Dune Analysis

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Dune is a novel by Frank Herbert about the rising of a messiah. The planets Dune, also called Arrakis, and Caladan serve as the setting for the story. The novel takes place in the far future, a dystopian future where humans are trained to function like computers of old, which have been banned from being built after a popular uprising against machines known as the Butlerian Jihad. Paul Maud'Dib is shown to be the Messiah the Fremen are searching for in that he starts the terraforming of Dune, the fact that he parallels Christ, his changing of the culture of the Fremen, and the fact that his genes mark him for greatness, and the irony of the Baron's actions.
Ecology is a strong literary element in the novel Dune. plays a quite large part in Dune. Dune is a desert world, a sterile planet, devoid of life. Not uUntil one goes underneath the surface of Dune, then a whole new ecosystem is seen, based around water or the avoidance of it. Fremen use technology called "stillsuits" to conserve their body's water. Stillsuits recycle any moisture that is excreted by the body. This water is then drunk again, and used again. The Fremen, used to life that requires hoarding water, are astonished at the fact that there are other planets with open water on them. Sandworms are a quite important part of Dune's ecosystem. They, wWhile infants, sandworms produce the spice melange, the spice so precious to human life on Arrakis. These infant sandworms, after being in a spice blow and surviving, eventually grow into the monstrosities that are adult sandworms, the "Old Men of the Desert." (citation) The Water of Life is a potent poison and prescience drug, only obtainable by drowning a sandworm. Its opposite is the Water of Death (citation), ...

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...on's actions earlier in the novel lead to his downfall and death later in the novel. His hatred for the Duke Leto Atreides leads to the rise of Paul Maud'Dib, Leto's son and heir. Another irony is the fact that the Baron Harkonnen takes the dead Leto's Mentat, Thufir Hwat, and makes Hwat his Mentat. ""Another matter," the Count said. "We learn that Duke Leto's Mentat, Thufir Hawat, is not dead but in your employ." (Herbert 212). Keynes, the Imperial Planetologist, is killed by his own planet, which is an ironic moment in itself. "Then, as his planet killed him, it occurred to Kynes…" (Herbert 180).
Paul's mission is ultimately to make Dune a planet full of life. He is there to change Arrakis, to make it ecologically more diverse. The first part of his mission is completed in Dune. He makes Dune a safe place for the Fremen to live in, free from persecution.

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