Dune, despite it's age, remains a one of a kind innovation in the vast, yet somewhat repetitive, world of science fiction. Referring to Dune as anything short of revolutionary could border on blasphemy. In just the first book, the author, Frank Herbert, begins to construct a story from ideas that had remained almost, if not completely, untouched by other authors. Whilst writing, he showed no fear or restraint as he implemented feudal elements of our past into an otherwise technologically advanced future. Elements that other science fiction writers chose to completely exclude from their universes. These elements include ideas such as an ever-present religion, which still holds relevance in an era thousands of years after our own; and monarchies, in which dukes and barons are allowed wage war …show more content…
against rival houses and families without intervention from the monarchs. The more profound essence of these ideas cannot truly be grasped unless they are examined both in context and out. Ideas, which could be no longer than a single word, can give great amounts of insight when held against the rest of the story; but, to truly grasp the immense ideas which Herbert has crafted into the story, they must also be compared and contrasted to events outside of the story. A passage which could be examined in this way is Piter's explanation of the Baron's plan to Feyd-Rautha, “While Hawat's occupied with the Lady Jessica, we'll divert him further with uprisings in a few garrison towns and the like. These will be put down. The Duke must believe he's gaining a measure of security. Then, when the moment is ripe, we'll signal Yueh and move in... strengthened by two legions of Sardaukar disguised in Harkonnen livery” (19). Even without digging deeper into these four sentences, any reader can gain a basic understanding of the Baron's entire plan for the downfall of the Atreides. Piter began by explaining that they'll distract Thufir Hawat by pointing suspicion towards the Lady Jessica and stirring up rebellion in some small towns, in effort to pry his attention away from their true plan, Yueh. Considering that they plan to move in after signaling Yueh, it's clear that they are depending on him for access to the Atreides' stronghold. The passage also hints at possible relationship issues between the Duke and Jessica. By pointing suspicion towards his lover, the Baron could tear the Atreides apart long before the Sardaukar arrive. There was another hint given by Piter at the very end of the plan. In explaining that the Sardaukar will be disguised in Harkonnen uniforms, he exposed the fact that the Baron wishes for the emperor’s involvement to remain obscured. Many passages in Dune, such as this one, can provide more insight on what's going to happen, as opposed to what's currently happening. A prime example of this would be the Duke Leto's worry fueled conversation with his son, “ 'You'll not be a renegade House, but a guerrilla House-running, hunted... I must order new emphasis on guerrilla training for you. That filmclip there-they call you 'Mahdi'-'Lisan al-Gaib'-as a last resort, you might capitalize on that' ” (104). In this, the Duke fears that without him, his house would become something worse than a renegade house – which was earlier explained to be a house that had left it's honor behind as it escaped the boundaries of the Imperium, – they'd become a “guerrilla house”, as he said. They would be forced to always be running from their enemies, never able to truly call a place home. As a possible solution, Leto proposed that Paul focus or “capitalize”, on the fact that the Fremen believe him to be their “Mahdi”, or the one who will lead them to paradise. Leto made it sound as if he was suggesting that Paul should take advantage of his role in the Fremen religion as way to hold power, which, although it may sound cruel, it may also be completely necessary to protect himself, and the Atreides bloodline. This passage from the book reveals much of the Duke's expectations and worries for the future; not only does he fear for an attempt on his life, but he expects his house to lose all control over Arrakis. It also reveals that he believes the Fremen to be their only hope for surviving in their new home, which considering the imminent attack by Sardaukar, very well may be true. The Sardaukar, being a ferocious military force which serves the Padishah Emperor, are assumed to be trained on a hellish prison planet known as Salusa Secundus – or more simply – S.S. This assumption lead the Duke to a realization which gave him a reason to walk so willingly into a trap. “ 'Consider Arrakis,' the Duke said. 'When you get outside the towns and garrison villages, it's every bit as terrible a place as Salusa Secundus.' Paul's eyes went wide. 'The Fremen!' 'We have there the potential of a corps as strong and deadly as the Sardaukar... You see now why we walk into Arrakis, knowing the trap is there' ” (44). As Paul was quick to realize, Arrakis has the same ability to mold a people into warriors as mighty and fearless as the Sardaukar. The Duke is no fool; he knew to expect a trap on Arrakis. He even expected an army of Sardaukar. This passage reveals the Duke's plan to raise an army from the dessert, and to use it to oppose the Harkonnens. The only question that this leaves to readers is: will they be too late? By the next passage, that question had answered.
Doctor Yueh had made his move, and had brought down the shields surrounded the Atreides house. He had given the Duke a tooth capable of filling a room with a poisonous gas, and told him to use it when in the presence of the Baron. When the Duke tried to refuse, Yueh assured him by saying, “You mustn't refuse. Because, in return for this small service, I'm doing a thing for you. I will save your son and your woman... by secreting them among people who draw knife at hearing the Harkonnen name, who hate the Harkonnens so much they'll burn a chair in which a Harkonnen has sat' ” (158). Yueh's attempt at reassuring the Duke gives great insight on the fate of Paul and the Lady Jessica. He said that while he would be killed, the Lady Jessica and Paul would turned over to the enemy of their enemy – a people who despise the Harkonnens as much, if not more, than them. The obvious choice in this case is the Fremen. Not only did the Atreides make an effort to make peace with them, both Paul and his mother also have their own roles in the Fremen religion; giving the Fremen multiple reasons to give them asylum from the
Harkonnens. Even if the Fremen were to grant them any form of shelter from their enemies, it would only function as a temporary solution. The Baron's determination to end the Atreides once and for all wouldn't allow him to stop scavenging the planet until they were killed. Paul's temporary ability to see the most likely outcomes which the future could hold held within it two more long-term solutions. “He had seen two main branchings along the way ahead – in one he confronted an evil old Baron and said: 'Hello, Grandfather.' The thought of that path and what lay along it sickened him. The other path held long patches of grey obscurity except for peaks of violence. He had seen a warrior religion there, a fire spreading across the universe with the Atreides green and black banner waving at the head.” Within the first future, Paul embraces his Harkonnen descent and appears to consort with the Baron. As mentioned, Paul was revolted at the idea of him joining with the killer of his father. If he were to ally himself with the Baron, it would mean the end of the Atreides, and even more pride for the Baron. For Paul, the Duke's own son, would have betrayed the Atreides. That future, at first, seemed to be the worst possible path that Paul could walk down; however, the second future proved even worse. Paul saw a religion fueled army of warriors ravaging the entire universe, all under the green and black banner of the Atreides. A complete and utter jihad. Paul told himself that he wouldn't let such a thing happen. He knew that it's exactly what the “witches” from the Bene Gesserit schools would want. A war of the sort would shift the balance in the universe and accelerate the different bloodlines towards their goal of a “great new pooling of genes”. Stuck between those two futures, Paul will no doubt have to endeavor to create his own path; one without him forsaking his house and becoming who he hates and without spreading chaos throughout the universe. Chaos which could very well may be the “terrible purpose” which he refers to throughout the first book. Paul's vague thoughts and feelings of his purpose became a tad more clear when he discovered what he was, “And he thought: I'm a seed. He suddenly saw how fertile was the ground into which he had fallen, and with this realization, the terrible purpose filled him, creeping through the empty place within, threatening to choke him with grief”(195). In that moment of understanding, Paul referred to himself as a seed surrounded by fertile ground. This could easily be draw back to the Fremen religion, and Paul's role in it. Being their “Muad'Dib”, or “The One Who Points The Way”, Paul has the opportunity to lead “the way” for an entire race, no matter if to peace, or to war. If he chooses the former, it could mean prosperity for both Atreides and Fremen alike. However, if he's forced to choose the later, it could easily lead the Jihad-like event described by his vision. Regardless of the choices that Paul will make, more than just the Atreides' fate lies in his hands. The Harkonnens may once again have control Arrakis, but the Fremen are waiting for someone to rally to. Someone like Paul. When he presents himself as the off-world prophet who could lead them to paradise, the Atreides will have an army as fierce as anything the Emperor or Baron have to offer. With the Fremen behind him, the war hasn't even begun.
