The James Bond Bedside Companion (36 page)

The story concerns James Bond's investigation of the disappearance of Commander John Strangways and his secretary from Station C in Jamaica. Strangways was working on a case involving the Audubon Society and its trouble with the maintenance and operation of a bird sanctuary on the island of Crab Key. The man who owns the island, Dr. Julius No, promised to maintain the sanctuary when he purchased the land years ago. Recently, however, Audubon wardens paid a visit to the island, and only one man came back alive. Badly burned, the warden kept mumbling something about a "dragon." After arriving in Jamaica, Bond and his friend Quarrel unravel clues which suggest that Strangways was murdered. After an attempt is made on Bond's life by Dr. No's underlings in Kingston, 007 and Quarrel take a boat to Crab Key in the dead of night. There, they meet an innocent, beautiful "nature girl," Honeychile Rider. Eventually, the dragon appears, and it is revealed to be a tanklike vehicle painted to resemble a creature. It claims Quarrel as a victim with its built-in flame thrower, and Bond and the girl are taken prisoner. They are brought to Dr. No's establishment, an elaborate headquarters run by slave labor. Over an elegant meal, Dr. No reveals his secret plan to use a specially developed radio beam which can deflect the course of any United States test missiles launched from nearby Turks Island. Bond undergoes several horrors in a specially-prepared obstacle course, which empties into an enclosed inlet containing a man
eating squid. Bond miraculously survives the ordeal and escapes to find Dr. No overseeing the loading of bird guano (his cover business) onto a tanker. Bond overpowers a crane operator and uses the machine to bury Dr. No under a pile of guano. Bond then locates Honey and they escape to safety.

STYLE AND THEMES

H
aving "killed" Bond in FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, Fleming had to resurrect him in the opening chapters of DOCTOR NO. But the story begins in Fleming's usual way: the first chapter deals with events before Bond enters the picture (the murder of Strangways), and is followed by Bond's meeting with M in the next chapter. The chapters all follow a logical cause-and-effect sequence, and the Fleming Sweep takes the reader through them at the usual brisk pace. The chapters are longer than usual, however, though fewer in number. More information and action is packed into each chapter of DOCTOR NO than Fleming has attempted in previous books. The novel is structurally flawless.

The book can also be called Fleming's most imaginative. Each sequence seems to go one step beyond what is expected. For example, Bond's trek through the obstacle course builds to a peak with the addition of one bizarre impediment after another. First, Bond is met by an electric shock when he attempts to break the wire grille covering the ventilation tunnel which leads to the gauntlet. Next, he must climb a sheer vertical shaft. Bond encounters heat next, as he must crawl across steaming metal. The next obstacle is a cage full of tarantulas, through which Bond cuts his way with a knife and homemade spear. At the end of the course, Bond plummets into a large inlet where he battles a giant squid. The sequence goes even further, and the reader is asked to believe that Bond is not only able to
walk
after his ordeal, but can then also pilot a crane in order to bury Dr. No in—of all things—guano! Fleming's imagination may have run a little too rampant here.

The major theme of DOCTOR NO is an examination of the meaning of power. Bond, throughout the novels, has many conversations on this subject with the villains. Dr. No believes that power can only be secured by privacy. He quotes Clausewitz's first principle of obtaining power: to operate from a secure base. From there, he says, "one proceeds to freedom of action." Bond argues with the villain, saying that power is really
an illusion. Dr. No scoffs at Bond's "play on words," saying that all concepts are illusions—concepts such as beauty, art, money, death, and, he adds, probably life. Dr. No has secured a private base of operations on Crab Key Island from which he can cause havoc with U.S. test missiles. He has also provided himself with protection of a mythical nature—a "dragon" that roams the island in search of trespassers. Because his domain is so private, he evokes a fear of the unknown in all of the Jamaicans. Dr. No capitalizes on this fear, using it as the base of his power. And it works very well—that is, until Bond comes along. Bond isn't superstitious and can see through Dr. No's scarecrow tactics. He proves to Dr. No, by the novel's end, that the power of which the madman boasts is truly an illusion.

