DUNE: Chapter Eleven Thoughts
=============================

And so we continue with the reading of *Dune.*


The Opening Quote
-----------------
We know Duke Leto didn't blind himself to the risks, so the opening
quote challenging that assumption is interesting. None of the
possibilities listed in the quote are going to be the reason, at least
they won't be the only reason. But, I suspect rather than leading
through misleading, this quote is just putting the question of why
Leto went to Arrakis in out heads for the coming chapter.


The Duke on Arrakis
-------------------
If the opening was supposed to get us to ask the question why the Duke
came to Arrakis, there really isn't any answer to it that I can see in
the chapter. Also, we pretty much know the answer. Maybe there is
something I'm missing, but all we're seeing here is the Duke engaged in
the events at hand. He expects a fight to take the planet. He isn't
afraid to send his men into nasty situations. He knows there is only
so hard you can lean on people you want to work for you.

The Duke does recognize the distain in the Emperor's note about the
natives of Arrakis. His reaction is to wish he could reject the class
system. Of course, he doesn't then immediately go off and do it. But,
Paul comes closer to it during his time with the Fremen.

The chapter does point out how important women are to soldiers. That
isn't a surprising thing, but I wonder if it plays a part in how weird
military influenced science fiction can be towards women at times. It's
probably also a function of the era the work was written in.


Conclusion
----------
This chapter doesn't really leave me with any larger scale questions.
I suspect this will become more common as we leave the introductory
chapters and get into the action of the novel.