“How little the universe knows about the nature of real cruelty.”
Even as Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides is poised at the lip of his own final ascendancy, he is again revealed to be just another part of the system of systems on Dune. Though he strand an emperor and his retinue on his planet, lead an army of sandworms riding Fremen through a ruptured Shield Wall, even dare the spice trance to become the prophesied Kwisatz Haderach, still his own baby is killed in a chance raid. To my mind, from this point onward, both throughout the climax of this novel and in its sequels, Paul Atreides becomes little more than an automaton, grappling and failing with his own prescience, with his own awareness of his locked-in place in his system.
As I said at the beginning of our merry Book Club, the best parts of Dune to me are about systems, whether they be systems of people, systems of politics, systems of ecology, or systems of systems themselves. The book is not perfect, far from it; and when it strays, it strays widely. It’s almost as if, wanting to write about the IDEAS of Dune, Frank Herbert spared little time to consider some of the characters and their part in the story. For example, the part near the end where we are led to believe that the Count Fenring could have killed Paul had he chosen; as if the idea of the leader of a newly victorious army submitting to single combat wasn’t preposterous enough, we should believe that his army would stand by while an even-more dangerous opponent were arranged for?
Dune is my favorite novel, although I would never say it was the best-written novel I’ve ever read, maybe not even close. But it’s the novel that has always excited my imagination most–not only do I still feel transported when Paul is standing on the Shield Wall gazing down on the Emperor’s ships in the plain of Arrakeen, but I still can feel my brain churning over the many many MANY ideas packed into the novel. While a book like The Great Gatsby or Crime and Punishment might excite me as an intellectual, Dune excites me as a HUMAN; it excites the part of me that is optimistic, that believes that humans are capable of true greatness. It excites the part of me that believes the IDEA is the important part, and all the rest is just artificing.
Where Dune–and indeed, much sci-fi–breaks down is in the meeting between these ideas and the necessity to decant them to the reader. While Dune does work best when it’s more about its characters than its more fantastical elements, the finale of the book attempts to tie up a lot of plotlines through the convenient device of just gathering all the remaining characters into a room and then killing some of them and having others give speeches.
above, by Warren Craghead
After chapter upon chapter of Thufir Hawat’s machinations within the Harkonnen family, he just sort of expires after reaffirming his loyalty to Paul. The Baron himself is dead at the start of the climax, and everyone else–Gurney, Jessica, Stilgar–just sort of stand around for the denouement. Which is a big knife fight. When I first ready the book as a teenager, I was like “hmm, that’s weird, didn’t see that coming.” Today it sticks out like a sore thumb. All the menace and portent of Paul’s “the nature of real cruelty” moment are drained away for me by this climax. The very idea that the Emperor and an entire universe of CHOAM businessmen could be convinced that “well I guess there’s nothing for it but to make the dude Emperor” is just insane.
This may be one of the things the movie did better–I haven’t seen it in a million years, but I know when I bring up Dune to friends (most of whom have never read it), the two things they say, doing impersonations from the movie, are “He IS the Kwisatz Haderach!” and “The spice must flow!” But in the book, I don’t think a strong case is ever made for the spice as an irreplaceable quantity–while we see Guildsmen from time to time, it’s only ever briefly, and there’s really no sense as to the sense of terror they might have that something might interrupt their access to spice. Surely not enough to allow someone to maneuver his way into ultimate control of… well, everything?
I was explaining Stranger In A Strange Land (another great sci-fi book) to someone the other day. “It’s an amazing book, it’s really almost a religious text, about a man with amazing powers who becomes a sort of Messiah.” Then I added, “You just have to get past the idea that he was raised by Martians.” Most great sci-fi (to me, to me) is an idea so huge that you need to place it in a fantastic setting so that it can work. But what often prevents good, even great sci-fi from being true literature is this same fantastic setting, which robs the book of some of its impact, some of its relevance to the world which WE live in.
But I would hazard that Dune is and will always be among the very greatest of sci-fi novels–even with its inconsistencies and warts, the ambitious scope of the book’s ideas is still flabbergasting. Not to mention the incisive, almost prophetic understanding Herbert has for sociology and ecology. And, my favorite of all, of humanism, of the potential of regular human beings for true greatness.
