Editing Moonraker (novel) (section)

===Characters===
According to the author [[Raymond Benson]], ''Moonraker'' is a deeper and more introspective book than Fleming's previous work, which allows the author to develop the characters further. As such, Bond "becomes something more than&nbsp;... [the] cardboard figure" that he had been in the previous two novels.{{sfn|Benson|1988|pp=98–99}} The start of the book concentrates on Bond at home and his daily routines, which Fleming describes as "Elastic office hours from around ten until six,&nbsp;... evenings spent playing cards in the company of a few close friends,&nbsp;... or making love, with rather cold passion, to one of three similarly disposed married women."{{sfn|Fleming|Dibdin|2006|pp=10–11}} This lifestyle was largely modelled on Fleming's own,{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|p=58}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=71}} which the journalist and writer Matthew Parker sees as showing "a sourness" in the author's character.{{sfn|Parker|2014|pp=181–82}} According to Chancellor, two of Bond's other vices were also displayed in the book: his fondness for gambling—illegal except in private members clubs in 1955—and excessive drink and drug taking, neither of which were frowned upon in post-war upper class circles.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|pp=76–77}} In preparation for beating Drax at cards, Bond consumes a vodka martini, a carafe of vodka shared with M, two bottles of champagne and a brandy; he also mixes a quantity of [[Benzedrine]], an [[amphetamine]], into a glass of the champagne.{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|p=176}} According to ''The Times'' journalist and historian [[Ben Macintyre]], to Fleming the alcohol consumption "meant relaxation, ritual and reliability".{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|pp=178–79}} Benzedrine was regularly taken by troops during the war to remain awake and alert, and Fleming was an occasional consumer.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=77}}

{{Quote box
|quote= Fleming did not use class enemies for his villains, instead relying on physical distortion or ethnic identity&nbsp;... Furthermore, in Britain foreign villains used foreign servants and employees&nbsp;... This racism reflected not only a pronounced theme of interwar adventure writing, such as the novels of [[John Buchan|[John] Buchan]], but also widespread literary culture.|source = [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]], ''The Politics of James Bond''{{thinsp}}{{sfn|Black|2005|p=19}}|align = left|width = 30em|border = 1px|salign = right}}

Drax is physically abnormal, as are many of Bond's later adversaries.{{sfn|Eco|2009|pp=38–39}} He has very broad shoulders, a large head and protruding teeth with diastema; his face is badly scarred from a wartime explosion.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=99}}{{sfn|Eco|2009|p=39}} According to the writers [[Kingsley Amis]] and Benson—both of whom subsequently wrote Bond novels—Drax is the most successful villain in the Bond canon. Amis considers this to be "because the most imagination and energy has gone into his portrayal. He lives in the real world&nbsp;... [and] his physical presence fills ''Moonraker''.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=99}}{{sfn|Amis|1966|pp=70–71}} The view is shared by Chancellor, who considers Drax "perhaps the most believable" of all Fleming's villains.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=115}} The cultural historian [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]] writes that as with [[Le Chiffre]] and Mr Big—the villains of the first two Bond novels—Drax's origins and war history are vital to an understanding of the character.{{sfn|Black|2005|p=17}} Like several other antagonists in the Bond canon, Drax was German, reminding readers of a familiar threat in 1950s Britain.{{sfn|Lindner|2003|p=81}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=121}}{{efn|Chancellor also lists [[Auric Goldfinger]], [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] and Milton Krest, the American with a Prussian background.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=121}}}} Because Drax is without a girlfriend or wife he is, according to the norms of Fleming and his works, abnormal in Bond's world.{{sfn|Black|2005|p=20}}

Benson considers Brand to be one of the weakest female roles in the Bond canon and "a throwback to the rather stiff characterization of [[Vesper Lynd]]" from ''Casino Royale''. Brand's lack of interest in Bond removes sexual tension from the novel;{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=99}} she is unique in the canon for being the one woman that Bond does not seduce.{{sfn|Parker|2014|p=181}} The cultural historians Janet Woollacott and [[Tony Bennett (sociologist)|Tony Bennett]] write that the perceived reserve shown by Brand to Bond was not due to frigidity, but to her engagement to a fellow police officer.{{sfn|Bennett|Woollacott|1987|p=100}}{{sfn|Savoye|2013|p=24}}

M is another character who is more fully realised than in the previous novels, and for the first time in the series he is shown outside a work setting at the Blades club.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=100}} It is never explained how he received or could afford his membership of the club, which had a restricted membership of only 200 gentlemen, all of whom had to show £100,000 in cash or [[gilt-edged securities]].{{efn|£100,000 in 1955 equates to approximately £{{Inflation|UK|100000|1955|fmt=c|cursign=£|r=-3}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}, according to calculations based on the [[Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)|Consumer Price Index]] measure of inflation.{{sfn|Clark|2023}}}}{{sfn|Comentale|Watt|Willman|2005|p=153}} Amis, in his study ''[[The James Bond Dossier]]'', considers that on M's salary his membership of the club would have been puzzling; Amis points out that in the 1963 book ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' it is revealed that M's pay as head of the Secret Service is £6,500 a year.{{efn|£6,500 in 1963 equates to approximately £{{Inflation|UK|6500|1963|fmt=c|cursign=£|r=-3}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}, according to calculations based on the [[Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)|Consumer Price Index]] measure of inflation.{{sfn|Clark|2023}}}}{{sfn|Amis|1966|p=39}}