Power In Frank Herbert's Dune

To many, science fiction envisions the type of future that is dominated by the control of technology, and the idea of religion is either overlooked or found in some obscure way, but Frank Herbert takes a different stance. He instead suppresses technology, a tactic that allows for different messages to be brought into focus. Frank Herbert, a highly acclaimed author from the twentieth century in both the field of general literature and among science fiction communities, sends messages relating the connections between social and political issues of the time within his own writing. His most notable work, 1965’s Dune, has won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards, science fiction literature’s highest awards, as well as being one of the best-selling

This novel, which delves into conflicts involving power, ecology, and religion, largely has to attribute its long-term success to these its themes, and the further repercussions of them. Power, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events” (“Power.”). Power is what drives society, in both Dune and in real life; it is through power that which control is gained. Many critics often speak about the importance of religion or of ecology within the Dune series, however, what many fail to see is how the two have a direct relation to one another. While the two may have developed independently, each of these affect and determine who is in control. Dune, more than a simple statement about the state of the environment, is a testimony to how religion and ecology work together to control and corrupt society and people. The prime elements of the novel that demonstrate this concern are three major characters, Liet-Kynes, Jessica, and

Ecology, “the totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment,” is exemplified by Kynes. In the story, he is introduced to be initially siding with the Harkonnens, before learning the Atreides family has the interests of the Fremen people, before ultimately dying from his newfound loyalty in Paul Atreides. This, and the fact he is the one to explain the ecology of Dune (the preservation of water, the Makers, and the spice and spice harvesting), is the most we learn about him within the actual novel itself. The appendices of Dune, primarily Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune, introduce both Liet-Kynes and his father Pardot Kynes, a man who was “mad enough to be holy” (Herbert ***.) The appendix goes into how they, particularly through the work of Perdot Kynes, explore the possibility of water on Arrakis and develop the process of completely changing the landscape of Arrakis, from dry and desolate to flourishing with life. This science of ecology, according to O’Reilly, is what the concepts of Fremen society is based upon, rather than the religion of a God (O’Reilly 85.) Liet-Kynes, however, is more than just a man following in his father’s footsteps: he becomes a prophet. In a biblical comparison to John the Baptist, Kyne’s goal is to prepare the way for the upcoming Messiah