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Religion of Dune

Introduction:
“Dune” is Frank Herbert’s most popular novel on science fiction published in

1965. It is the first volume of six series of novel. Herbert wrote this novel after

his visit to Florence, Oregan at the northern side of Oregon Dune. He went

there with United States Department of Agriculture for stabilizing the sand

dunes through plantation. This motivating event inspired him to research

further on these dunes and come up with this fabulous epic science fiction in

1965 who has won both Hugo and Nebula awards in 1966. The novel has

focused on issues such as politics, religion, ecology, and social change. It

further explores the development of human mind through technological

marvels. The critics have defined this novel traditional in male-female

relationship, imaginative in use of history and hopeful in changing human’s

destiny. This essay would give deep insight to the novel and its characters and

highlight the role of religious concepts within the novel (Locklear).

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Discussion:

Overview of Dune: A Science Fiction:

The novel Dune revolves around the efforts of Paul Atreides, for freeing the

citizens of Arrakis from control of Harkonnens. As the novel initiates with the

news that Duke Leto, Paul’s father was the new lord of Arrakis, after leaving

his home planet of Caladan. Arrakis is a planet inhabited by individuals who

earn their livelihood from harvesting and sale of Melange.

Melange was an enigmatic substance that elongates the human life and health.

It was also found to enhance the power cognizance of human being. It was

believed that the repeated dosages of this material may entail the human

being with enhanced capability of doing complex mathematical calculations

which was only possible with computers before. In addition to this it might

also equipped the human mind with intellectual ability of controlling the time

and space. These multiple benefits of Melange classify it as most valuable

material on the universe and planet Arrakis blessed with this material was

considered as most valuable planet of the universe (Singson).

In purview of attaining the control over this precious planet and Melange,

Duke Leto was assassinated by Harkonnens, the political rivals of the planet.

After his assassination, Baron Valdimir Harkonnen took over the in charge of

planet and Melange trade. The story further reveals that after this sad event,

Duke’ widow who was a member of religious group known as Bene Gesserit,
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ran with his son in to the desserts. In desserts, they took refuge with the help

of Fremen which were the old inhabitants of Arrakis Planet (Magill).

As a result of Bene Gesserit’s breeding program, Paul was given high doses’

of Melange to take him to the state which was near to omniscience. In that

state, he was enabled to see time as series of causes and effects and shape

the future in accordance with these events. The precious Melange also

permitted him to talk with his ancestors through his inherited memory, thus

giving him to access the wisdom of collective consciousness. Paul equipped

with intellectual control of worms and divine control of Fremen, overcome his

enemies and regain the position of emperor. The Paul’s vision indicated him

that the human gene pool will be renewed after the war and this transformed

gene pool would allow them to transform the ecology of Arrakis. He envisioned

that with the help of transformed human gene pool and Fremen, he would be

able to convert this dry land in to water rich Eden. The novel ends by winning

the mantle of Emperor by Paul, who intended to formulate an entire new

system of rules and regulations for human’s prosperity and development

(Magill).

Critical Analysis: Religion of Dune:

Dune by Frank Herbert is the largest selling science fiction novel. And as for

the writer, “The novel is a comprehensive training manual for consciousness”.

The critics characterize this novel as finest construction of Herbert because of

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its originality, nicely organized plot, and unique way of studying humanity. As

the fiction has discussed humanity from social, religious, political and

ecological context. The novel has beautifully merged the Roman Imperial and

European Feudal system while portraying the Arrakis’s empire. Some of the

scholars classify Dune as an epic due to Paul’s super heroic abilities and

journey in saving the Arrakis Empire (Jarrettkong).

Another group of critics argue that the novel has stunningly visualized the

optimistic approach of humanity of abolishing the evil and transforming the

whole island. This visualization is a strong critique for modern societies and

calls for eradicating malicious intentions from twentieth century culture and

transforming in to progressive and peaceful civilization.

