Ian Fleming as Major Dexter Smythe in 'Octopussy'?

Dragonpol

Many of you here will know of the thesis put forward by some writers that 'Octopussy' is considered in some ways a suicide note from Ian Fleming. It is very self-referential and as part of my blog writing, I intend to write a substantial piece on this overlooked area of Bondology. In many ways 'Octopussy' is a sort of later 'Quatum of Solace' or 'The Hildebrand Rarity' from For Your Eyes Only (1960). Smythe and Fleming are the same age at the time of writing (1962) - it is a story of betrayal, deceit, murder, illicit gold dealings and tropical sealife like scorpion fishes and octopuses. It combines WWII memories for Fleming - his 30 AU 'Red Indians' especially - about which a new book appeared last year - Rankin's Ian Fleming's Commandos - he also has an interesting view on 'Octopussy' and its basic meaning. It is a story laden with sutextual meaning and I think it's high time these hidden qualities of this later gem from the pen of Fleming was reappraised.

I'd love to hear your views on this short story where again (after QoS), Bond has such a very minor role.

Dragonpol

Anyone on here care to comment or agree/disagree with my thesis/idea? I'd really love to hear from you.

doubleonothing

I think in order for it to be a suicide note, Fleming would have had to commit suicide, which he didn't.

Personally, I think the reason that he used Bond as such a peripheral figure in these short stories was that it allowed him to take a break from writing about Bond, from being stuck into a formula, and was a way of expressing himself in a different way.

This is particularly true of Quantum of Solace, which has more in common, in terms of style, with a Somerset Maugham.

Fleming was getting bored of Bond, of that there is little doubt, or at least bored of the confines of the formula. Hence we see Bond "killed off" in From Russia With Love - a book that significantly breaks from the previous formulaic Bond novels by spending much of the novel with the antagonists and their plan. Similarly, The Spy Who Loved Me employs a similar break from tradition by writing from the first-person perspective of the heroine. By the time we reach You Only Live Twice, Bond has become a very different creature and the novel reads more like a travelogue than a piece of spy fiction.

With reference to Octopussy, I'm certain there is a degree of autobiography in it, much as there is a degree of autobiography in the character of Bond himself. However, I think that Fleming is just drawing on his wartime experiences to give us another type of story. I really love this short story, really because Fleming does go to some lengths to flesh out Smythe and make him a rather unlikable, yet somehow sympathetic character. The neat twist at the end, giving Bond a personal motivation as well as a professional one is neatly played by Fleming and it doesn't feel contrived. Also, Bond allowing Smythe to take an honourable way out adds another dimension to his character as well.

But is Fleming Smythe? I seriously doubt it. It's always interesting to revisit these short stories, but I think you may be reading more into this particular one than Fleming had intended.

@Dragonpol

Sir_James_Moloney

I think this is a really interesting discussion @Draginpol

It's interesting just how much Fleming seemed to dwell on suicide, death and mortality, particularly towards the end of his life: Tracy's attempt in OHMSS, Major Dexter Smyth in Octopussy, Bond himself considering it in YOLT and of course Shatterhand's whole Garden of Death.

timmer

I'm not sure it was a suicide note, but I think Fleming may have been very much aware of his own failing health and battles with the bottle.
Fleming may have been foreshadowing what he thought might be his own visit from the grim reaper.
The parallels between Smythe and Fleming though are striking, aside from one glaring difference, ie. Smythe was a right bastard and Fleming wasn't.
By making Smythe such a bad person, Fleming might have been attempting to take an exaggerated tough stand against his own foibles. When the chips are down, we often tend to judge ourselves harsher than others might, because we are only too aware of our own failings. But I'm not sure about that. Just speculation.
However it does seem Fleming was projecting somewhat via Smythe.

Dragonpol

Sir_James_Moloney wrote:

I think this is a really interesting discussion @Draginpol

It's interesting just how much Fleming seemed to dwell on suicide, death and mortality, particularly towards the end of his life: Tracy's attempt in OHMSS, Major Dexter Smyth in Octopussy, Bond himself considering it in YOLT and of course Shatterhand's whole Garden of Death.

