Women

All the characters in the four stories in this book, whose thoughts and emotions are described directly to the reader, are men. In the first story the primary character is Major Smythe, while in the remaining three pieces it is James Bond himself. In at least a couple of instances the whole male/female relationship topic is dismissed with remarks such as, " he made easy sexual conquests all his life", or, "Sort of fellow who got all the girls he wanted".

In the "Octopussy" story Dexter Smythe marries Mary Parnell, one of his wartime sexual conquests. As he admits in the narrative, he never really did love her, but seems to have chosen the lady to be his wife as part of his plan to escape to Jamaica. In one of the few scenes in these Bond stories where a woman's reaction is actually described, her sight of...