Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche

by John Higgs

To be brave and protect others in this dangerous world was noble, but to do so required emotional numbness and the cruelty needed to kill. This emotional numbness then prevented Bond from ever having a long-lasting loving relationship. Vesper Lynd had to die, in other words, because Bond would not be able make the sacrifices needed to protect the world if he found happiness. The alternative was to make Bond asexual, but that was clearly no fun. The idea that the women who Bond touches die, by this logic, became an unavoidable aspect of the character. From this perspective, Bond was an honest, fully realised depiction of the masculine paradox. All the other knights in shining armour, in contrast, were little more than two-dimensional sketches. It was this mix of good and bad, and the uncensored honesty of the character’s depiction, which elevated him above so many other fictional heroes.