Thanks for your support - I do think that there's something to my theory. There was an article by Jacques Stewart of CBn in 2002 that posited that it was a suicide note, but others have had this theory too.

timmer

If it was a suicide note, then how come he didn't commit suicide?

Or was he possibly drinking himself to death knowing his heart might not hold out?
I don't know. All we know is that he died of heart failure and that he might have been hitting the bottle kind of hard towards the end.

Dragonpol

timmer wrote:

If it was a suicide note, then how come he didn't commit suicide?

Or was he possibly drinking himself to death knowing his heart might not hold out?
I don't know. All we know is that he died of heart failure and that he might have been hitting the bottle kind of hard towards the end.

Yes, that's what I was getting at. He didn't want to give up on his luxuries and he seemed to hammer more heavily into them even after his first heart attack in April 1961. He seemed to not want to "waste his days in trying to prolong them" but rather "use his time". I think that would have made a fine epitaph to the life of Ian Fleming.

Sir_James_Moloney

timmer wrote:

The parallels between Smythe and Fleming though are striking, aside from one glaring difference, ie. Smythe was a right bastard and Fleming wasn't.

According to some of his acquaintances, he was (although not a murderer, of course).

Very good analysis of Fleming projecting too. Very interesting thread.

TheWizardOfIce

Dragonpol wrote:

timmer wrote:

If it was a suicide note, then how come he didn't commit suicide?

Or was he possibly drinking himself to death knowing his heart might not hold out?
I don't know. All we know is that he died of heart failure and that he might have been hitting the bottle kind of hard towards the end.

Yes, that's what I was getting at. He didn't want to give up on his luxuries and he seemed to hammer more heavily into them even after his first heart attack in April 1961. He seemed to not want to "waste his days in trying to prolong them" but rather "use his time". I think that would have made a fine epitaph to the life of Ian Fleming.

Well Bonds obituary in YOLT is certainly equally valid to use for Fleming and its pretty obvious throughout YOLT that Fleming is painfully aware of his own mortality and is fearing that his time is coming.

As for the 'suicide note' hypothesis I have a more literal anslysis. I would say that with his health failing and being told to cut down on his luxuries and take more and more pills its highly likely that on one of his daily snorkelling sessions the thought may well have occurred to him 'why not let an octopus grab you or a scorpion fish sting you and be done with it all?'

Of course this being real life he rejected this grisly idea but perhaps recycled it for the autobiographical character of Major Dexter-Smythe.

I think its unrguable that Dexter-Smythe was based on Fleming and I would even go further and say that Dexter-Smythe is actually an even truer portrayal of Ian than Bond himself who was more Flemings wish fulfilment.

Dexter-Smythe spoke German fluently, only really dabbled in terms of seeing action during the war, loved golf (The Henry Cotton irons!), retired to Jamaica, loved snorkelling and the underwater world, smoked and drank too much and he was dying of heart disease.

He ended up more against it than Fleming with his heart disease more advanced and the spectre of Bond appearing in the wings so Fleming maybe gave him the honourable way out that he had perhaps dreamed up as a suicide option for himself when he was having some of the morbid thoughts that pervade his later novels?

And let it not be forgotten that in the final paragraph of OP Bond himself assumes the death to be a suicide rather than an accident (although Fleming clearly shows the death of Major Dexter-Smythe accidental).

Dragonpol

TheWizardOfIce wrote:

Dragonpol wrote:

timmer wrote:

If it was a suicide note, then how come he didn't commit suicide?

Or was he possibly drinking himself to death knowing his heart might not hold out?
I don't know. All we know is that he died of heart failure and that he might have been hitting the bottle kind of hard towards the end.

Yes, that's what I was getting at. He didn't want to give up on his luxuries and he seemed to hammer more heavily into them even after his first heart attack in April 1961. He seemed to not want to "waste his days in trying to prolong them" but rather "use his time". I think that would have made a fine epitaph to the life of Ian Fleming.

Well Bonds obituary in YOLT is certainly equally valid to use for Fleming and its pretty obvious throughout YOLT that Fleming is painfully aware of his own mortality and is fearing that his time is coming.

As for the 'suicide note' hypothesis I have a more literal anslysis. I would say that with his health failing and being told to cut down on his luxuries and take more and more pills its highly likely that on one of his daily snorkelling sessions the thought may well have occurred to him 'why not let an octopus grab you or a scorpion fish sting you and be done with it all?'

Of course this being real life he rejected this grisly idea but perhaps recycled it for the autobiographical character of Major Dexter-Smythe.

I think its unrguable that Dexter-Smythe was based on Fleming and I would even go further and say that Dexter-Smythe is actually an even truer portrayal of Ian than Bond himself who was more Flemings wish fulfilment.

Dexter-Smythe spoke German fluently, only really dabbled in terms of seeing action during the war, loved golf (The Henry Cotton irons!), retired to Jamaica, loved snorkelling and the underwater world, smoked and drank too much and he was dying of heart disease.

He ended up more against it than Fleming with his heart disease more advanced and the spectre of Bond appearing in the wings so Fleming maybe gave him the honourable way out that he had perhaps dreamed up as a suicide option for himself when he was having some of the morbid thoughts that pervade his later novels?

And let it not be forgotten that in the final paragraph of OP Bond himself assumes the death to be a suicide rather than an accident (although Fleming clearly shows the death of Major Dexter-Smythe accidental).

Wow! Thanks. Much food for thought there, Ice. I think you may be onto something there. This is all very much grist to the mill. I like the idea of the short story being Fleming's suicide pipe dream, so to speak. Perhaps the character of James Bond turning up was something of a sop to his audience - perhaps he represented the Frankenstein's Monster that the character had become for Fleming by this stage - James Bond had become a rat on a treadmill for Fleming and he did not know how to end the story arc.

Just some additional observations that come to mind.

Dragonpol

Here'a an article by the moderator Jim of CBn Forums on his theory on 'Octopussy', which I happen to share:

http://commanderbond.net/1117/to-whom-it-may-concern-octopussy.html

timmer

That's a good essay by Jim. I tend to roll with his general thesis too. Fleming's Smythe parallel "crime" may indeed have been the unfortunate McClory/Wittingham/Thunderball business. The person of James Bond calling out Smythe/Fleming on their crime fits neatly too, as the huge literary success of James Bond and pending film success, only served to re-inforce what was at stake vis-a-vis the rights to the Thunderball story, ie. the magnitude of the "crime."

Dragonpol

timmer wrote:

That's a good essay by Jim. I tend to roll with his general thesis too. Fleming's Smythe parallel "crime" may indeed have been the unfortunate McClory/Wittingham/Thunderball business. The person of James Bond calling out Smythe/Fleming on their crime fits neatly too, as the huge literary success of James Bond and pending film success, only served to re-inforce what was at stake vis-a-vis the rights to the Thunderball story, ie. the magnitude of the "crime."

Yes, it's a very good early CBn article from 2002. I'm writing a piece on 'Octopussy', although it will have a different focus.

007InVT

Re-reading Octopussy now and the similarities between Smythe and Fleming are striking, especially since I've recently read Pearson and Lycett's biographies and countless articles on IF.

Even his references to marriage ring true for old Ian.

007InVT

Dragonpol wrote:

Here'a an article by the moderator Jim of CBn Forums on his theory on 'Octopussy', which I happen to share:

http://commanderbond.net/1117/to-whom-it-may-concern-octopussy.html

Very interesting.

Who wrote that?

Dragonpol

007InVT wrote:

Dragonpol wrote:

Here'a an article by the moderator Jim of CBn Forums on his theory on 'Octopussy', which I happen to share:

http://commanderbond.net/1117/to-whom-it-may-concern-octopussy.html

Very interesting.

