The new Bond film premiers this weekend so James Bond is a character you meet everyday on posters, commercial and on TV. The question is - can you take this character change him to suit for young adults, as in Silverfin?
The
original Bond is a womanizing man with hardly any feelings and of course with a
license to kill. If you focus on the earlier films this is even more accentuated
for example he has many women, all portrayed as sex objects, not that intelligent.
In the more recent Bond movies he is a bit more sensitive and there are less
women and they help him more with his task. But in the end he is always the
hero that rescues the day.
Is he any
different as young Bond in Silverfin? Here we meet a younger Bond. He is bit nicer
and a bit more emotional. Of course he is the hero, but he doesn’t always win
everything – for example in the cup. In the story you learn a bit about his
past and you realize that what has happened to his parents will affect him in
the future.
He is nice
to the ones who are in need of help or being bullied by others. He is scared of
Lord Hellebore even though he stands up to him when he hits him. He tries to
avoid confrontations for example with Greg, but in the end you can see that he
has evolved. When they try to scare him he is no longer afraid.
The women
hardly exist in young Bond’s life. There are two small characters – Wilder Lawless
and Aunt Charmian, in some way strong and independent women but very anonymous.
Compared to other Bond stories the women actually rescue him. But of course
first after he has become the hero, the hero that rescues the world.
Has Bond
really changed? - I some ways – yes, but
in some ways – not. The author has modernised him as a person to be more sensitive.
The women help to rescue him not just the other way around. But we still don’t
get to know the women at all. On the other hand we don’t really get to know
anyone except for James Bond.
This is the
first story in a series. I believe that this is just the beginning that lay
the ground to young James Bond’s coming perfection. In Silverfin he becomes a
great runner, he learns how to fight and he is injected with something that
makes him into a super solider. In some ways Ian Fleming’s James Bond is not
far away.
Maria
Forsberg
Nice writing and I agree with you on so many things, but I’m not sure if I like the kind of person Bond evolves into.
SvaraRaderaThe last page of the book says a lot about the world we live in today (just as Margery Hourighan writes: no text is innocent since all stories are ideological). James has survived something horrible, which a boy at his age shouldn’t have to experience. Therefore he doesn’t have to be afraid of some boys (Sedgepole and Pruitt) who have bullied and frightened him at Eton school. James threatens these two boys and says he will break their arms if they ever lay a hand on him again. The two boys realize they can’t set about James anymore. Is this really a happy ending? Is this really a goal to achieve? Shouldn’t we just respect each other as we are, not having to earn this respect? Ronald Paul also brings this up in his article claiming; “who want their kids to grow up to become a killer like Bond?”
I agree with you. I don't like the way he canges in the end. I becomes a person with less feelings. He becomes more like his enemies than his friends.
RaderaAnnika: I really liked your description of the minor characters in Silverfin.
SvaraRaderaMinor characters have an important role in creating an intersting and readable book which can appeal to young readers. I belive Higson has done this well. Although you could have asked for more strong, brave and smart female characters. It would have been interesting to read a reverse type of the same theme with a girl in focus. But on the other hand it may not have been the true James Bond feeling or?
As you wrote " but in the end he is always the hero that rescues the day" (meaning world?) when you discussed the modern Bond it is the same ending in Silverfin with James´s erasement of Hellebore from earth (good versus bad)which is typical for a true hero story isn´t it. The quotation on the back of the book says a lot about James in Silverfin and James in the movies `before the name became a legend. Before the boy became the man`.
Yes, young James Bond is a more emotional and sensitive person than Bond we are used to from the movies. There are parts in the book that give me the feeling I’m reading about a child, someone like Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh, in need to be treated with tenderness. A lot of “famous” people, like artists and athletes for instance, have come forward to tell their story about having been bullied as children and teenagers for the one reason to comfort them who are bullied today. Maybe Higgins hopes to help in the same way by letting the young and sensitive James become strong and fearless from his frightful experience.
SvaraRaderaWell written and interesting thoughts
SvaraRadera