The James Bond Bedside Companion (33 page)

STYLE AND THEMES

T
he Fleming Sweep, after taking a bit of a rest in MOONRAKER, returns at full force in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. This novel moves just as quickly as LIVE AND LET DIE, managing to maintain a constant level of excitement. But unfortunately, the plot suffers from too many loose ends. For example, Bond's assignment is to impersonate a diamond smuggler carrying a load of gems from London to New York. He must then attempt to trace the diamond pipeline to its final destination. None of Bond's actions after arriving in New York lead him to Las Vegas on his own—he is more or less pushed there by happenstance. A few of the sequences are gratuitous, such as the Saratoga race track visit and the auction aboard the
Queen Elizabeth.
Some events are
never
explained. For instance, why does Bond wear a disguise to call upon Rufus B. Saye at the House of Diamonds in London? If it was merely to mask his appearance, it is unnecessary. (He never encounters Rufus Saye/Jack Spang face-to-face again.) And though Tiffany Case has Francs' name and description, Bond does
not
wear a disguise when they first meet in her hotel room. She doesn't notice any difference between Bond's and Francs' looks.

Fleming's plot device for the rapid changes of locale once Bond arrives in America is the Mob finding a way to pay off the agent (as Peter Francs) for delivering the diamonds. First he is instructed to bet on a fixed horse at Saratoga. Bond purposefully helps Felix Leiter disqualify the fixed horse so he will have an excuse to be sent elsewhere by the Mob. Bond is then sent to Las Vegas (in a very roundabout way) to play blackjack at a particular time of day. This seems like a rather expensive and ineffective means to pay off an employee—sending him all over the country and footing the bill. But otherwise, Bond would have no cause to visit Las Vegas, and would therefore never meet Seraffimo Spang.

Another flaw in the story is the lack of a central villain. The Spang brothers hardly qualify, since Jack Spang appears in only two chapters, and Seraffimo appears in only one. (They are mentioned throughout, however.) In the early stages of the story, Bond is constantly warned by M, the Chief of Staff, and Felix Leiter that he is up against very dangerous people—even a group like SMERSH supposedly comes nowhere near the power of the Spangled Mob. This menace is never really demonstrated. In fact, the Spangled Mob seems such a poorly organized outfit (they can't even pay off a diamond smuggler without first running him all over the country) that it is hardly worth James Bond's time. Therefore, despite the few instances of real danger (such as the Acme mud bath sequence, the car/cab chase in Las Vegas, and the "Brooklyn stomping" by Wint and Kidd), the novel is fairly tame.

Fleming's use of detail, however, is still rich and flamboyant. As in LIVE AND LET DIE, descriptions of America are interesting and amusing. This time, though, there is a hint of superiority mixed with a curious affection toward some aspects of American culture. For instance, Fleming is laughing under his breath when he describes a roadside diner in New York State:

At 12:30 they stopped for lunch at a "Chicken in the Basket," a log-built, "frontier-style" roadhouse with standard equipment—a tall counter covered with the best known name-brands of chocolates and candies, cigarettes and cigars, a juke box blazing with chromium and coloured lights that looked like something out of science-fiction, a dozen or more polished pine tables in the centre of the raftered room and as many low booths along the walls, a menu featuring fried chicken and "fresh mountain trout" which had spent months in some distant deep-freeze, a variety of short-order dishes, and a couple of waitresses who couldn't care less.

(DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, Chapter 10)

Some things, however, are viewed with a touch of disgust. While Bond is in Las Vegas, he has these thoughts about what is basically an American institution in the middle of the midwestern desert:

The first thing he noticed was that Las Vegas seemed to have invented a new school of functional architecture which he dubbed the Gilded Mousetrap School, its main purpose being to channel the customer-mouse into the central gambling trap whether he wanted the cheese or not. . . It was, essentially, an inelegant trap, obvious and vulgar, and the noise of the machines had a horrible mechanical ugliness which beat at the brain...

With an occasional silvery waterfall the metal cup would overflow and the gambler would have to go down on his knees to scrabble for a rolling coin. Or, strictly speaking, her knees, for they were mostly women, as Leiter had said—elderly women of the prosperous housewife class. Droves of them stood at the banks of machines like hens in an egg battery, conditioned by the delicious coolness of the room
and the hypnosis of the spinning wheels to go on laying it on the line until their roll was gone.

Then, as Bond watched, a change-girl's voice cried, "Jackpot!" and some of the women raised their heads and the picture changed. Now they reminded Bond of Dr. Pavlov's dogs, saliva drooling at the treacherous bell that brought no dinner, and he shuddered at the empty eyes and the flaccid skin and the half open mouths and the thoughtless minds.

(DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, Chapter 16)

Raymond Chandler, in his review of the book, said that for the first time, the sleaziness of Las Vegas had been accurately portrayed. The picture painted here is certainly not a pretty one.

The major theme of the novel is explicitly expressed in the title, and Fleming underscores the point in Chapter 24 in relation to death. Bond has just killed Wint and Kidd, and is looking forward to the prospect of holding Tiffany in his arms "forever":

Forever?

As he walked slowly across the cabin to the bathroom, Bond met the blank eyes of the body on the floor.

And the eyes of the man. . . spoke to him and said: "Mister, nothing is forever. Only death is permanent. Nothing is forever except what you did to me."

(DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, Chapter 24)

Then Fleming turns to this image at the end of Chapter 25, after Bond has shot down Spang's helicopter:

So this great red full stop marked the end of the Spangled Mob and the end of their fabulous traffic in diamonds. But not the end of the diamonds that were baking at the heart of the fire. They would survive and move off again across the world, indestructible, as permanent as death.

