To attempt an understanding of Muad’Dib without understanding his mortal enemies
To attempt an understanding of Muad’dib without
understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens is
to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood.
It is an attempt to see the light without knowing
Darkness. It cannot be.
—FROM “MANUAL OF MUAD'DIB”
BY THE PRINCESS IRULAN
understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens is
to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood.
It is an attempt to see the light without knowing
Darkness. It cannot be.
—FROM “MANUAL OF MUAD'DIB”
BY THE PRINCESS IRULAN
When Dune was published in 1965 the world of science fiction was introduced to one of the most enduring antagonists. The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a humongous man, with unchecked appetites that bend to the perverse and extreme.
Composing his council are his loyal Mentat, Piter De Vries and his nephews. Mentats are author Frank Herbert’s answer to how computation is performed after the Butlerian Jihad—-people are conditioned to serve as mathematical machines. Each ducal house of the intergalactic feudal Landsraad has Mentats at their service. Piter, like his liege, the Baron Harkonnen is a twisted plotter, who helps with the Baron’s schemes. For his part, the Baron has promised Piter the lady Jessica, and this only serves to make the Baron more diabolical, as the reader will learn in later chapters.
The Barron has two nephews, Feyd-Rautha and ”The Beast” Rabban. The younger Feyd is about the same age as Paul Atreides, and is the chosen heir to the Baron’s fiefdom, headquartered on the planet Giedi Prime. Rabban is the Barron’s representative on the planet Arrakis —-the only planet in the Universe known to produce the geriatric spice melange. Arrakis has been in control of the Harkonnens for years, but it is to be used as a chess piece by the Baron and the Padishah Emperor.
Baron Harkonnen and Paul’s father, Duke Leto of Caladan have been in conflict and the Emperor intends to use “the old feud” to rid himself of the Atreides, whom he considers a threat.
As Jessica relates in a later chapter:
Proud Duke Leto has also brought up the notion of kanly, or vendetta in response to a requested meeting from the Baron.
The Emperor’s plan is to make the Atreides give up their homeland of Caladan to become the new stewards of Arrakis —- but only for a short time. He will then fully support, however under cover of a Harkonnen attack, the decimation of Atreides forces and royal blood.
Composing his council are his loyal Mentat, Piter De Vries and his nephews. Mentats are author Frank Herbert’s answer to how computation is performed after the Butlerian Jihad—-people are conditioned to serve as mathematical machines. Each ducal house of the intergalactic feudal Landsraad has Mentats at their service. Piter, like his liege, the Baron Harkonnen is a twisted plotter, who helps with the Baron’s schemes. For his part, the Baron has promised Piter the lady Jessica, and this only serves to make the Baron more diabolical, as the reader will learn in later chapters.
The Barron has two nephews, Feyd-Rautha and ”The Beast” Rabban. The younger Feyd is about the same age as Paul Atreides, and is the chosen heir to the Baron’s fiefdom, headquartered on the planet Giedi Prime. Rabban is the Barron’s representative on the planet Arrakis —-the only planet in the Universe known to produce the geriatric spice melange. Arrakis has been in control of the Harkonnens for years, but it is to be used as a chess piece by the Baron and the Padishah Emperor.
Baron Harkonnen and Paul’s father, Duke Leto of Caladan have been in conflict and the Emperor intends to use “the old feud” to rid himself of the Atreides, whom he considers a threat.
As Jessica relates in a later chapter:
“The Harkonnens won’t rest until they’re dead or my Duke destroyed. The Baron cannot forget that Leto is a cousin of the royal blood-no matter what the distance-while the Harkonnen titles came out of the CHOAM pocketbook. But the poison in him, deep in his mind, is the knowledge that an Atreides had a Harkonnen banished for cowardice after the Battle of Corrin.”
Proud Duke Leto has also brought up the notion of kanly, or vendetta in response to a requested meeting from the Baron.
The Emperor’s plan is to make the Atreides give up their homeland of Caladan to become the new stewards of Arrakis —- but only for a short time. He will then fully support, however under cover of a Harkonnen attack, the decimation of Atreides forces and royal blood.
To aid in the plot, the Harkonnens also have a spy embedded in the Atreides household, Dr. Yueh.
So, Herbert has laid out the plot in the first few pages of the book, and the reader does not have to piece together the story. Why has the author written this way?
The answer is supported by the chapter epigraphs. Herbert’s intent is to teach the reader, while at the same time providing an entertaining science fiction tale. Far from a tech-heavy science fiction story of spaceship battles and alien civilizations, Dune is a human story, with most of the writing taking place in the form of dialog between a few participants. The Baron admonishes Piter to listen to the plans within plans within plans, and as a reader of Dune, this statement holds true as well.
So, Herbert has laid out the plot in the first few pages of the book, and the reader does not have to piece together the story. Why has the author written this way?
The answer is supported by the chapter epigraphs. Herbert’s intent is to teach the reader, while at the same time providing an entertaining science fiction tale. Far from a tech-heavy science fiction story of spaceship battles and alien civilizations, Dune is a human story, with most of the writing taking place in the form of dialog between a few participants. The Baron admonishes Piter to listen to the plans within plans within plans, and as a reader of Dune, this statement holds true as well.
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