In literature
The octopus has a significant role in Victor Hugo's book Travailleurs de la mer (Toilers of the Sea).[68] Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights, and the 1983 James Bond film partly inspired by Hugo's book.
In John Steinbeck's novella Sweet Thursday, the marine biologist "Doc" is studying what the denizens of Cannery Row call "devilfish". Doc's study of octopuses to ascertain whether their behavior displays emotional responses similar to humans, such as apoplexy, is a major plot device in the novella.[69]
Ed Ricketts, the marine biologist who was Steinbeck's friend and inspiration for the character Doc, had an octopus as a trademark for products sold by his Pacific Biological Laboratories.