapter Twenty

This is a very revealing quote for a number of reasons. Firstly, it shows that Bond is not always completely confident in the mission, but that this uncertainty does not excite or challenge him but makes him exceptionally concerned. Despite his seemingly unflappable demeanor he is anxious not to make himself look ridiculous by being wrong about Largo and the real reason for his presence in the Bahamas, from both the perfectionism perspective and also because he is a pragmatist; Bond likes making decisions and having his superiors trust his judgement and analysis of a situation. If he is wrong he not only looks foolish but will be exponentially less trusted and will be kept on a considerably shorter leash.

This quote also shows Bond's preoccupation with Domino; he has genuine, if most likely temporary, feelings for her and is concerned for her safety not just as an "agent" but as a woman he is feeling very protective of, which is an unusual chink in his armor.

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