dune: institutionalized religion & chosen one's
- paigenherbooks
- Apr 19, 2024
- 8 min read
5/5
I originally had Dune rated as 4 stars, but upon further reflection I came to the realization that I genuinely think Dune may be an almost perfect science fiction novel, so therefore I am granting her five stars. Dune was exciting, interesting, intriguing, and absolutely thought provoking. I did see the movie before reading so I do attribute some of my ease of understanding due to that, but I also genuinely think that Frank Herbert wrote a novel that showcases the importance of conversations, critical conversations, surrounding power, politics, leadership, religion, and more. Dune is an epic that takes place far in the future yet feels so close to our current reality. It’s a rhetoric on how our systems of power operate today and how easy it is to see people fall to a “chosen one” or the person they deem worthy. Dune was a story of struggle, perseverance, as well as choosing between right and wrong, power, and being forgotten–the age old question that has fated many since Achilles.
Dune was legendary.
Synopsis: Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the Paul Atreides--who would become known as Muad'Dib--and of a great family's ambition to bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
Dune has been out for over 50 years and with the surge of the fantastic movie adaption a lot of the plot and intricacies of the story are out there for the world to see, though my goal is to talk about the themes of this book and why it hit so hard for me, instead of focusing on the actual source material, because every deserves to know things at their own pace, and Herbert constructs a world that needs to be gone into blind or at least without some girl on the internet telling you everything. The big things I want to touch on is the thematic ties between the world Herbert has created and our current one dealing within the sect of Christianity and Chosen One’s.
I will also be adding in my thoughts on the sequel: Dune Messiah as well.
While there may be a little bit of spoilers from this conversation for the most part I’m going to try and keep this just opinion and thought provoking.
Words to know:
Dune/Arrakis: The desert Planet
Fremen: The indigenous people to Arrakis
The Harkonnens: The Atreides enemy
The Atreides: Paul, Lady Jessica (his mother), Duke Leto
Spice: The psychedelic drug that is mined on Arrakis
This gives people “sight” especially Paul
Lisan Al Giab: The Voice from the Outer World set to save the people of Dune & restore it to a paradise
Bene Gesserit: Woman led organization (cult) that oversees everything
Within this story we have the Bene Gesserit, the female (slay) group of women who are basically manipulating the universe. The Bene Gesserit have this thought that there will be a Chosen One, of their design that will lead the galaxy into the ways they only know and want. It’s been cumulating for eons, essentially. The Bene Gesserit have also seeded this Messiah prophet to the people of Arrakis/Dune. Constructing this narrative that overshadows whatever indigenous ideologies and beliefs that the Fremen had and replacing it with their Lisan Al Giab, the Voice from the Outer World, the one that will come in and save them.
By seeding these ideologies and this Messiah icon to these people, The Bene Gesserit essentially will have control of Arrakis, why would they want that?
Because Spice.
The psychedelic drug that is mined and is essential for their sight as well as space travel. By monopolizing Arrakis and the people who are Indigenous to it, the Bene Gesserit and those on their side stand on the “winning” side of history. The Bene Gesserit, is essentially the Church, the Catholic Church. Now, as someone who identifies heavily with the Catholic Church, I can understand where some of the things I’m going to say may offend you. If they do, I suggest reading & deconstruction.
The Bene Gesserit is the Church, Paul is their “Jesus” and the Fremen are Christians.
Paul is a dukes son and has the training to become their Chosen One, but initially Paul doesn’t want it. He doesn’t like the manipulation happening and the thought that his mother simply constructed him due to her training. The interesting thing that happens is that a tragedy befalls Paul and he decides to become this Chosen One, to initially enact his revenge. He will go and become a god for these people, against his own wishes and wants, to simply have the power to destroy those who destroyed things close to him.
It is important to remember that Paul is and always will be an Atreides, it doesn’t matter how close he gets to the Fremen, he will always be different.
The Fremen see this Messianic person who is doing everything “they” said he would do and decide to make him their Lisan Al Giab, as it was written. By doing this, by choosing Paul as their god on earth, they are securing their place in the food chain. They will be led to freedom, they will be led to power, and will be respected or feared by those who don’t follow or oppose. The Fremen people and those who follow this Messiah will do things in his name, will do whatever they think is “right” because of “their” teachings, which weren’t even originally their own. It’s so reminiscent of Christians having this notion of being “better” of being “saved” and be able to discriminate and judge due to their prophet “saying” certain things. Paul’s character arch is interesting because while he does become their Messiah, he doesn’t become a true pawn to the Bene Gesserit, he defies the Church essentially (sound familiar…).
Institutionalized religion is manipulative.
