At a very young age he loses his parents in a tragic
accident. His mother seems to be the one he was closest to while his father was
a bit more absent, not being able to settle down. It’s like it’s just the way
it’s supposed to be that his mother is taking care of him while his father is
doing what he likes, going off on adventures, being a man.
When the parents are tragically killed in the accident
Aunt Charmian (James’ father’s sister) is the one who steps in to take care of
him, even though there is an Uncle Max (James’ father’s brother). Once again it
is the woman who takes care of the child. Luckily Aunt Charmian is a caring
woman, who really loves James. But she is also a woman who can take care of
herself. She lives on her own, drives a car and doesn’t depend upon anyone
else. When James later on gets into trouble at Lord Hellebore’s castle, Aunt
Charmian is there to pick him up and bring him home. She is certainly a woman
of actions, a modern woman and not one of these soft ladies that you might
think would fit into the story at this time. She shows James that women can.
Later in the book James gets to spend more time with
his Uncle Max, who unfortunately is dying at this point. You can tell that they
are very fond of each other and they would both have enjoyed having more time
together. But Uncle Max takes the opportunity to teach James to drive a car, “the
car”, and tells him about his life as a spy during the war. How he managed to
escape and survive. To never give up and to see and seize the opportunity. To
be a “real” man. And of course all this come in handy when James is trapped at
Lord Hellebore’s.
Red Kelly, who he first meets at the train station, is
a boy with quite the opposite life compared to James. But in spite of that they
both learn from each other and have to look after each other. The one wouldn’t
manage without the other in the case with SilverFin. You get the feeling that
they would like to keep in touch, but at the same time it’s like they both know
that that won’t happen.
Wilder Lawless is a girl that will not be dismissed. She,
as well as Aunt Charmian, is quite capable of taking care of herself. When
James first saw her, at the circus, it was her eyes that caught him. When she
later on wants to help out at Lord Hellebore’s she won’t listen to James talk
about she being a girl, danger and so on. She is also involved in helping James
when he is being chased by Lord Hellebore. Yet another capable woman.
So as you can see they all helped James to survive his
first adventure. He wouldn’t have made it without any of them.
I think you are so right; he wouldn’t have made it without his family and friends!
SvaraRaderaMaybe Bond’s friendship at Eton is also worth mentioning. James shares the same room with Pritpal, an Indian boy who is a genius at maths and science but completely uninterested in everything else. Another boy, Tommy Chong, is from Hong Kong. He is small and tuff and loves to discuss things. They are bullied at school, but James seems to accept these boys with different nationalities and for him it doesn’t matter where a person comes from as long as he is a good and sympathetic person. James is open-minded maybe because he had to travel a lot as a child. At the age of 6 he had already lived in Switzerland, Italy, France and England. James isn’t afraid of unknown people and he doesn’t consider them “the others”!
You´re spot on there Pernilla with your headline. Security and protection from his family and friends plays an important role for James of course since he wouldn´t have survived without them taking him through all the horrible parts in the book. James Bond the superhero so to speak.
SvaraRaderaIt would be interesting to read the rest of the books to see if the theme is the same in all of them.
It is as Hourihan points out in `Deconstruting the Hero´ when you look at Bond whether it is the contemporary Bond or the young Bond in Silverfin, the hero story follows a certain pattern; white European male person with much superiority and dominance and success and with little interference with inferior races. Reading her artical have made me reading hero-stories differently. I´m much more aware.
Are there any more books about young James Bond? I have to google that. I really enjoyed reading this book, and specially the second part that took place on the highlands of Scotland. I also liked the similarity to Harry Potter since I'm a big HP-fan.
RaderaI think many readers like to recognize certain patterns - like young readers who tend to read every book from their favorite author or books about their favorite hobby (like horses) or favorite character.
One wonders why Higgins wanted to write about young James Bond when his character is so different to Fleming’s Bond. Anyway I think he wanted to tell a story with a moral and he simply used an already world famous and popular character as a short cut to young readers.
SvaraRaderaIs he really so different? Perhaps Higgins thought that time will eventually shape young James into the grown up James?
RaderaI feel that it's his friends and his family that makes him into the man he will become. Almost every person he meets teaches him something - Red Kelly - how to fight, uncle Max how to drive, Buthcher how to control his breathing, and so on.
SvaraRaderaIn the end he needs every ability to survive.
I use to say to my students "appreciate every meeting with a new person - you never know what you can learn from him or her".
RaderaPernilla, I agree with you that without the people you have mentioned, James Bond would not be the hero he turns in to. I always find it interesting to see what characters the author decides to bring in to the book next to the protagonist. As soon as a new character pops up, I gets me thinking; "I wonder why he/she is brought in to the plot and what his/her role is going to be?". It is nearly as much fun following them, as it is following the protagonist. And, like you say, who would James Bond be, if he did not get some help from his friends and family? Not even a hero can make it on his/her own.
SvaraRaderayes Pernilla I agree with what you say about Charmian and Wilder. Charmian is a strong angel and Wilder is an androgynous tomboy - both very useful for our hero James. But both these women have subordinated places in the story, they are confined to the margins as M Hourihan writes."The male is the norm as in all western litterature" Maybe she is even right in her hard verdict that "hero stories read by women,instead of providing models of greatness" may teach confusion,timidity and self-hatred"
SvaraRaderaThere is one more female minor character we only hear about - George´s mother. She is described as an unfaithful gold digging woman by George´s father. But we learn to know that Mr H has lied about her - she has been cheated and forced to leave her son in his care. She appears to be week, inferior and a victim as well.More like the women in Fieldings novels!