In the film 007: Casino Royale, Bond and Vesper engage in a lighthearted exchange of insults as they meet for the first time. Vesper’s “diagnosis” of Bond is as follows: “MI6 tends to recruit young men like you who have not yet fully integrated into society. These men often have no regard for the rules of society or the lives of others, and their primary focus is on protecting their country and their queen.” Casino Royale was first published in 1953 as the first book in the James Bond series. Fleming, then 43, completed the first draft in just one month. When Fleming created James Bond, he was not a middle-aged man under pressure needing an escape. Rather, he was a British family man looking back on the first half of his life. Fleming’s grandfather, Robert Fleming, was one of Britain’s most successful and wealthy bankers. After Fleming’s father, Valentine, was killed in action in World War I, it was Churchill who wrote his obituary in The Times. Fleming was the second of four sons in the family. From the time of his father’s death, the sons regarded him as an unattainable ideal.
He was moody, insecure, and lived in the shadow of his father and older brother until he turned things around with his James Bond novels. Fleming’s relationship with his mother, Eva, had a profound effect on his concept of the sexes, which was eventually fully revealed in the “James Bond” series of novels. The mother-child relationship has been described by many as a Freudian relationship. According to psychologist Freud, the relationship between a child and its parents affects the child’s intimate relationships later in life.
Fleming’s relationship with his mother had a significant impact on his life. He attempted to distance himself from her control but was unable to do so. He dropped out of Eton and enrolled at Sandhurst Military Academy, where he was expelled for contracting a venereal disease through promiscuity. Fleming then worked as a stockbroker and attempted to enter the banking sector, but was unsuccessful. His greatest discovery was the realisation that his looks and family history could help attract many women. Like the “infamous” James Bond, Fleming was not afraid of women. He was more aggressive than the average debonair gentleman, willing to accept the support of older, richer women. One woman provided significant financial backing for the construction of the villa “GoldenEye” in Jamaica, which later served as the inspiration for the novel “007: GoldenEye.” Fleming’s professional success was largely attributed to his ability to leverage the support of attractive women. After a brief tenure as a stockbroker, Fleming joined Reuters as a reporter with the assistance of his mother. His proficiency in French and German languages also contributed to his role at the Sunday Times.
In 1933, Fleming was sent to the Soviet Union under Stalin to report on a corporate fraud. He was fascinated by the double agents, state secrets and lies involved in the assignment, which changed the course of Fleming’s life forever. He realised that intelligence work was what he was best at and was introduced to John Godfrey, head of British Naval Intelligence, through an acquaintance. He was hired as his assistant. After reviewing declassified documents, it has been determined that the majority of the outlandish rumours about Fleming are indeed true. He did, in fact, engage in espionage activities, including the use of cameras and microphones to spy on German military leaders. Additionally, he served as an important conduit between the Naval Intelligence Service and the United States during the war. He also assisted the Americans in establishing the organisational framework for what would become the CIA. Fleming was known for his persuasive and seductive abilities. “He excelled at achieving results that could not be recorded in words or on paper.” During World War II, Churchill requested Fleming’s intelligence service’s input on how to contain Hitler. Fleming’s response was a comprehensive plan that involved setting up ambushes in caves along the coast, sending men with radios to monitor German ship movements, and then launching a surprise attack. Research indicates that Fleming provided invaluable intelligence support in relation to the Normandy landings, Bletchley Park and Enigma code breaking. He had connections with Alan Turing, the renowned mathematician and cryptographer.
