Dune: Frank Herbert

This week for literature of horror, fantasy and sci-f I read Dune by Frank Herbert. Dune, as it turns out, is a complex piece of literary work dealing with a time period in the not so distant future in which the story of Paul Atreides, the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides, is told. The story revolves around the family’s control over Arrakis a desert planet which happens to be the only known place to obtain Melange, a type of spice that is the most important, valuable substance in the entire universe. The story explores a lot of fascinating themes like religion and power and the ability for humans to have control over the environment. I thought it was an intriguing notion that “Dune” addressed religion in a way that it was such a prominent feature within the novel. Thinking about it more, I realize how little other things within the sci-fi genre touch on religion. Looking more into it I realized that Herbert actually held a different outlook on religion as an institution, as opposed to his contemporaries. Hebert’s outlook on the future and religion’s place within it has religion and politics heavily intertwined whereas other science fiction writers took the approach of religion being an outdated institution that would lose all functionality when the future approached. I think it’s fascinating that Herbert took such a different approach when it came to religion; I think in part that’s why  he’s such a critically acclaimed author because he wasn’t afraid to point out that religion wasn’t just a faint or new idea and that years in the future it could very well still be a crucial player in our day to day affairs. I also think it’s brilliant how the his story seems to be making observations about life even though it’s told through the efforts of a futuristic story. For instance the idea of the Fremen being controlled by religion seems to be a good way of highlighting the way cults work and how charismatic religious leaders can sometimes exploit the religious for their own ends. Herbert’s outlook on religion, as implied by Dune, is that when mixed with power and greed it could be the most detrimental thing to a person’s way of life. A leader like that really seems to be unstoppable to his followers and it’s that belief that makes the leader all the more powerful.

 Another interesting concept that Herbert addresses within “Dune” is the idea of humanity having power over the environment. Within the novel an ecologist by the name of Kynes is determined to altar the harsh desert climate of Arrakis into a more lush tropical one, a dream that Paul is more than happy to continue with after Kyne’s death. No one seems to question whether it is right to completely altar the eco-system and typical planetary conditions, that have kept numerous animal lives alive on the planet. This brings to mind the way we, as a whole, treat the planet we live on today. Herbert seems to be trying to point out that things like the damaging of the rain forest and the ozone layer for our own benefit in the here and now, will only hurt us  in the future. Although the repercussions are blind to us presently we mustn’t take it upon ourselves to completely altar the ecological makeup of our environment because we will surely pay for them later.

It’s themes like these that I think propelled Herbert’s book far above it’s time and is why it has gained the reputation as one of the greatest sci-fi writers. He addressed ideologies that I don’t think a lot of science fiction writers were thinking about at the time.