Paul's final position at the end of the book (and in sequels)is pretty sad. As Dharbin points out he is just another part of the system. This is really sad to me. I think he fails and falls into the same cage his father was in. Going back to that war room/planning scene early in the book before the Duke is dead. The Duke and all his men are brilliant but they are playing by the rules and they are slaves to the system or the way the universe works. They can't see past it and are therefore doomed. Paul can see. He sees that they are doomed. He represents a change. An evolution. But after he evolves and becomes Maud'Dib it is as if the breaks are put on. As if, well, evolution can only take one step at a time. Instead of changing the way the universe is governed, he becomes it's government and, really it's all back to the way things were. Sure, his house has the power but they are still playing the same game. I really wanted to see Paul smash the game board and say this all ends now. But Herbert is not giving us some romanticized boy's adventure book here with a clean happy ending. He's teaching lessons about mankind's nature over generations and generations. These are harsh realities. What's the line, all revolutions are doomed as soon as they begin. A kid rebels against their parents and grows up to be like their parents. A revolution overthrows a government and becomes the government. Not that it's all bad. Paul make progress. For the Fremen, at least in this book, he is a Messiah. The Fremen are free or at least empowered. So if that was the whole book, then yeah, Paul is a totally heroic, triumphant and hopeful character.
I think Herbert is also making statements about the evolutionary nature of mankind. It's baby steps. As long as you fight against the stagnation you are fighting the good fight so we applaud Paul for that. He forces mankind into a few baby steps forward. And maybe that's all his generation can do. Maybe it's all it can bare without spinning into chaos. (SPOILER In the sequels we will see his son push further steps.)
There are a lot of Biblical themes in Dune and I think Herbert might have been following some of that in this case as well. Moses had too much blood on his hands to enter Canaan. The next generation had to do that. David had too much blood on his hands to build the temple. His son had to do that. Maybe Paul, having taken power through some horrific violence has too much blood on his hands to break the cylce. By the end of this book (and in sequels) his persona just seems to instantly inspire people to rise up into radical violent revolt all around the galaxy. He, himself has to become the Emperor and fall inline with the existing system's rules for fear of total chaos. He has all the power in the universe and is totally trapped by it. Deep heady stuff for a sci-fi novel.
It is because of this blog and Dharbin's flickr site that I have read Dune for the first time over the last month. Within this last year I also read Stranger in a Strange Land (second time since I was a teenager) and so both books have helped recently expand my understanding of humanity and history. That Dune was written in the mid 60s when Islam was considered by most Westerners to be another exotic "Eastern" religion and yet that the book was so prescient regarding modern conflicts in the Middle East and the battle for resources (spice=oil) is remarkable. Religion is, of course, a major theme as Herbert draws from Bible, Koran and Eastern Mysticism to weave his story. Yet as has been mentioned the overarching theme is the evolution of Humanity (in which religion has become part of the adaptive survival mechanistic process). Most of the comments on this blog have touched on many of the detailed nuances of the book and I've enjoyed those observations. Not meaning to ramble, one more point I'd like to mention is that George Lucas' Star Wars owes a great debt to Dune, in my opinion. Thanks for the great art and comments about Dune and for inspiring me to read such a masterpiece of Sci-fi.
I've tried to avoid the Star Wars comparisons because it could turn into a study of it's own. Most of this is more centered around the Dune sequels than the book we are reading now but since this is the grand finale– I'll go off on a tangent and you are free to igonore me. There are the obvious things, the Sarlacc, sand, Emperor etc. Without getting into all of that I would point out that Paul is a lot like Vader. He's all "chosen one" etc. but takes things down a path that is unknown to others and even to prophecy. Both guys become a part of the system they are fighting against. Both of them end up with too much blood on their hands to move on into the new world they seek to create. Both leave a lot of unfinished business for their sons. Vader has to die because he can't exist in the new post-Empire world. (Spoilers) Paul- eventually, can't exist in the world he has made and leaves the next step of evolution for his son and following generations.
Now, back to this Dune book. How do you folks feel about the way things end up with the ladies? I was really disappointed in Paul for not marrying Chani. Again he is trapped by the same rules as his father. I don't fault Herbert for this though. It is what it is. I understand what Paul is doing, I just don't like it. However, the women are not to be felt sorry for here. Both Chani and the Princess know what they are getting into and handle it very well. And I love how the book ends with Jessica telling Chani that history will call them wives. Very cool to let the ladies end the book. (Well, other than the appendixes.)
I appreciate your Darth Vader/Paul comparisons. You delineated and expressed them better than I would have been able to. In an interview I've seen with Herbert, he confided that he is a lover of history. His grasp and understanding of the sweeping narrative and dynamics of human history are evident in Dune. And the role of women in history is a theme that Herbert understood well. As you said, his women are not to be felt sorry for. Yet it is a sad fact that women in Dune as well as women in history have had at once a major and yet (superficial?) subordinate role. I think Herbert handled that dichotomy authentically. The Bene Gessarit were a major influential force in the Dune Universe yet they were not the rulers. I felt Chani's character was particularly strong and independent. The "tambre", if you will, of Chani's character is not unlike that of Khadija, Mohammed's wife. Supportive, dedicated, inspirational.