That is a huge theme that Herbert touches on. The Bene Gesserit use religion, use Paul, and the Fremen to further oppress people, to further control people, and to further their OWN wants and desires. Religion isn’t bad, nothing is inherently bad, but the use of religion as a weapon and tool to further control people is bad. That’s what religion does when used in a way that is built to oppress some and lift up others. Paul knows that this is happening, he’s a slave to it, all due to his own desires of revenge. How many things have been carried out in the name of Jesus Christ and were atrocities onto man kind? (The Crusades…) How many things were “Jesus’s Teachings” but further ways to control the masses, (gay marriage is “bad”, abortion, going to church, how to behave in a patriarchal society). Herbert is desperately trying to convey to people that the narrative that “someone will save you” is dangerous. That charismatic leaders who fit and check all the right boxes still have desires and still are being controlled by others. Paul becomes nothing more than a pawn, even when he is doing things “on his own”. The religious fanaticism that stems from Paul rising as their Messiah is grotesque and disgusting and we see this within Dune but mostly in Dune: Messiah as well, which takes place 12 years after Dune.
12 years of a Holy War.
12 awful years that eradicated whole planets from existence.
Holy War is a juxtaposition that shouldn’t exist.
Leading people to freedom by oppressing others is not what the foundations of peaceful teachings should ensue. Religion, institutionalized religion, creates problems and divisions between people. It is a basic form of “othering” that has withstood the test of time. “Us and Them”, the thought that one group of people is better due to their religious ideologies is insanity.
Herbert buckles down on how power changes people within these two novels. The Fremen essentially wanted freedom–hell go for it, I'm all for the oppressed getting free. Though with the introduction and indoctrination of Paul, they literally kill millions of people and say it’s fine because their Messiah said his Jihad had to happen, that it’s their right and only way to freedom. They become powerful, they become free, but they also become further pawns in a game that is simply just controlling and oppressing them further by someone who isn’t even Fremen. They let a “white savior complex” character dictate the rest of their histories because somebody years ago decided that they were needed for galaxy domination and they fell right into it.
Herbert uses Dune as a warning. A warning that if one doesn’t critically think and stand against the masses, even one’s own teachings and beliefs at times, that you too can be sucked into the whirlwind that is oppression, control, and ultimately the disengagement of one’s individuality and self. What is terrifying for me as well is the fact that Herbert had to continue the series, and write it so plainly that Paul is an anti-hero because readers figured he was the good guy.
HOW!?
You feel for Paul and at moments you understand where he is coming from but Paul decides to become a Messianic god for revenge and becomes a mass murderer.
He becomes a god to insight further violence under the banner of freedom for a people group he used to instate himself into power.
He may be charismatic but he’s also fucking crazy.
Dune was perfect in my opinion in conveying these themes and the issues within them in a way that was engaging and digestible for most readers. Herbert has a way with constructing a world out of nothing but making it so intellectually probing that you literally have to keep reading. The inner dialogue that we see from each and every character is insightful and furthers exposition in a way that truly adds to the story. Dune: Messiah falls quite short in comparison. While Dune: Messiah is written like a 70’s science fiction novel, there are tropes that happen (don't even get me started), and the way the book feels, feels old.
Dune feels timeless.
Dune: Messiah does feel like a response to the fact that people truly didn’t understand the depth of the themes that Herbert was trying to convey. That being said, it was a 3 star read for me and still really interesting. We definitely see more of the galaxy within this novel, with the introduction of different species, planets, and characters. We also get a deep dive into Alia, Pauls’ sister and the concepts of humanity, understanding, and loyalty. Within Dune: Messiah Herbert buckles down on his rhetoric from the first novel. You simply cannot read this novel and not think that Paul is a mass murderer psycho. You start to truly see the fanaticism, the effects of his religion taking hold on himself and onto others. Paul’s story is inherently a really sad one. He became the thing he never wanted to, to avenge his name, and is still controlled by the “universe” and “destiny”. No one can escape it. Dune: Messiah also showcases how unhinged Paul is, we really see him give absolutely zero fucks when it comes to some people and their lives. He is emperor, he is god to these people and they are licking up the chance to do whatever their Lisan Al Giab needs.
It’s terrifying.
Something within Dune & Dune: Messiah I truly enjoy is the fact that these books feel like mythos being told. Their set in the future yet feel as if they are looking at me face to face right now from the past. Each chapter starts with a little bit of text, recorded sayings, teaching, dialogue from Paul and other influential characters within the story. It gives the story this sense that it’s been recorded. That we are reading this documentation of time through someone else's point of view. That it’s not an organic current reading experience. We are not truly witnessing the things occurring but are being filtered by someone or someone’s. I’m not sure if that was Herberts intention but I do absolutely love the addition and the atmospheric feeling it gives his novels. It truly furthers the whole conversation around religion and recording of religion, which is essentially one big game of historical and metaphorically telephone.
Dune and Dune: Messiah are important books to read.
They are important books to talk about.
Important books to dissect and truly reflect on a wide variety of things.
Dune is a perfect novel.
Dune: Messiah falls short yet still delivers cozy yet sometimes overbearing tropes and qualities and unfortunately take away from the story itself.
That being said I will be continuing to read and can’t wait to see what else I will be questioning about my existence and beliefs in Children of Dune.
As it was written.
xoxo,
paige
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