Strength and Skill Quotes in The Bourne Identity

Bourne states the spy code. It's not exactly true, though: killing in The Bourne Identity isn't practical—how could it be, when it's fiction, and nothing practical is being accomplished? Rather, practical killing, or the idea of killing as an efficient job, is a pleasure. It's fun to see the tough, messy business of killing reduced to a systematic, competent job. What does this tell us about the novel's moral code? What do you think of this attitude toward killing? Is this also Carlos's attitude toward killing?

Marie is making her own statement of competent efficiency. As an economist, she has a special talent for evaluating data and inaccuracies. Economists have been known to argue that they do, in fact, have a better sense of how reality works than the rest of us do. Are they right? Or are their claims to competence and professionalism just fantasies, like the dreams of superspies?

Carlos is a professional, too; he pays well and treats his workers with dignity. Better than many employers, in other words. Of course, Carlos is also more likely than most employers to off you if anything goes wrong. Or if he just feels like it. Job security isn't exactly his thing.