Themes and Analysis

“Dune” portrays humanity in a light not seen before. It explores multiple concepts using themes like heroism, ecology, politics, and the rise and fall of empires. It uses these concepts to tell a remarkable story of a boy whose supposed downfall led to him becoming the ruler of a vast universe.

Themes

“Dune” transcends the science fiction genre by exploring unique themes and symbols that show humanity’s struggle with itself. The novel portrays a highly possible future and shows that even thousands of years into the future, humans would likely not lose their hunger for domination, destruction, and control.

The Rise and Fall of Empires

Frank Herbert intentionally dilutes the technological aspect of “Dune” to show how empires rise and fall because of politics around a specific resource. Melange became a substance that drove conflict and caused struggle between great houses, and everyone wanted it by any means necessary.

Frank’s depiction of the Imperium and noble houses resemble real-world powerhouses like the Roman and Ottoman Empires. Many people have compared his “Dune” to Edward Gibbon’s novel “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” because both entail the rise and end of great governments centered around finite resources.

Herbert’s depiction of the Padishah Empire shows how the gradual decline of power from the grasp of a massive oppressive system brings radical change. Paul Atreides used the idea of a revolution to force Shaddam into abdicating his throne. He would never have created a successful resistance against the Imperium if the Fremen did not believe he was their savior.

Heroism

“Dune” brings to life the image of what heroism is. Paul’s life before becoming a superhuman followed the basic storyline of how heroes are born. First, he had a rough early life due to his father getting killed. Then, he had to live among a group of people who were not his own, and eventually, he gained their faith and trust.

Paul’s transcendence from a naïve boy to a great leader perfectly fits into Frank’s depiction of heroism. As most hero tales go, they lose someone or something most precious to them. Paul had to fight not only his enemies but his emotions, as all heroes do. Losing his son, Leto II should have broken him, but he showed strength and led the Fremen to victory and glory.

Ecology

“Dune” was the starting point for a trend in the science fiction genre. Frank Herbert’s focus on Arrakis’ ecology raised awareness of what the future might look like with the continuous exploitation of resources harmful to the Earth.

Frank stated that picking the name for the novel was a deliberate attempt to create environmental awareness, and he wanted to, as he put it, “echo the sound of doom.” 

The success of “Dune” made science fiction writers shift their focus to ecological change and the adverse effects on the Earth in future years; this gave rise to novels like “A Door into Ocean” by Joan Slonczewski.

The Control of Politics

Politics plays a crucial role in “Dune” as it shows the power structure around great governments. Though written in the 1960s, the story applies to today’s world, where there is an interwoven control system around specific commodities and resources limited in supply. In “Dune,” the control of Melange determines if one will have subordinates or they will be subordinates.

When facing an enemy, the card of gaining control over its crucial source of power is necessary to bring it to its knees. Paul discovered that with his superhuman capabilities and control over the desert, he could seize control of Arrakeen. Exercising political and religious control over the Fremen, Paul successfully destroyed the Imperium by taking their political advantages.

The Vital Role of Lineage in Power

Lineage plays a crucial role in “Dune.” In the novel, ancestry is synonymous with power; this is evident because Paul only became Emperor by marrying Shaddam’s daughter. With the chain of command moving from the Emperor to the noble houses, the control of shares in CHOAM was necessary for each noble house to retain power.

Also, lineage and gender control were vital to the Bene Gesserit, as it enabled them to exercise control over the bloodline of each house from the shadows. Bene Gesserit’s control over ancestry made them maintain the balance of power between the noble houses by creating an avenue for marriages and forged political bonds.

Key Moments

1. Duke Leto of House Atreides, ruler of the water planet Caladan, gets assigned by Shaddam IV, Emperor of the Padishah Empire and ruler of the known universe, to govern planet Arrakis.
2. Baron Vladimir of House Harkonnen and former governor of planet Arrakis conspire with Shaddam to destroy Leto, his son, Paul, and the house of Atreides; this was because House Atreides was growing in power amongst houses of the Imperium.
3. Lady Jessica, Paul’s mother and a votary of the Bene Gesserit, brings Paul before her superior, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, speculating he was the child of prophecy. He passes the blinding pain test set by the reverend mother by enduring the Gom Jabbar.
4. Leto and his house leave Caladan for planet Arrakis. However, Harkonnen and Sardaukar troops attack the Atreides on Arrakeen, the capital of Arrakis. Yueh, Leto’s doctor, poisons him but lets Paul and Jessica escape.
5. Thufir Hawat, Leto’s mentat, is captured, and Gurney Halleck escapes. Leto dies in a failed attempt to end Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.
6. Paul realizes he has powers that can be harnessed by taking Melange, the drug known to grant its users youth and mental capabilities. He sees into the future and learns he lives among the Fremen, the local inhabitants of Arrakis.
7. Jessica finds out that her father is Baron Vladimir of House Harkonnen; this would later cause issues for her daughter Alia.
8. Paul and Jessica assimilate into the Fremen community, Sietch Tabr. Paul proves his manhood to the Fremen and chooses Usal Paul Muad’Dib as his new name.
9. Jessica drinks the water of life and becomes a reverend mother, granting her and her unborn child, Alia, powers. Unknown to her, it would cause her daughter to suffer from The Abomination.
10. Paul falls in love with a Fremen woman, Chani, who conceives a son for him, Leto II. Two years later, he becomes more powerful, and the Fremen begin seeing him as the messiah of prophecy. He leads destructive raids with the Fremen, cutting down spice production.
11. With spice output low, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen orders his nephew to rule Arrakis with an iron fist; this reduces the Emperor’s trust in him.
12. Gurney reunites with Paul and threatens to kill Jessica. However, Paul stops him and later drinks the Water of Life; this makes him clairvoyant across space and time.
13. The Emperor arrives on Arrakis with his army, seizes a Fremen outpost, kills Leto II, and captures Alia.
14. Paul attacks Arrakeen under an electric storm. Alia kills Baron Vladimir, and Paul defeats the Emperor and Baron’s troops. He kills Feyd-Rautha, who challenges him to a duel and forces the Emperor to abdicate the throne and give his daughter, Princess Irulan, to him.
15. Paul becomes Emperor and sends the Fremen on a jihad across the universe.
    