The Stone Mountain Coal Company wielded monopoly control over the town of Matewan through a feudal system of economic, cultural, political, and environmental processes. Every person in the town of Matewan came under the power of the company in one way or another. The employees of Stone Mountain were under a bondage contract with the company. Once they came to the company it was impossible to leave and at the same time maintain a basic standard of living. They could not leave also because once they signed on with the company they owed the company a large sum of money for everything ranging from the ticket for the train that brought them to Matewan to the equipment they needed to work there. In this way it was as if they were paying the company to let them work in the mines rather the other way around. They did not have the rights basic to capitalism such as the right to join a union, the right to sell their labor in a labor market to the bidder of their choice, and the right to spend their wage freely.
In the essay Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth , Robert Frazier Nash discusses the past and present human impact on the environment and offers solutions for the distant fourth millennium.
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness is an autobiographical narrative written by naturalist Edward Abbey. Abbey composed the account based on his personal experiences as an employee for the United States Park Service at Arches National Monument in Utah. Abbey’s anecdotal account is nonlinearly comprised of occupational experiences and renditions of the region’s folklore. These illustrations analogous because they exhibit related themes and trends associated with the author’s experiences and beliefs.
Before this battle, the men are starting to feast on pig and some other foods. All of a sudden they realize that something is wrong because the observation balloons have spotted smoke from their chimney. Soon after, shells begin to drop on them. They race down to the house and feast for four hours. Outside houses are burning, shells are propelled down to the ground. In eight days the men are told to return. Only a few days later are they ordered to evacuate a village. While on their way, Kropp and Paul see people fleeing out of the village with distress, anger, and depression. Everyone is silent as the two walk by them, even the children holding on to their mothers for moment, Paul feels a blow on his left leg. Albert is right next to him, and he cries out to Paul. The men scurry to a nearby ditch. They are hurt, but do the best that they can to run to another ditch. Albert is straggling behind, and Paul helps him to continue by holding him up. They reach the dug-out where Paul bandages up Kropp’s injury, a bullet for an ambulance to be taken. The ambulance picks them up, and they are given an anti-tetanus shot in their chests. When the dressing station is reached, Paul and Kropp make sure that they are lying next to each other. The surgeon examines Paul and tells someone to chloroform him. Paul objects to this order, and the doctor does not do it. The surgeon takes out a piece of shell, and puts Paul in a plaster cast. The two are brought on the train, Albert develops a high fever so he needs to be taken off the train at the next stop. In order to stay with his friend, Paul fakes a fever and they reach a Catholic Hospital together. Paul is operated on and recovers faster than Kropp. His leg is amputated, and he later goes to an institute for artificial limbs. Paul is called back to his regiment and returns to the front.  parts, or lost body parts, and they are thankful that it is not them who are in danger of dying. By receiving injuries, Paul and Kropp experience the war from a different perspective.
Looking at the title, King of the World, with its photograph of Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr./Muhammad Ali, I assumed it was a biography. It isn't. Jumping to my next conclusion I thought it was a book about the "sweet science;" it isn't. Okay, maybe it's a tell-all about the seamy side of the boxing 'business.' It's not.
Throughout the 1920s Fundamentalism and Modernism clashed. Inherit the Wind showcases the rift between the two. Modernist beliefs go against what the fundamentalist believed. Fundamentalists believed in the literal interpretation of the bible while modernists believed in evolution.
As I finished reading the final story in Almanac of The Dead: A Novel by Leslie Marmon Silko I had to reserve a few minutes to dwell in my thoughts, questions, and bittersweet emotions about the overall content of the book. A key concept that I believe is prominent throughout Silko’s book is the main role Colonialism plays in the objectification, degradation, and commoditization of people, epistemologies, and the environment. Reading the different forms of violence performed throughout the world of the text perfectly portrays the disturbing dehumanizing power that arises from colonialistic capitalism. I argue that Silko gives life to Colonialism which is present throughout the various plots in the novel and deconstructs the idea that Colonialism, as a period in time, belongs in the past. She constructs Colonialism
Throughout Dune there is a clear emphasis on the power of religion in society. Frank Herbert explores just how prominent religion is when it comes to control again and again in this book with the idea of prophecy and messianic suggestion. The main character, Paul, is often looked upon as some sort of supernatural human being and is in turn glorified and protected. After having been crowned the messiah of multiple prophecies Paul becomes referred to as Muad’Dib, which means “mouse”. Herbert uses this name to exemplify Paul as resilient and admirable; however, the more he is picked apart, the more deceit and trickery is revealed. Paul is no more a messiah than he is an honest man.
