The Forms That Comfort

"The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to
shield us from the terrors of the future (408).
Frank Herbert's Dune (1965)



Points for Reflection

Frank Herbert's Dune (1965), pp. 408-515 / Part 1 of Week 3

  1. does this novel forward that post-Enlightenment, Godwinian notion of perfectibility—that humans can use create an ideal society through reason and effort?
  2. what can we deduce about the absent-present Padishah Emperor whom we have yet to meet?
  3. for what multifarious reasons is Count Fenring visiting the Baron Harkonnen?
  4. what attitude towards her own sexuality does Lady Fenring appear to have adopted, and why?  Does her husband appear at peace with Lady Fenring’s stance?
  5. does the Baron treat his nephew, Feyd-Rautha, differently than all others?
  6. Count Hasmir Fenring observes that “‘There’s nothing like the arena to expose the true person from beneath the mask’” (418).  What does the ensuring Feyd-Rautha’s ensuing combat reveal about him—to the observers, and to the reader?
  7. Thufir Hawat does much offstage once under Harkonnen control, his actions reported secondhand by Feyd-Rautha and the Baron.  Why might Herbert keep Hawat hidden from us for so long?
  8. can you intuit Thufir Hawat’s endgame in revealing to the Baron what he knows and has deduced about both Fremen and Sardaukar?
  9. does greater understanding of Fremen society deepen your admiration of its singularity?
  10. how do the Fremen react when the learn of Liet-Kynes’ death?
  11. what role does Harah adopt with relation to Paul?
  12. do Chani and Paul develop an egalitarian relationship?
  13. what nearly fatal test does Jessica face, and how does she survive?
  14. at what points does Paul’s anger flare up within him, and what does this suggest about how much he has or has not evolved under the spice’s influence?
  15. does the spice-induced altered state which engulfs Paul signal a permanent, or temporary, shift in his perceptions?
  16. does Paul wholeheartedly embrace the idea of becoming the Fremen’s savior?
  17. does Paul acquit himself admirably during his maker-mounting trial?
  18. what do the Fremen want of Paul immediately following his successful mounting of a maker/worm, and what do he wish to do himself?
  19. consider the challenge of casting the role of Alia, a wunderkind who’s supposed to be only two years old.  How old might the actor need to be convince us of her vast knowledge and intelligence?


Frank Herbert's Dune (1965), pp. 516-617/ Part 2 of Week 3

  1. both Gurney Halleck and Thufir Hawat both think Paul more similar to his grandfather than father.  Is this assessment apt?
  2. does Paul walk a linear path as he steps into the myth created by the Bene Gesserit and refined by the Fremen?  Do his intentions, that is, remain consistent?
  3. despite his earlier denials, is Paul the Kwisatz Haderach?  What is this individual theoretically capable of doing?
  4. neither Gurney nor Jessica can figure out why Paul decides to step into a deadly duel.  Does the text provide an answer to this question?
  5. Lady Jessica admits her machinations to Paul in a moment of intense contrition, asking him to choose his own course (547).  Does she stick to her guns—about stepping fully back—and does he adopt a course of action that veers away from what the Bene Gesserit had plotted?
  6. does Alia appear to pose the threat the Reverend Mother thinks her to be?  Is she, now four years old, dangerous?  Can she do anything Paul cannot?
  7. in the universe built by Herbert, does marriage constitute an important ratification of love?
  8. what series of events shift Gurney Halleck’s opinion of the Fremen?
  9. has Thufir Hawat betrayed the Atreides family by working with the Harkonnens?
  10. on what does the Padishah Emperor’s power most rely?
  11. why might Herbert have waited till the very end to introduce the woman, Princess Irulan, who authored so many of the novel’s epigraphs?
  12. why the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam consider Paul more of a threat than the realization of a hope?
  13. why does Count Fenring, a long friend and associate of the Padisha Emperor, not do what the Emperor asks him to do following Paul’s duel?
  14. when set in opposition, how does the Sardaukar and Fremen each fare?
  15. how does Paul sidestep the expected duel with Stilgar over leadership of the Fremen?
  16. is the Guild more powerful than both the Emperium and Bene Gesserit order?

 

abstract image of sun in distant, its rays penetrating a bluish landscape in the foreground
Le Soleil (1912)
Edvard Munch

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu