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Gettler and Vesper's paranoia

Pierce2DanielPierce2Daniel
edited May 2013 in Literary 007 Posts: 4,408
In Fleming's novel was Gettler definetly a SMERSH employee?

Vesper seems to think he was. It drove her paranoid, leading her to eventually take her own life.

Vesper seemd to become worried that because of her unsuccessful mission to help Le Chiffre in the casino, SMERSH would deal with her the same way they dealt with him. But surely the cragg-faced killer in the villa would have killed Vesper there and then if that was the case. why did he let her live?

Comments

  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Perhaps she simply offed herself before Gettler could do the job himself.
  • Sir_James_MoloneySir_James_Moloney
    Posts: 388
    I think it's really cleverly handled, Pierce2Daniel. We never find out if Gettler is a SMERSH agent... only that Vesper thinks he is.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Her paranoia also reflects the paranoia of Bond's work in general, a nice comparison there. I really need to reread Casino Royale again; what a novel.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    He may just be some guy on holiday and Vesper is paranoid. Or if he was from SMERSH, he may not have wanted to kill her: maybe he was planning to abduct her, maybe simply remind her she was still at their service, whether her lover was dead or not.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Fleming leaves clues that Gettler is, indeed, a SMERSH agent. The name itself is reminiscent of history's arch-villain. He has a patch over his eye, a common villain's trope that we see borne out in the film Thunderball. And it is mentioned that he has large, white "shark's" teeth, again, a rather menacing description. There's not much doubt in my mind that Gettler was what Vesper suspected he was.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    True, but his true nature remains ambiguous. Which makes him all the more sinister and his presence unsettling. I'm not certain he came to kill her. Did Vesper chose to die in her own terms, or did she commit suicide also to avoid something worse?
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    edited May 2013 Posts: 2,483
    I think there are at least a couple of reasons for her suicide. First, going on her own terms was preferable to whatever Gettler might have in store. And second, she could not live with having betrayed the man who wished to marry her, and whom she loved passionately. We might also hypothesize that she was so overwrought by the trauma accompanying her mission in Royale that she was hardly thinking clearly.

    All in all, it was a terrible tragedy related beautifully and powerfully by Fleming.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    Oh there are many reasons for her to commit suicide. And yes, she was a tragic character, maybe the most tragic character that Fleming created.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Ludovico wrote:
    Oh there are many reasons for her to commit suicide. And yes, she was a tragic character, maybe the most tragic character that Fleming created.

    Next to Bond, that is.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Oh there are many reasons for her to commit suicide. And yes, she was a tragic character, maybe the most tragic character that Fleming created.

    Next to Bond, that is.

    Maybe more so. She dies for her faults. And she is the most classical tragic character of Fleming too: as Racine, not completely innocent, although not completely guilty.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Ludovico wrote:
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Oh there are many reasons for her to commit suicide. And yes, she was a tragic character, maybe the most tragic character that Fleming created.

    Next to Bond, that is.

    Maybe more so. She dies for her faults. And she is the most classical tragic character of Fleming too: as Racine, not completely innocent, although not completely guilty.

    I haven't read all the Fleming, but will surely so my opinion is hardly gospel. Just going off of some of the stuff I know.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    Well, you don't have to die to be a tragic character, but what makes Vesper the most tragic character imo is that she completely fits the portrait of a classical tragic character. She is not tragic because she dies. She is tragic because she is instrumental to her own death, caused by her own mistakes, yet her mistakes are understandable. Hence CR is very much a modern Greek tragedy.
  • MishkinMishkin
    edited May 2013 Posts: 4
    I think that Gettler-person which had no direct relation with the organization Quantum, and Mr. White with Vesper staged a scam and replaced the case, case with money Vesper immediately gave Mr. White and she gave Gettler case with fakes. Man of the Treasury worked on "Quantum". People from the organization "Quantum" Mr. White or anyone else, they a reported Gettler that they can return the money to him, Gettler sent a message in which he indicated the time and place meeting for Vesper, and a man from the Treasury appeared in M office, only shortly before the meeting Gettler and Vesper in Venice. It was a cunning plan Mr. White all played their roles. Mr.White had planned that, Gettler killing Bond, and then Mr. White would do away with Gettler, or Bond killing Gettler. Vesper, it seemed that everything according to plan. Vesper thought that she would give Gettler fake money. She hoped that Bond small time will not know that she works on "Quantum". But after the intervention of Bond, after he had killed Gettler, she felt guilty at, and the main thing is that she betrayed Bond, and was afraid to tell him the information about the "Quantum", feared that "Quantum" would kill her and Bond and Yusuf - her ex-love!
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited May 2013 Posts: 12,837
    I think he was. The description of him screams bad guy.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    thelivingroyale wrote:
    I think he was. The description of him screams bad guy.

    Question was, what was his ulterior motives? I don't think he would have killed Vesper. Not right away anyway.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    To the extent that Vesper failed in her mission, he may very well have killed her. A major component of SMERSH's function was to punish failure, treason and backsliding.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    That said, if he had wanted to kill her, or to kill her right away, wouldn't he have shown himself like he did? He may have wanted to kidnap her, send her to the east?
  • Sir_James_MoloneySir_James_Moloney
    edited May 2013 Posts: 388
    I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and say that Gettler was not a SMERSH agent but, like Bond says, just a middle-aged businessman passing through the area. The fact that he spooked Vesper so much demonstrates why she committed suicide - she would have otherwise been destined to spend the rest of her life jumping at shadows.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,110
    I think he was SMERSH. That said Fleming leaves it ambiguous, which is smart. Gettler is a mere menacing presence, a ghost.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited May 2013 Posts: 28,694
    Ludovico wrote:
    I think he was SMERSH. That said Fleming leaves it ambiguous, which is smart. Gettler is a mere menacing presence, a ghost.

    Yes, a spectre, if you will. ;)
  • ChevronChevron Northern Ireland
    Posts: 370
    I always assumed that he was indeed a SMERSH agent and he was there in the open so Vesper would see him. A sort of "we haven't forgotten about you."
  • Pierce2DanielPierce2Daniel
    Posts: 4,408
    It was a clever decision of Fleming to make Gettler an ambiguous presence.

    I think there were a number of reasons Vesper topped herself:

    1.)She was convinced that because of her failure to get the money back for SMERSH, it was only a matter of time before they tracked her down and killed her, like they did Le Chiffre. she was jumping at the shadows and became convinced Gettler was after her. Personally I think he was SMERSH and was keeping tabs on her but the book never makes it clear. He could truly have been an unimposing watch salesman. But even if Gettler wasn't the assassin, Vesper was convinced her time was running out. Her paranoia ate away at her and she caved in and killed herself.

    2.)She wanted to marry the RAF pilot and his kidnapping and the now very clear knowledge he was killed because of her failings was a very heavy burden for Vesper to bear. Her guilt drove her over the edge.

    3.)She betrayed Bond, he had fallen for her and she knew that if he aware of the truth he wouldn't be able to stand the sight of her.

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,267
    Interesting discussion; thanks. I'll add my comments later.
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