According to Listverse, “Dune is thought to be the single
best-selling sci-fi novel of all time” (Dayton).
Frank Herbert, born October 8, 1920 in Tacoma, Washington,
was, according to a web biography, “A journalist,
ecologist, conservationist, Science Fiction writer, and fantasist. Herbert
lived most of his life in the Pacific Ocean states area of California,
Washington, and Hawaii. Frank was a scientist, in fact if not in degree, and
studied undersea geology, psychology, navigation, and jungle botany. Herbert's
acreage on Olympic Peninsula in Washington State was turned into a
self-supporting ecology and demonstration project (Frank Herbert).
Herbert’s opus, the
Dune Saga, dealt with the many areas of his very interesting life. There had
been epic sagas before Dune, notably The Lord of the Rings series, and there would
be epic sagas after, i.e., Star Wars. Dune influenced Star Wars with some of
the ongoing themes (religion, class structure, politics, The Force, etc).
But what does it all
mean? How could a world imagined in 1965
possibly hold any relevance to today? The mere fact this world still fascinates
us 50 years after it’s inauguration, the fact it IS still relevant today,
bestows upon it the undeniable rank of “classic”. And we can learn—even today,
we can learn.
Some of the major
symbolism used throughout the series is defined below.
“Spice”—melange—could be
beneficial or detrimental to humans depending upon its use. In limited use
(such as sugar in your morning coffee), it granted the user health, prolonged
life and limited prescience. Addiction level use “marked” the addict with
fathomless, blue-in-blue eyes; it still prolonged life and granted limited
prescience, but it began to exact its own cost upon the user. At saturation levels, it created Guildsmen—formerly
human—who could “fold” space with their minds alone. These former humans were
doomed to live in special tanks, constantly surrounded in the spice gas. They
were incapable of living a normal life; they had traded that life for the
Guild. In women, the purest form of spice transformed a Bene Gesserit trained female
into a Reverend Mother—IF the Reverend Mother candidate was able to bodily
convert the chemical within her body before it killed her. The odor was
unmistakeable-cinnamon.
WHY is spice so
symbolic? It can only be mined on one planet in the entire known universe-Arrakis,
also known as Dune. A place where there is never a drop of rain and hasn’t been
in recorded history. Control of the spice is everything. We’ve all heard the saying,
“The spice must flow”. This is where the saying came from.
But what does spice
mean to US, here and now, in today’s world? Frank Herbert used spice to
illustrate the fragility of ecosystems on a planet-wide basis. Spice could be
water or oil in today’s vernacular. It’s not until the end of the third book in
the series that we understand the cycle of worm, desert and spice. It’s not
until far later in the series, when we are well into the sets of pre-quels
written by Herbert’s son Bryan, just exactly what that cycle is.
Arrakis was once a
lush, blue water world. The worms adapted to this water world in an unusual
way. In its earliest stage, it needed the water to grow; as it grew, water
became poison. Each spice blow—harvest—drew a worm to it. Any water, any
MOISTURE, was sealed off by the early stage of the worm to protect the adult
worm. Over time, this led to a desert planet. The spice itself was the “eggs”
of the next generation. Paul Atreides understood this at a rudimentary level.
The Fremen wished to turn Arrakis into a lush paradise again and had begun a
generations-long plan to do so, not realizing that should this happen, the worm—and
the spice—would be gone forever. Purposeful meddling in a planet’s ecology
rendered what appeared to be a lifeless, worthless ball of sand—with the
exception of spice. Continued purposeful meddling would bring paradise back
while killing the creation all mankind needed for its very survival. Without spice, there would be no Bene
Gesserit, no Mentats, no intergalactic travel. It’s a powerful message for
those who, even today, wish to meddle with Mother Nature. Spice, then, can be
equated with water and/or oil now.
This one substance leads
to galaxy wide power struggles, political intrigue, the substitution of logic
for love…exactly what we see in today’s world.
Paul is only the
beginning…he IS the Kwisatz Haderach the Bene Gesserit is breeding toward. But
his son, Leto II, is the Kralizec, the scouring.
Dune’s ultimate impact,
it’s ultimate appeal, is the Hero/Messiah story of needing someone to save us
from ourselves…and what happens when we’re too late and have followed the wrong
leaders, letting loose an uncontrollable bureaucracy. Exactly where we are
today.
Let’s hope—and pray—Herbert’s
influence and legacy lead us to caution instead of excess overreaction.
