Bond and animal welfare
crawfordboon
Posts: 126MI6 Agent
I know, a totally out-of-left-field comment, but based on one scene, from Moonraker.
When Bond is taken to Drax at the end of the latter's pheasant shoot, he offers 007 a rifle i nthe hope that "a stray bird may fly over."
Of course, whilst this is going on we see the Julian Glover-lookalike sniper clambering into the tree (why not just shoot from the ground?), and when the next bird flits by, Bond takes a shot, the bird flies on, Drax condascendingly consoles him, and the dead sniper falls from the tree, as Bond reveals he knew what was going on all along.
But the point is, before all this takes place, Drax comments: "magnificent sport" or something, and Bond, looking rather sour faced (unsuaully in such an offbeat adventure) replies "unless you're a pheasant!"
Made me wonder whether this supposedly typical English gentleman, who has been reared in the finest tradition of the aristocracy, is something of a rebel when it comes to shooting game. Wonder if the same applies to hunting - he's certainly not averse to horseracing in AVTAK, at least. And how does he reconcile a disgust for killing helpless birds with killing the sniper, Professor Dent, Elektra, and so on.
Is there anything in the novels to advance/detract from the case of Bond as a "cruel sports" enthusiast??
When Bond is taken to Drax at the end of the latter's pheasant shoot, he offers 007 a rifle i nthe hope that "a stray bird may fly over."
Of course, whilst this is going on we see the Julian Glover-lookalike sniper clambering into the tree (why not just shoot from the ground?), and when the next bird flits by, Bond takes a shot, the bird flies on, Drax condascendingly consoles him, and the dead sniper falls from the tree, as Bond reveals he knew what was going on all along.
But the point is, before all this takes place, Drax comments: "magnificent sport" or something, and Bond, looking rather sour faced (unsuaully in such an offbeat adventure) replies "unless you're a pheasant!"
Made me wonder whether this supposedly typical English gentleman, who has been reared in the finest tradition of the aristocracy, is something of a rebel when it comes to shooting game. Wonder if the same applies to hunting - he's certainly not averse to horseracing in AVTAK, at least. And how does he reconcile a disgust for killing helpless birds with killing the sniper, Professor Dent, Elektra, and so on.
Is there anything in the novels to advance/detract from the case of Bond as a "cruel sports" enthusiast??
Comments
In Octopussy, Bond seems to get along well with animals; a lion sits on Bond's command.
especially the story The Hildebrandt Rarity
begins with Bond spearing a stingray simply cuz it looks evil
but the story then goes on to show him joining an expidition to capture a fish so rare its only been seen once before
the expedition leader uses a tub of poison to kill every fish in the vicinity so he can kill the one rare fish he wants
Bond is disgusted and does what he can to scare the rare fish away from the spreading poison
more typically we see villains, eg Scaramanga, arbitrarily killing animals just to prove whos the alphamale here
in YOLT we see Bond making friends with a cormorant that Kissy Suzuki keeps as a pet
my guess is that Bond kills enough on his job that he tends to value life wherever he finds it
I cant think of anything else specifically about Bond and animals in the books, but Ive concluded Fleming was an ecologist
he obviously was fascinated by the fauna of Jamaica, and many of his books have long descriptions about the critters living there
especially in the underwater sequences
in Dr No, the whole reason Bond knows the investigate Crab Key is because several observers from the Audobon Society died under mysterious circumstances protecting the habitat of a type of heron
and once on the island, its Honey Riders knowledge of local critters that leads Bond to the evidence he needed to bring in the police, if they hadnt got themselves captured first
Honey Rider is described as a "girl Tarzan", living in the ruins of a colonial mansion overrun with wildlife she shelters and feeds, and at the end Bond tries to get her a job as a selftaught zoologist
also consider: Fleming chose the very name James Bond from a book on birdwatching
Not quite sure whether he has an aristocratic upbringing, but he perhaps thinks that anyone with a gun or other offensive weapon is fair game, whereas an unarmed four-legged animal deserves better (yes I know the python hasn't any legs, but that's an exception).
Seems to me Bond is fully aware that HE was the one being trussed up like a pheasant.
i beleive it was a tiger :007)