The theme of friendship is quite strong in DOCTOR NO. Quarrel, the Cayman Islander from LIVE AND LET DIE, is back as Bond's ally. When Quarrel insists that Bond take out a life insurance policy on him before they set sail to Crab Key, the Englishman doesn't hesitate to help him. The affection Bond has for Quarrel is summed up in the last chapter, as he sadly reflects on Quarrel's death:

Bond thought of the burned twist down in the swamp that had been Quarrel. He remembered the soft ways of the big body, the innocence in the grey, horizon-seeking eyes, the simple lusts and desires, the reverence for superstitions and instincts, the childish faults, the loyalty and even love that Quarrel had given him—the warmth, there was only one word for it, of the man.

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 20)

Bond is genuinely hurt by Quarrel's death, and the loss is felt by the agent throughout the final chapter of the book.

CHARACTERS

F
or the first time, hostility flares between Bond and M. M, rather angry with Bond for allowing Rosa Klebb to get the best of him in FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, orders Bond to turn in the reliable Beretta .25 in exchange for new guns provided by the Armourer. To top that, M sends Bond on what the Admiral calls a "holiday" assignment in the sun. Bond resents it:

He's got it in for me over the last job. Feels I let him down. Won't trust me with anything tough. Wants to see. Oh well!

He said: "Sounds rather like the soft life, sir. I've had almost too much of that lately. But if it's got to be done . . . If you say so, sir."

"Yes," said M. "I say so."

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 2)

As the conversation continues, Bond's anger builds. After receiving the details of the assignment, Bond rises to leave the office and makes a move to retrieve the Beretta. M stops him and snidely orders Bond to leave the Beretta and to make sure he holds onto his new guns.

Bond looked across into M's eyes. For the first time in his life he hated the man. He knew perfectly well why M was being tough and mean. It was deferred punishment for having nearly got killed on his last job. Plus getting away from this filthy weather into the sunshine. M couldn't bear his men to have an easy time. In a way Bond felt sure he was being sent on this cushy assignment to humiliate him. The old bastard.

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 3)

But, of course, the holiday in the sun doesn't turn out as such, and Bond suffers some of the worst tortures and dangers he's ever faced. At the end of the novel, Bond sends a nasty cable to M:

Bond had enciphered a short signal to M via the Colonial Office which he had cooly concluded with: "REGRET MUST AGAIN REQUEST SICK LEAVE STOP SURGEONS REPORT FOLLOWS STOP KINDLY INFORM ARMOURER SMITH AND WESSON INEFFECTIVE AGAINST FLAME-THROWER END IT."

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 20)

Bond reveals a paternal side in his attitude toward Honey. At first glance, one might think Bond is a little patronizing toward the girl, who is, despite her womanly virtues, a most childlike female. But in actuality, Bond assumes a protective stance with Honey, constantly and compassionately reassuring her that everything will turn out all right (even though they have been beaten, captured, and swept away inside a mechanical dragon). Once inside Dr. No's "mink-lined prison," Bond conceals his own doubts and pretends they are perfectly safe. Honey is perhaps more terrified by their soft treatment inside the "hotel suite": she isn't accustomed to such luxury. Bond rescues her from this anxiety:

Bond laughed. He laughed with real pleasure that her fear
had been drowned in the basic predicament of clothes and how to behave, and he laughed at the picture they made—she in her rags and he in his dirty blue shirt and black jeans and muddy canvas shoes.

He went to her and took her hands. They were cold. He said, "Honey, we're a couple of scarecrows. There's only one problem. Shall we have breakfast first while it's hot, or shall we get out of these rags and have a bath and eat the breakfast when it's cold? Don't worry about anything else. We're here in this wonderful little house and that's all that matters. Now then, what shall we do?"

She smiled uncertainly. The blue eyes searched his face for reassurance. "You're not worried about what's going to happen to us?" She nodded at the room. "Don't you think this is all a trap?"