Who wrote that?

It was written by Jacques Stewart (username: Jim, http://debrief.commanderbond.net/user/399-jim/), a moderator on CBn Forums in 2002. It's one of the best pieces he ever wrote and I think it still holds up very well indeed.

Revelator

timmer wrote:

That's a good essay by Jim. I tend to roll with his general thesis too. Fleming's Smythe parallel "crime" may indeed have been the unfortunate McClory/Wittingham/Thunderball business. The person of James Bond calling out Smythe/Fleming on their crime fits neatly too, as the huge literary success of James Bond and pending film success, only served to re-inforce what was at stake vis-a-vis the rights to the Thunderball story, ie. the magnitude of the "crime."

I don't think so. Jim's essay is simply wrong: there is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Fleming felt guilty over the McClory case. Fleming wanted to keep battling on, and would have done so if Ivar Bryce hadn't thrown in the towel. When Fleming returned to Jamaica, he bitterly denounced Bryce to his mistress Blanche Blackwell (though he remained friends with Bryce, there was a cloud over the relationship). Fleming regarded McClory as a blarney artist and nothing more. He felt entitled to make use of the Thunderball drafts because he thought Bryce owned them and because a book of the film would have to be written anyway.
Undoubtedly Fleming drew upon himself to portray Major Smythe, the only British villain in the Bond books. Smythe perhaps represented a worst-case scenario for Fleming (the character's wife even commits suicide), but Smythe's guilty past owes more to Fleming's experiences and knowledge of WWII than to any guilty feelings on Fleming's part. There are very few things in his life that Ian Fleming ever felt guilty about. McClory was not one of them.
"Octopussy" is a fascinating story because it contains more direct elements of autobiography than usual in the Bond stories (as does The Spy Who Loved Me). But there's a danger in going too far in finding autobiographical resonances.

Dragonpol

Revelator wrote:

timmer wrote:

That's a good essay by Jim. I tend to roll with his general thesis too. Fleming's Smythe parallel "crime" may indeed have been the unfortunate McClory/Wittingham/Thunderball business. The person of James Bond calling out Smythe/Fleming on their crime fits neatly too, as the huge literary success of James Bond and pending film success, only served to re-inforce what was at stake vis-a-vis the rights to the Thunderball story, ie. the magnitude of the "crime."

I don't think so. Jim's essay is simply wrong: there is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Fleming felt guilty over the McClory case. Fleming wanted to keep battling on, and would have done so if Ivar Bryce hadn't thrown in the towel. When Fleming returned to Jamaica, he bitterly denounced Bryce to his mistress Blanche Blackwell (though he remained friends with Bryce, there was a cloud over the relationship). Fleming regarded McClory as a blarney artist and nothing more. He felt entitled to make use of the Thunderball drafts because he thought Bryce owned them and because a book of the film would have to be written anyway.
Undoubtedly Fleming drew upon himself to portray Major Smythe, the only British villain in the Bond books. Smythe perhaps represented a worst-case scenario for Fleming (the character's wife even commits suicide), but Smythe's guilty past owes more to Fleming's experiences and knowledge of WWII than to any guilty feelings on Fleming's part. There are very few things in his life that Ian Fleming ever felt guilty about. McClory was not one of them.
"Octopussy" is a fascinating story because it contains more direct elements of autobiography than usual in the Bond stories (as does The Spy Who Loved Me). But there's a danger in going too far in finding autobiographical resonances.

As much as I liked that article, I think you are right on this, @Revelator. I intend to write my own blog piece on this short story at some point, and I have a bit of a different take on things.

Revelator

Dragonpol wrote:

As much as I liked that article, I think you are right on this, @Revelator. I intend to write my own blog piece on this short story at some point, and I have a bit of a different take on things.

