Avery Sherrer-Theme Casino Royale

Although I don’t think that Casino Royale is fueled by a powerful message, many themes arise in the novel as well as the film adaptation made in 2006. James Bond consistently risks his life in the pursuit of his form of ‘justice.’ Defining justice, loyalty and trust are major themes in Casino Royale.

Bond’s partner on his current mission, Vesper, is attractive but emotionally detached. Even though Vesper is cold when first meeting Bond, the two have a mutual understanding of loyalty to one another. In this case, loyalty implies the responsibility that each partner has to assist the other in each task and do everything possible to keep each other safe. I thought it was interesting that Bond and his partner are expected to be selflessly loyal to one another even though they have never met. This also points to the fact that Bond is so trusting of the Secret Service that he doesn’t even question this relationship. It is not until the end of the novel that Bond realizes that he has been sold out by his partner, which brings up the question if anyone can ever be fully trusted. Bond is praised when he expresses to his boss that he has realized that no one is to be trusted and that he must be skeptical about everyone’s motive and character for the sake of his own safety.

Another major theme of the novel is justice. Bond is glorified for his pursuit of justice and making things right, yet his morality is rarely called into question. Bond’s mission is to financial cripple international terrorists, which sounds morally just until you look at his actions. He is deceitful, manipulates the majority of those around him, and brutally shoots and strangles countless ‘minor players’ in the mission whose lives could have been spared, all with next to no emotion. This leads us to question if Bond is pursuing justice or making the world all the more violent and cold.