And Bond suddenly remembered the eyes of the corpse which had once had a Blood Group F. They had been wrong. Death is forever. But so are diamonds.

(DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, Chapter 25)

Diamonds, then, serve as a metaphor for death—and Bond, who carries the diamonds from London to New York, is the messenger of death who brings about the destruction of the Spangled Mob.

Another theme, and a recurring one, is that of friendship. One of the highlights in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is Bond's reunion with Felix Leiter, whom he had last seen as a bundle of bloody bedsheets in a Florida motel. Their scenes together are again a breath of fresh air, mainly because Leiter is such a warm and friendly character. Bond seems to remove his cold, stone-faced exterior when he's around the Texan. The friendship is important to both men; this is apparent in their conversation and actions. Bond again allows some emotion to reveal itself when he says goodbye to Leiter toward the end of the novel:

Bond felt a lump in his throat as he watched the lanky figure limp off to his car after being warmly embraced by Tiffany Case. "You've got yourself a good friend there," said the girl.

"Yes," said Bond, "Felix is all of that."

(DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, Chapter 21)

Surprisingly, the recurring theme of gambling is not as prominent here as one would expect, since the novel incorporates locations which would seem to play up this aspect: the Saratoga race track, Las Vegas, etc. No luck or gambling is involved here—the race at Saratoga is fixed, and the blackjack deal in Vegas is stacked.

CHARACTERS

W
hile DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER lacks structural development, this flaw is almost salvaged by the character development. More of Bond's personal beliefs and ideals are explored by the author, such as his views on marriage. His conversations with Tiffany Case are revealing and are among the highlights of the book In Chapter 22, over dinner, he and Tiffany share their own views of the perfect mate. Bond jokingly tells her that he would want "somebody who can make Sauce Béarnaise as well as love." But he goes on to add that she must have the "usual things"—and then proceeds to describe Tiffany's features. But he admits that his job does not allow-him to consider marriage. It is here that he makes the comment that he is "married to a man named M."

One senses from these paragraphs that Bond seriously wants to settle down and marry. He does fall for Tiffany (as much as he falls for any woman), and it seems that not since Vesper Lynd has a woman had such an effect on him. In the next novel we learn that he and Tiffany continued their affair after the conclusion of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, and that she moved into his flat in London. So apparently, there may have been some sort of love between the couple.

Another insight into Bond's character is revealed as he is waiting at the Tiara Hotel in Las Vegas to win his payoff at the blackjack table. He is disgusted with his cover, allowing the Mob to push him around and order him here and there. He admits that he feels "homesick for his real identity." This is a throwback to the similar thoughts he felt at the end of MOONRAKER, when he likens his life as a secret agent to that of a "man who is only a silhouette." In essence, Bond is reflecting that perhaps he doesn't live his "real identity" often enough—that his life is taken up far too much by that of a cover. This is one of the first signs that Bond has doubts about his profession—doubts which continue to plague him throughout the series.

Tiffany Case, the heroine of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, is Fleming's first fully developed female character. The trouble is that she is neurotic as hell. Tiffany is constantly wavering between hot and cold—she has a "come here, come here, get away, get away" attitude which Bond finds most frustrating. She uses Bond to buy her expensive meals and keep her company, but if he makes advances—look out! She has a way of being cruel and stand-offish in most of the story; but she relents in the end and finally accepts Bond's ardor.

Tiffany has had a hard life, so her neurotic tendencies are not surprising. According to Leiter, Tiffany's mother ran a whorehouse in San Francisco and one day decided not to pay the local gang's protection money. The group raided the house and raped Tiffany, who was only sixteen at the time. Leiter presumes this is why the girl won't have anything to do with men; but this, of course, is before James Bond comes along. After a series of other misfortunes, Tiffany met Seraffimo Spang in Reno. Spang looked after her and employed her in the Mob.

She is blonde with cool grey eyes. She carries herself with brazen sexuality, yet seems to project an invisible message reading "Hands Off!" Bond imagines her eyes saying: "Sure. Come ahead and try. But brother, you'd better be good." She's a tough girl, but underneath this wall of ice is a lonely, insecure woman. Tiffany has moments of temper at trivial remarks made by Bond, and never lets him know where he stands with her until they are four days into the trip aboard the
Queen Elizabeth
at the novel's end. On their second meeting, she flat out tells him that she isn't going to sleep with him; yet, when they part at her insistence later that same evening, she "angrily" grabs Bond and kisses him hard on the lips, saying she "doesn't want to lose him." Bond is both confused and intrigued by the woman.

Felix Leiter returns in this novel to accompany Bond to
Saratoga, and again pops up in the nick of time in
Las Vegas. Leiter no longer works for the CIA—Allen Dulles let him go after he lost his arm and leg. Now he works for Pinkerton's Detective Agency, "The Eye That Never Sleeps." Leiter does not seem bitter at all about carrying a steel hook for a right hand or limping through life with a wooden leg. He is as cheerful and buoyant as ever. Perhaps this conscious negation of his physical handicaps is one reason why Leiter remains a useful friend to Bond. Their reunion on the streets of New York is a joyful moment: they immediately proceed to their usual form of entertainment, i.e., eating and drinking. Leiter remembers Bond's formula for a vodka martini and orders it for Bond, as well as taking the liberty of ordering the Englishman's meal. Even though this is only their third adventure together, they act as if they've known each other for years. Leiter is once again very helpful as Bond's "tour guide." He explains everything Bond needs to know about the Saratoga race track, Las Vegas gambling statistics, etc.

It is these scenes with Leiter and Tiffany that make DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER a pleasure to read.

Nothing new is added to M's character. After the more revealing sequences in MOONRAKER, M is back to his stone-faced, crusty old self in the opening chapters of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.