I'll look forward to it. I recently found Philip Larkin's review of Octopussy, and it turns out he beat us to the punch:

Larkin wrote:

How easy, for instance, to see in the career of Major Smythe an allegory of the life of Fleming himself! The two Reichsbank gold bars that the major smuggles out of the army on his discharge from the Miscellaneous Objectives Bureau are Fleming's wartime knowledge and expertise; he emigrates to Jamaica and lives on them--selling a slice every so often through the brothers Foo (presumably his publishers), and securing everything his heart desires: Bentleys, caviare, Henry Cotton gold clubs. For a time all is well. Then he has a heart attack; his wife takes an overdose; he has another attack, finding himself unwilling or unable to follow the regimen his doctor specifies [...]
However inappropriate to Fleming's life the details may be, this evocation [...] has a genuine plangency.

Trust Larkin to phrase it better than of us could! I'll post the full review tomorrow.

Dragonpol

Revelator wrote:

Dragonpol wrote:

As much as I liked that article, I think you are right on this, @Revelator. I intend to write my own blog piece on this short story at some point, and I have a bit of a different take on things.

I'll look forward to it. I recently found Philip Larkin's review of Octopussy, and it turns out he beat us to the punch:

Larkin wrote:

How easy, for instance, to see in the career of Major Smythe an allegory of the life of Fleming himself! The two Reichsbank gold bars that the major smuggles out of the army on his discharge from the Miscellaneous Objectives Bureau are Fleming's wartime knowledge and expertise; he emigrates to Jamaica and lives on them--selling a slice every so often through the brothers Foo (presumably his publishers), and securing everything his heart desires: Bentleys, caviare, Henry Cotton gold clubs. For a time all is well. Then he has a heart attack; his wife takes an overdose; he has another attack, finding himself unwilling or unable to follow the regimen his doctor specifies [...]
However inappropriate to Fleming's life the details may be, this evocation [...] has a genuine plangency.

Trust Larkin to phrase it better than of us could! I'll post the full review tomorrow.

Wow! That is amazing! I look forward to reading the full review; it's all grist to the mill. I know that Anthony Burgess also wrote a review for I think the TLS for this short story collection, though I think that spynovelfan on CBn Forums shared it with us over there.

Readyhere

I will have to reread Octopussy. I think you are right in writing that Smyth was Ian Fleming. I never thought of that. In a way, Fleming allowed himself to die. He knew it was coming, and he really did not do much to slow his walk toward death. I wish he could have lived a healthy life for many more years. What a shame.

Dragonpol

Readyhere wrote:

I will have to reread Octopussy. I think you are right in writing that Smyth was Ian Fleming. I never thought of that. In a way, Fleming allowed himself to die. He knew it was coming, and he really did not do much to slow his walk toward death. I wish he could have lived a healthy life for many more years. What a shame.

Yes, I really wish he had lived a lot longer too, @Readyhere. Welcome to MI6 Community, by the way!

Samuel001

Fleming traded lifespan for lifestyle and seemed content with the idea. Funnily enough, it's through Bond that Ian has achieved everlasting life.

Dragonpol

Samuel001 wrote:

Fleming traded lifespan for lifestyle and seemed content with the idea. Funnily enough, it's through Bond that Ian has achieved everlasting life.

Very nicely put there, @Samuel001!

timmer

Revelator wrote:

Fleming regarded McClory as a blarney artist and nothing more. He felt entitled to make use of the Thunderball drafts because he thought Bryce owned them and because a book of the film would have to be written anyway.
Undoubtedly Fleming drew upon himself to portray Major Smythe, the only British villain in the Bond books. Smythe perhaps represented a worst-case scenario for Fleming

This is nice to know. Makes sense too. Old Ian writing TB under the impression that he had every right to.
The parallel between Smythe and Fleming is interesting but something else to bear in mind. It is somewhat of an exaggeration. It's fine for old Ian to be hard on himself. That's his prerogative. But the literary invention Smythe was a right murderous bastard. The parallel is there but its exaggerated in the person of Smythe.