Hey guys! Doug I'm stoked that you read Dune for the first time, I hope we didn't get in the way of your enjoying a fun book with all our prattling.
I think one of the ultimate lessons of the book–especially tying into its ecological theme–is that there is nothing that is not part of a system. You can get as mystical as you like, give a person all sorts of powers, but they're still a person, it's the failing of every Messiah story. The Messiah is still human, that's the whole point, and must live in a human world, in a human system. Jesus was the Son of Man, and it was man who did him in. Valentine Michael Smith (in Stranger in a Strange Land) was a man who was more than a man and tried to show men how to be more. Done in by men. Paul Atreides is not done in at the end of this book, but he has submitted to his own oracle, he has allowed his future to play out before him. While I think the sequel to Dune, Dune Messiah, is the worst of the 6 books, we do see where this leads Paul ultimately. He's done in by his own humanity and by the machinations of humans (and Guild Navigators) around him.
All these particulars don't matter. My point is just that it's systems in Dune. I'm looking forward to rereading Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune again with this in mind. as these books are more light on plot but heavy on the philosophizing. I think that, of all the sequels, Children of Dune is the best put together, the best combo of theory and story. If Herbert had been as good a writer when he wrote Dune as he was by Children of Dune, I think Dune would have truly been an incredible novel regardless of its genre. But Dune is the beginning, it's the Star Wars of the series, where all the seeds are laid. Still the best.
Dharbin,
I stumbled across this blog posting while searching for Dune book cover scans in Google Image Search. Some of the art you've posted here is great and captures the essences of the characters quite succinctly.
I read some of this post and I feel I need to comment on some of the things you've wrote.
Quote: "The very idea that the Emperor and an entire universe of CHOAM businessmen could be convinced that “well I guess there’s nothing for it but to make the dude Emperor” is just insane.
This may be one of the things the movie did better–I haven’t seen it in a million years, but I know when I bring up Dune to friends (most of whom have never read it), the two things they say, doing impersonations from the movie, are “He IS the Kwisatz Haderach!” and “The spice must flow!” But in the book, I don’t think a strong case is ever made for the spice as an irreplaceable quantity–while we see Guildsmen from time to time, it’s only ever briefly, and there’s really no sense as to the sense of terror they might have that something might interrupt their access to spice. Surely not enough to allow someone to maneuver his way into ultimate control of… well, everything?"
Dharbin, I don't think you quite understand the importance of the spice melange. Paul Muad'dib knows how to set into motion a destruction of all the sandworms on Dune, and he was 100% ready to do so should he not have been given control of the Empire.
A destruction of the spice would have immense and immediate ramifications for all of human kind. Without it faster than light space travel would be impossible; all of humanity would be cut off from each other, possibly forever. On top of that, millions upon millions of people would die from spice withdrawal. The book makes these things quite clear.
The spice controls, well, everything, and since Paul knows how to destroy it, he controls it. Therefore, he also controls everything else which depends upon it (namely, the entire Empire).
- Zensunni Wanderer
Hi ZW! I should point out that my problem is not that Paul's threat lacks teeth, or that the various factions involved aren't aware of what would happen should their supply of spice come to an end; rather, it's that Herbert does a poor job of a) making this clear to the reader, and b) an even poorer job of telling this part of the story in a convincing way. Paul just waves his threat around and all present, representing some of the most powerful factions in–pause for emphasis–THE UNIVERSE, just sort of look at each other and shrug, acceding to his wishes on the spot.
Now, remembering for a moment that we are real actual people, in the real actual world, examining the motives of fictional people on a fictional world, there's only so far we can stretch the "they had to do it because spice is so important for space travel and so forth" thread before it breaks. What it comes down to from a storytelling perspective is a sort of soft deus-ex-machina, where all these complex story threads are tied up in one fell swoop at the end with very little explanation.
Like I said, I think this is one of the great failings of the first Dune book, which the sequels improve on. In the sequels, the different geriatric and oracular properties of melange are explored more, as well as its central place in the universal economy. But in the first book we aren't told that much about it, except that it's very valuable and gives Paul funny dreams and makes people live longer. The power of the "spice" isn't really drummed into us enough to provide a foundation for the decisions at the end of the book. Imagine if you went up to ANY world leader today and told him you were going to somehow destroy all the oil in the world unless he gave up the rule of his country to you. He would not. Period. Because the leader of that country is a human, and we know that humans think of themselves first always, just look at our own Congress.
