Arguably, but widely acclaimed as the greatest science fiction novel ever written, Dune was penned by ecologist Frank Herbert over fifty-five years ago, and won both the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards for an exceptional work of fantasy and sci-fi. Aside from experience with the deserts of Oregon, Herbert had experience working in Pakistan as well; thus the Dune universe contains [especially as regards the native Fremen people of the planet Arrakis or Dune] elements regarding tribal culture, customs, and even religion and language that will ring familiar to local enthusiasts.
This epic book was made into a film by David Lynch in the ‘80s, but although it gained something of a cult following then, it was unable to do justice to the scope and scale of the book. This month, however, director Denis Villeneuve is releasing a new version of the first part of the book, heavily reliant on twenty-first century CGI technology, and starring the promising young actors Timothy Chalamet and Zendaya [as the romantic leads Paul Atreides and Chani].
Dune is set many thousands of years into the future. The fifteen-year old Paul, whose ancient ancestry hails from the legendary Greek house of Atreus, shifts from his home planet of Caladan along with his parents the Duke LetoAtreides and his concubine Jessica, to the desert planet Arrakis. or Dune, famous for a substance termed spice mélange, that enables space travel and is one of the costliest commodities in the Dune universe. Although Duke Leto appreciates that the galacticalImperium has, by means of this transfer, pitted him against the outgoing rulers of Arrakis, the ruthless Harkonnens who are his mortal enemies, he makes the best of the situation and gains the respect of the local people very rapidly.
Leto’s concubine, Jessica, is a member of a powerful political and mystical sisterhood called the Bene Gesserit, who for ninety generations have been mixing and manipulating genetic bloodlines in order to produce a major male prophet figure whom they refer to as the Kwisatz Haderach [which means ‘Shortening of the Way’]. Going against their breeding schemes, Jessica gives birth to a son out of love for her duke, as opposed to the daughter her sisterhood commands her to produce. The son, Paul Atreides, has a unique destiny, not simply as the aforementioned Bene Gesserit prophet, but also as a mystical and military leader of the native Fremen people of Arrakis.
What leads Paul and Jessica to the Fremen is the betrayal of his father to the Harkonnens, by a member of Leto’s own hitherto trusted household. Although the Atreides are deeply respected and revered by people who manage their health, safety, and personal security, the corpulent and sadistic Baron Harkonnen manages to convert one of them from ally to traitor. Leto dies, but Paul and his mother flee into the desert where they are accepted into the fold of the Fremen people and taught the complex ways of the desert and its grueling challenges. Within just over a couple of years, Paul becomes the Fremen’s social and military leader with heightened mystical powers [partly due to this influence of his Bene Gesserit trained mother, who herself achieves the high status accorded only to a Reverend Mother of the community].
He falls in love with a young Fremen woman named Chani, the elfin-looking daughter of the planet’s Imperial Planetologist LietKynes. Kynes [most likely an alter ego of Frank Herbert himself] believes that a day will come when the planet may become far less arid; during the period in which Dune is set, however, water is as precious to the natives as spice itself. The Fremen wear special suits to conserve the body’s water when out in the desert, and even reclaim the water of the dead for communal use by the tribe.
Humungous sandworms dominate the desert planet of Arrakis and the Fremen can handle and control them in a way no-one else can. These creatures have a special connection with spice, although I will not reveal too much about that—it happens to be one of the great surprises of the Dune universe. Like other Fremen, Paul learns to ride and control the sandworms, and adapts himself admirably to their gritty and difficult lifestyle with ostensible ease and undeniable sincerity. In return, he hones and refines their battle skills to the point where they are able to prove their supremacy to, and political hold over, not simply the Harkonnens but even the Emperor himself. Hence Paul’s fate is as heroic as it is mystical, and all the more remarkable for its inimitable hero being a teenager. Intricately plotted and beautifully written, Dune has withstood the test of time the way only a genuinely canonical text can. Let’s hope the film makers understand this point as well as I do.
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