The Religion is the central theme of this novel and the narrator doesn’t

imagine a world without religion. He envisioned a religion with an

amalgamation of Buddhists and Abraham’s faith and has highlighted that

religion played an important role in defining the social and political systems of

Fremen of Arrakis. The Fremen society was constructed upon religion as main

doctrine which was both a prime strength and weakness for Fremen’s culture.

As it is highlighted within the novel “ Religion and law must be one and the

same for all” which means that anyone committing sin would be penalized in

accordance with religion. This would have brought both bravery and obedience

among the masses (Meza).

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The critical analysis of novel depicts that religion was used as tool for

controlling the inhabitants of Arrakis and amplifying their divine status. Both

rich and poor practice religion as a scapegoat and it was considered as a

method to obtain power.

The story further unfolds that religion was misused by authorities for

controlling the civilization. The Spacing Guild, a space monopoly used religion

as a mean to control the transportation system across the universe. On the

other hand, Bene Gesserit, leader of religious beliefs, used religious tactics to

empower Paul with super powers for saving the Fremen’s land. Bene Gesserit

was considered as a prophet for Fremen and they practice religion according

to the teachings of Bene Gesserit. Bene Gesserit introduced Missionaria

Protectiva as a faction and fabricated some prophecies among Fremen. One

of such prophecy declared that a leader would come and free the inhabitants

of Arrakis. It was because of this prophecy, that Paul and his mother was dully

accepted by Fremen and helped them to survive in dessert. This prophecy not

only declared to accept both Paul and his mother but also obey them. In

purview of this prediction, Paul was trained by Bene Gesserit according to their

divine religion and empowered him with special abilities to fight against his

enemies (Religion in Science Fiction: Dune).

The trade of precious spice Melange was also controlled and regulated by

religious beliefs of Bene Gesserit. The magical properties of Melange and its
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importance to Arrakis planet was all manipulated through the religious beliefs

inculcated by Bene Gesserit.

The religion also governed the intentions of Paul who became a leader for

saving Fremen’s planet. The strong religious believes inculcated in to Paul’s

mind made him arrogant and selfish and he started thinking that his powers

have divine origin and he didn’t need any kind of assistance. He started

believing that he had gained all these abilities due to the fact that he fulfilled

the prophecy.

The novel thus revealed religion as a strong force in influencing the lives of

both Fremen and non-Fremen like Paul and his mother. The Fremen’s lives

were thus controlled and dominated by religious beliefs inculcated by Bene

Gesserit.

Conclusion:

The religious context of Dune is a perfect critique on the modern societies

where religious beliefs and perceptions are employed for obtaining political

benefits. The author has symbolically highlighted that even in incumbent

society, the religious beliefs are transformed according to one’s own motives.

The religion is used as a tool to conquer the stage of world where the actors

may change from political to social, religious, and spiritual leaders. The author

through this fiction has identified that the religion is the best tool to

manipulate and control the human minds and afterwards they can be used for
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their own benefits and profits. Religion is the only thing through which humans

are fooled in a way they never know and get entangled in this mesh very

easily.

To conclude, religion though playing a vital role in the lives of masses should

not be exploited for personal gains. Rather, it should be kept as private

property and individuals should practice religious values without the dictation

and manipulation form any leader. As true essence of religion lies in following

its teachings honestly without any manipulation for obtaining one’s objectives.
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References
Jarrettkong. Frank Herbert’s Dune: The Power of Religion. September de
2013. 3rd de December de 2018.
Locklear, Scott. "Dune - Extended Summary". 2018. 3rd de December de
2018.
Magill, Frank Northen. Dune: Critical Survey of Contemporary Fiction. 2005.
3rd de December de 2018.
Meza, Ritgerð til B.A.-prófs and Luis Felipe Torres. «The Bene Gesserit in Frank
Herbert’s : An Analysis.» Haskoli Island: Hugvisindasvio (2010).
Religion in Science Fiction: Dune. May de 2009. 3rd de Decemeber de 2018.
Singson, Jelo. Dune Summary. s.f. 3rd de December de 2018.