"If it's a trap we're in it. There's nothing we can do now but eat the cheese. The only question is whether we eat it hot or cold."

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 13)

As Honey becomes more relaxed, she turns playful. She flirts and provokes, while Bond does his best to resist temptation. He friskily scolds her:

"Shut up, Honey. And stop flirting. Just take this soap and the sponge and start scrubbing. Damn you! This isn't the time for making love. I'm going to have breakfast." He reached for the door handle and opened the door. She said softly, "James!" He looked back. She was sticking her tongue out at him. He grinned savagely back at her and slammed the door.

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 13)

For the first time in the series, Bond reflects on a past love affair. When he and Quarrel arrive at Beau Desert, Bond remembers the LIVE AND LET DIE adventure:

Yes, there it was, the stretch of deep, silent water—the submarine path he had taken to the Isle of Surprise. It sometimes came back to him in nightmares. Bond stood looking at it and thinking of Solitaire, the girl he had brought back, torn and bleeding, from that sea. He had carried her across the lawn to the house. What had happened to her? Where was she? Brusquely Bond turned and walked back into the house, driving the phantoms away from him.

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 7)

Moments of nostalgia are rare for Bond. It happens once in FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE as he's flying to Istanbul, and occurs only a few more times in the series.

DOCTOR NO provides another example of Bond's loyalty to his male ally in his response to Quarrel's untimely death. The dragon tank has incinerated the Cayman Islander, and Bond has surrendered to Dr. No's men. But he insists on paying his last respects to his dead friend before allowing himself to be taken away:

Bond walked on towards the smoking clump of bushes. He got there and looked down. His eyes and mouth winced. Yes, it had been just as he had visualized. Worse. He said softly, "I'm sorry Quarrel." He kicked into the ground and scooped up a handful of cool sand between his manacled hands and poured it over the remains of the eyes. Then he walked slowly back and stood beside the girl.

(DOCTOR NO, Chapter 12)

Honeychile Rider is a provocative, sensual heroine. She is a childlike nature girl, but also physically very much a woman. Honey is blonde with deep blue eyes under lashes "paled by the sun." Again, there is the wide mouth, and she has a jawline that is "determined." Bond notices that she has the face of one who fends for herself. Once, though, she failed—her nose is badly broken as a result of a fight with an old lover. But this fault is quickly overlooked, and Bond believes she is one of the most beautiful girls in Jamaica. He compares her to Botticelli's Venus.

Honey, having had no formal schooling, taught herself by reading the encyclopedia. Though intelligent, she is also incredibly naive, which is the main reason she is so appealing and endearing. She is playful, yet she can be confident and imperious in defending her beliefs. She certainly knows much more about animals and insects than Bond, and she uses this knowledge of nature to escape what almost certainly would have been, for anyone else, a fiendish death. Bond overlooks her lack of education, for what is immediately attractive in Honey is her purity of heart. Honey is the most well-meaning, sincere female character in the series.

Doctor Julius No, a wickedly successful villain, is half-Chinese, half-German, and is at least six inches taller than Bond. His appearance is extremely perverse: bald, a skull-like face, jet black eyes and no eyelashes, a cruel and authoritative mouth, and a receding chin. At the ends of Dr. No's arms are pairs of steel pincers. As he walks, he gives the appearance of gliding, rather than actually stepping. To Bond, he looks like a "giant venomous worm wrapped in grey tin-foil."

Once again, the villain is quite mad. Bond is forced to listen to Dr. No's personal history while being wined and dined, as usual, and then is taken away to be tortured to death. Dr. No's theories of power are all but shot down by Bond, but because Dr. No speaks with such conviction and deliberate thought, he sometimes sounds frighteningly correct. The doctor's treatment of his guests (the facade of a luxurious hotel, the elegant meal and dinner conversation, and the ultimate dessert of a fiendish death) takes on the aspect of therapy prescribed by an authentic doctor. The calm method of dealing with patients before the operation is all too familiar to Dr. No. He is aloof toward others' pain and suffering, which only heightens the sense of madness about him. The doctor is a truly extraordinary character.