Ian Fleming's Seven Deadlier Sins and 007's Moral Compass

by Benjamin Pratt

One keyhole through which I glimpsed that truth is a seven-letter word derived from Greek. I was startled to discover that the word shows up in nearly every Fleming tale: accidie. Why does this word appear so often? It’s usually well placed as a description of the motivation of the most evil opponents of Bond—as well as a description of 007 himself, when he is bored between the demands of his mission-driven life. Accidie, it turns out, is one of the original seven deadly sins that was defined in the Middle Ages by its symptoms: sloth and torpor. Accidie comes from the Greek akedos, which refers to those who didn’t care enough to bury the dead on the battlefield. Their energy and the dreams that energized them had been drained. Accidie defines the loss of the dream that gives our lives definition, meaning and passion. The disappointment of the loss of the dream can leave a person at the edge of despair. The loss of the dream saps us of our energy and joy and hope in life. It is a form of moral lassitude and spiritual suicide. The religious say that it even results in the loss of faith in the very goodness of God. But there it is! That unusual word—accidie—one of the original deadly sins—is laced throughout the Bond tales. And, from that key, the further I searched in the Bond adventures, I began to see other deadly sins—and finally, as amazing as it may sound even as you read it in these pages—all seven were there—elegantly portrayed in the characters and eloquently describ...