4 replies to this topic

[Mister Asterix]

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS INTENDED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY READ THE SHORT STORY OCTOPUSSY AND IT WILL REVEAL THE STORY'S END. PLEASE READ AND ENJOY FLEMING'S WRITING BEFORE YOU CONTINUE WITH THIS ARTICLE.


It seems common for a review of Fleming's final story Octopussy to quickly dismiss the story. The reviewer may even give the story a positive review, but will usually say the story is a simple morality tale and will complain of James Bond's small part. I personally have always had a bit of a different take on Octopussy.

Please pardon me if this theory has been presented before as I have always found it a bit obvious. Since however I have to date not personally read of anyone else who has shared it, I thought I might as well be the one to share. This article, however, is not an attempt to convince others to see Octopussy the way I do, but rather to show how I have come to see it this way.

At the conclusion of my first reading of the short story Octopussy, I sat in awe and stared its final page. I was amazed by this tale. I saw it as a unique and brilliant story in the Fleming James Bond canon. For the first and only time in the series, it was not its main character, James Bond, that I saw symbolising the author. Instead Fleming stood represented by Major Dexter Smythe, an aging British military officer who was able to hide the signs of age and still present himself as respectable, dashing man of honour. Both Major Smythe and Fleming had retired to Jamaica and had suffered heart ailments. The parallels between Major Smythe and Fleming are numerous, but rather than bloat this article to the length of a short story itself, I will leave to the reader to make the comparison.

In the story Major Smythe was a man who had earlier in life committed a single, despicable crime to insure a comfortable lifestyle. As the reader will know the Major is confronted with this crime by James Bond and is given the chance by Bond to end his life and still maintain his honour.

At the time I did not know much about the Ian Fleming, but I was sure that Major Dexter Smythe was the author's alter ego for this tale. But if Smythe was Fleming than I had two issues: Was this story an admission of a crime by the author? And more importantly, was Octopussy not just a short story, but also a suicide note?

I knew the date of Ian Fleming's death and knew that the book Octopussy And The Living Daylights was released after that date. Surely, Octopussy had been a previously released story reprinted from a magazine as I knew most of the Bond short stories were. I turned to the book's copyright page. 'Octopussy

[ray t]

I, too, quite liked OCTOPUSSY. It along with THE HILDERBRAND RARITY are my two favourites among the short stories.

Perhaps my personal fondess for tropical locales such as the Carribean and the Seychelles in these two instances, or the manner in which Fleming writes about them, clouds my judgement of these stories.

Perhaps it's that Bond is merely a bystander in both of these 'morality tales', as opposed to being A BLUNT INSTRUMENT for Her Majesty's Government, that makes them unique reading.

I, however, never delved into possible suicide-note theories for OCTOPUSSY.

Thinking about it, given your intriguing post, maybe his 'crime' was more blatent than the THUNDERBALL non-creditation.

Maybe he sent some people to their death (during the War) knowing they didnt have a chance and 15 to 20 years later 'profited' by the 'experience' in some circuitous way with the novels.

Maybe he was riddled with guilt because he carried on boinking Anne Rothermere over a two decade period, during two of her (adulterous) marriages...and, then, went further by boinking the other woman in Jamaica continously after finally marrying Anne on the eve of CASINO ROYALE.

So, sure, i see your point...the suicide note theory/sub-text.

as with 'zencat' and his subtext pieces and with 'Jim' on his Golden Gun piece and so many others with their insights, your piece, MISTER ASTERIX, too has shed a different shade of light on one of my two favourite short stories.

Keep up the good work gentlemen and ladies!

[MicroGlobe One]

That's quite a theory, complete with proper research. I have to say, however, I find the implication that Fleming's story was meant to represent his "theft of Thunderball" to be outright preposterous. I sincerely doubt such guilt plauged Fleming over a simple story treatment which he himself helped to write. That is, however, a very interesting theory.

[Arrant]

One of the most interesting articles I have read, concerning Flemings melancholia and his apparent slow suicide,(against everything his Doctors and others, advised.)
I am, of course including in that assessment, all

[Jim]

Without wishig to turn this into a mutual appreciation society, another stunner, Mr*