It is made very clear in the first Dune book that without the spice guild navigators cannot pilot ships through space. It is mentioned more than once in the book, including at the end when Paul threatens the Guild.
It's also worth noting that the Guildsmen who become the messengers of Paul's threat are Guild navigators, and therefore they possess a degree of prescience. When Paul threatens them, they peer into the future dimly and can see that he fully intends to follow through with what he says. Not only that but the Guild navigators are trapped in a cycle of prescience which is a result of always choosing the safest possible future. This is the nature of Guild navigators, always plotting the safest course through space. (page 476, depending on edition):
—-
"If I hear any more nonsense from either of you," Paul said, "I'll give the
order that'll destroy all spice production on Arrakis . . . forever."
"Are you mad?" the tall Guildsman demanded. He fell back half a step.
"You grant that I have the power to do this thing, then?" Paul asked.
The Guildsman seemed to stare into space for a moment, then: "Yes, you could
do it, but you must not."
"Ah-h-h," Paul said and nodded to himself. "Guild navigators, both of you,
eh?"
"Yes!"
The shorter of the pair said: "You would blind yourself, too, and condemn us
all to slow death. Have you any idea what it means to be deprived of the spice
liquor once you're addicted?"
"The eye that looks ahead to the safe course is closed forever," Paul said.
"The Guild is crippled. Humans become little isolated clusters on their isolated
planets. You know, I might do this thing out of pure spite . . . or out of
ennui."
"Let us talk this over privately," the taller Guildsman said. "I'm sure we
can come to some compromise that is –"
"Send the message to your people over Arrakis," Paul said. "I grow tired of
this argument. If that fleet over us doesn't leave soon there'll be no need for
us to talk." He nodded toward his communications men at the side of the hall.
"You may use our equipment."
"First we must discuss this," the tall Guildsman said. "We cannot just –"
"Do it!" Paul barked. "The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control
over it. You've agreed I have that power. We are not here to discuss or to
negotiate or to compromise. You will obey my orders or suffer the immediate
consequences!"
"He means it," the shorter Guildsman said. And Paul saw the fear grip them.
Slowly the two crossed to the Fremen communications equipment.
"Will they obey?" Gurney asked.
"They have a narrow vision of time," Paul said. "They can see ahead to a
blank wall marking the consequences of disobedience. Every Guild navigator on
every ship over us can look ahead to that same wall. They'll obey."
—-
Something else worth mentioning is that the ability to destroy the spice is not the only reason why Paul took control of the Empire. Paul and his fremen crushed the Sardaukar and defeated the Emperor. So not only does Paul control the most important and valuable substance in the known universe (and therefore the Guild, and therefore all interstellar travel), he also controls the most powerful army.
The Emperor and his forces are already defeated before Paul even makes his threat to destroy the spice. Nothing can stand against him militarily. The conceding of wealth and the throne to Paul at the end is a simple act of surrender. He would have had it all whether they surrendered it voluntarily or not.
- Zensunni Wanderer
I'm commenting way late on this, so sorry….
By the end of the book I was starting to really not like Paul – he became, probably by Herbert's design, alien and weird. I plan to read the rest of the books so maybe I'll like him again, but at this point the Fremen disturb me way more than the Emperor.
It also struck me how Herbert only vaguely sketches in the giant battle – he seems uninterested in big set pieces (he also skipped almost all of the Harkonnen attack earlier in the book). I'm assuming he's doing it on purpose to keep our focus on a human level the way we might actually experience something like this. The swooping omniscient narrator is in end false – we would never experience a battle like that. Either that or Herbert just was bored with it.
I do think the very end was disappointing. So Paul kicks ass, becomes, I guess, Emperor, and Herbert chooses to end on a conversation about wives and consorts? What was aid there was important, but it's jarring to have it be the end opf the book. I guess I expected something bigger or at least something involving Paul. It felt anit-climactic but maybe i'm thinking of it wrong.
Overall I greatly enjoyed the book and this book club. The drawings everyone did were successful in purging my mind of the images from the bad movie, so well done all. As discussed in an earlier thread, I've done some Fremen thinking about my scarce items, but luckily the desire to walk around heavily armed with a camelback at all times has faded. (BTW there is a student at the law school where I work who wears a camelback everywhere – Fremen? I'm NOT going to mess with him)
Thanks DH for hosting all this. You should do it again sometime.