    

Style, Tone, and Figurative Language

“Dune” tells its story using simple sentences, a gloomy tone, and multiple figures of speech. It draws its audience gradually into a world of dirty politics and messianic figures leading wars and shows how limited resources indirectly control planetary systems.

Style

Like many sci-fi novels, “Dune” uses a simplistic sentence approach to tell its story. However, Frank’s dedication to every aspect of his world-building led to something never seen before.

Though the sentences used were simple, Frank managed to describe every detail metrically; this led to precise measurements, making it easier for someone to imagine the environment portrayed in the story with incredible accuracy.

Herbert also used the third-person omniscient perspective to narrate the events surrounding his characters; this gave him godlike control over all the characters and made the story easier to follow.

Tone

“Dune” has an ominous tone that makes the reader feel the melancholy dissipated by Frank Herbert as he describes every scene bleakly. The tone also switches occasionally to a warning approach as Frank tries to show the reader the real-life implications of his story. As he said, every action made warns humans of the future.

Frank’s intentionally gloomy approach made his novel a realistic story, as it removed all plot shields from characters and portrayed them in the barest way possible.

Figurative Language

“Dune” features many figurative languages like similes, ironies, and metaphors. Frank Herbert used metaphors of greed and gluttony to show Baron Harkonnen’s never-ending hunger for more. He used the Gom Jabbar to show how rites of passage distinguish ordinary from privileged people. He used blue eyes to describe extreme addiction and also used The Voice of the Bene Gesserit to show how words can affect individuals when craftily strung together.

Other figurative language used throughout the novel includes similes describing the brutal nature of Arrakis. Irony was present during Paul’s fight with Feyd-Rautha. Though Paul never wanted to use his gift of the Voice, he unintentionally spoke to Feyd, and it caused him to freeze; this gave Paul the upper hand in the fight.

Symbols

There are many symbols littered throughout “Dune.” These symbols represent the double edginess of destiny, the limitation of resources, and the domination of religious control.

Crysknife

Crysknife is a tool with a double-edged purpose, as it can be a maker and a destroyer. It is made from a sandworm’s tooth and possesses a technical advantage against shields. Crysknife symbolizes the duality of destiny as it holds a religious value in the eyes of the Fremen, who believed that once a person sees it, they had to become the blade’s owner or die by its edges.

Water

Water is a crucial resource for the Fremen on Arrakis. Jessica stated the mention of water plagued her everywhere she went because it had significant value to the Fremen.

Later in the story, the truth is learned that the sandworms that produced Melange were negatively affected by the presence of water, thus creating an ironic relationship between the most valuable substance on Arrakis and the most valuable commodity in the universe. Water was a blessing to the Fremen but a curse to the Imperium; this portrays how crucial commodities not coexisting with each other create dilemmas.

Melange

Melange is a drug-like substance that enhances its taker’s mental capabilities but at the same time makes them addicted to taking it. Melange symbolizes a commodity that shapes the flow of power. It is also a tool for heightening man’s mental and physical capabilities.

As a commodity, the struggle for Melange symbolizes how a substance can drive humanity to a mad fight for control and domination. As a drug, Melange portrays how people wanting to escape their life into a perfect state of mind create an ever-raging addiction to a substance.

Desert

Arrakis was a desert world that produced a valuable resource people fought for. It is the stark opposite of what deserts symbolize to humanity: barrenness. Though it lacked water, the deserts of Arrakis created an avenue for a substance more valuable than anything in the known universe.

Water of Life

Though it bears a name that sounds divine, the Water of Life was a poison that could destroy or reinvent its taker. It represents the dangers of radical change and shows that out of the ashes of something terrible, beauty and power can spring forth.