DUNE: Chapter Fifteen Thoughts ============================== And so we continue with the reading of *Dune.* The Opening Quote ----------------- Well this is just straight up bullshit. If the Emperor wanted Leto as a son, he'd have forced Leto to marry his daughter, age-be-damned, rather than forced him into the move to Arrakis. This is even hinted at with the Emperor looking no older than Leto at the age of seventy- one. Dukes presumable live a long time, and have children late in life. You even have a good solution to succession with Paul remaining the ducal heir and children of Leto and Irulan being the Carrino heir. This is likely propaganda on the part of Irulan to make her father, and therefore her more sympathetic to followers of the Maud'Dib. It's also another instance of Irulan singing the praises of Leto, which might be seen as her trying to assert an importance of the old class structure over Fremen values. Maybe? Kynes ----- So exposed, that monolithic building…. So much less suitable than a cave. --Kynes, thinking on the Arrakeen landing field's administration building Kynes thinks as Fremen think. It is different than how the Atreides and other off-worlders think, likely including the reader of the novel. We build structures above ground because they are good enough, and it's much less work than digging or expanding a suitable cave. But, in the desert of Arrakis, there are different concerns, and structures like the administration building are not as suitable as we may think. Yet, still we create them because our thinking has not adjusted to the needs of the place. Is Paul's size intended to be another indication of his androgyny? Or, is it just to show that it's not through physical power that one rules? I suspect it's more the first, but I'm not sure whether it will become clear. They do bring it up enough to suggest Herbert is intending that to convey something. The Mahdi will be aware of things others cannot see. --Fremen prophecy influenced by the Missionaria Protectiva That's a nicely non-specific prophecy that plays well with confirmation bias. Plus, the Bene Gesserit training teaches awareness techniques that could look like the fulfillment of this prophecy. This does raise the question about how well known is the work of the Missionaria Protectiva. Presumably it's tightly held by the Bene Gesserit, otherwise it wouldn't work, so not many. Herbert is American. He's writing for an American audience. I assume we're intended to side with Kynes on the whole "proper forms of address" thing. We have a class system, but we pride ourselves on pretending we don't. Wait, though, Kynes works for the Emperor and is the Judge of the Change. Why the hell would Halleck feel the need to remind him of the formal forms of address? Presumably if he's the one arbitrating the handover, he's got enough status within imperial circles to understand the required etiquette. It's also just a terrible idea to offend a judge like that. Kynes is under the impression he rules Arrakis. The Fremen respect him, so it's likely more true than not. The Duke thinks there is an opening for negotiation over the imperial bases. It may be possible. Kynes is hinting there are services he needs but have been unable to get. This is most likely services involving terraforming. How Leto would have reacted if he learned that water will kill the worms that create the spice is unknown. Why have shields in this universe if they won't work on Dune. I guess they are used to show a difference between outside thinking and Arrakis thinking. But there are a lot of ways to do that. It does come up in the knife fighting, though, so maybe that's all it is. The details about worm behavior feed the ecology and systemic thinking aspects of *Dune.* I don't think I should read a lot into them in terms of the question about the danger of charismatic leaders. That said, the worms don't have leaders, and we eventually get Leto II turning into a worm, so there may be more here. If there’s a relationship between spice and worms, killing the worms would destroy the spice. --Paul realizing the real reason why the sandworms can't be destroyed The connection between the worms and the spice forces the world of Arrakis to be harsh, which in turn gives us the contrast between the soft and decadent imperials versus the hard and focused Fremen. The more I think about it, the more *Lawrence of Arabia* and the writings of T. E. Lawrence feel relevant. What would *you* do? --Paul to Kynes, who is pointing out the flaws in the Duke's plans The power of the Kwisatz Haderach seems to be the power to ask the obvious question. Harvester and Worm ------------------ Presumably some sort of sabotage is involved in the carryall not being present. I'm not sure why Kynes thinks of Paul's "How big an area does each worm stake out," question as being particularly adult. "How big is a thing" seems like the kind of question a kid would ask. I suppose it's a question that probes at how much Kynes knows about the worms, which gives hints about what Kynes has been studying and how much he knows about the spice. So, maybe it's the possible intent of the question rather than the question itself that is adult. Maybe? The Duke being more concerned about lives than money wins over Kynes. The two phases of how this is shown in the chapter is pretty nice. It starts with letting the worker have the money he could have claimed for spotting the worm. While genuine, it gets pitched to Kynes as propaganda, which lessens the affect. However, when he risks his life to save the men in the harvester and is clearly angry about the threat to their life, it convinces Kynes that the concern is real and not just politics. Kynes is Liet. Why were there Fremen on that harvester? The Lisan al-Gaib shall see through all subterfuge. --Fremen prophecy This is likely planted by the Missionaria Protectiva. That's a very useful prophecy. Not only does it lend itself to confirmation bias any time you guess correctly that someone is lying, it also makes believers more hesitant to lie to you. When God hath ordained a creature to die in a particular place, He causeth that creature’s wants to direct him to that place. --Kynes, using a platatude to cover up that the hidden Fremen won't die This is very similar to the statements about the men Lawrence saved in *Lawrence of Arabia.* That might just be because they are both inspired by Bedouin culture, but it feels more direct than that. The closing thought of Kynes, that he likes the Duke, echoes the opening quote by Irulan. Since Kynes is tied to the Emperor, maybe there is a little more truth than I originally suspected. Character First Thoughts ------------------------ * Kynes: The Atreides don't understand Arrakis. Conclusion ---------- This chapter seems to do the following: * Introduce Kynes, * Give more insight into the ecology of Arrakis, * Give a reality to spice production, * Demonstrate the positive aspects of the Duke. I don't think it leaves me with any new questions.