Ben Bova begins his liner notes on Frank Herbert Reads his God Emperor of Dune (Excerpts) by stating that "All truly great art shares this characteristic: the more you study it, the more it reveals" (Herbert). Although it refers specifically to the fourth book in the Dune Chronicles, his statement also applies to the trilogy that precedes it–Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune. Herbert's "polyphonic" work contains themes on so many levels (ecology, politics, war, philosophy, religion, and technology, just to name a few), that it soon becomes difficult to separate one from the other. The topic of human awareness, however, takes on a specific tone and special level of importance above all the others. Whether looking at the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and their political intrigues and planning, or the Mentat's historical role as the human computer 1 , filing away and analyzing countless bits of data, human awareness somehow always becomes a focus. Even in the economics of the work, where the "coin of the realm," the spice melange, is able not only to extend human life, but also to open up both past and future to the properly prepared mind, does this theme become evident.
The emergence of capitalism in Western Europe was considered as a majority change in human history. As prior to the emergence of capitalism conditions are mainly agriculture and there was no sustained monotonic income per capita. Also prior to the emergence of capitalism there was a feudal system of organising the economy emerged in the 15th century of medieval Europe.
A culture is entirely dependent upon the attitudes, beliefs, traditions, values, forms of government, and economic systems shared by a community. Cultures vary from region to region, which formulates an interesting and diverse world. The book, Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton showcases a unique desert culture that deviates from modern America.
The literature of the past can reveal a lot about the lives, culture, traditions, and history of the people who wrote it. Through a story, poem, or any other form of writing, lifestyles, people, and society can be described in great detail. Beowulf is a great example of this. Beowulf is one of the most important works in Anglo Saxon literature, being one of the few surviving works in Old English. It tells the story of a warrior named Beowulf, who travels to Denmark to help the Danes defeat a monster named Grendel. He then goes on to defeat Grendel’s mother and returns home to rule over his people as a great king for many years, until he is forced to fight a dragon attacking his land, dying in the process.Throughout the poem, elements and culture
Let us presuppose to begin with that the cursed jewel is an impossibility and the powers of the Moonstone or any other gem for that matter only exist on an atomic level ( i.e. the energies which bind such objects together and make them what they are). Additionally it should be considered that no such object is the means by which a being exerts powers and no such object consciously exerts powers itself. Notions of the cursed or powerful jewel can be seen as a bi-product of what Said terms “Orientalism.” Said describes “The Orient” as “almost a European invention,” a place of “exotic beings and remarkable experiences.” (Ashcroft et al ed. p.87) This hypothesis adequately compliments Wilkie Collins’ characterisation of the eponymous jewel in The Moonstone and the moral pattern the author forms around its adventures.
When writers write, it is often to convey a deeper meaning or truth to it readers. With this in mind, we should first take the book at face value then analysis the story to see the point that the writer revels. In The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad does this very well. The story goes from what we originally thought as just a story of a journey into Africa to a story of indeed a journey to the hearts of men. Conrad’s truth in The Heart of Darkness is multi-layered in dealing with imperialism and colonialism, but leads us to a critique of humanity as a whole. The biggest issue that Conrad shows in this book, is his philosophy of the dark nature of man. This paper will explore the evidence for the nature of man theory and then look at the proposed solution subtlety given by Conrad.
In this paper, I would like to examine how Conrad's Heart of Darkness has played an important role in exposing the brutal reality of Belgian colonialism of the Congo Free State under the pretence of a civilizing mission . The study focuses on how historicizing Conrad's Heart of Darkness has been instrumental in uncovering atrocities committed by King Leopold II's agents in their desperate scramble for the rich resources of Congo like ivory and rubber. King Leopold II's atrocities may account for the death of almost ten million Congolese natives, a crime of a genocidal scale which has terribly affected the future of the Congo and its people till today. Conrad renders his own anti colonial critique through his central character,