Ahira's Hangar

Thus spoke St. Alia-of-the-Knife: "The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension so long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, has become a wellspring of cunning and resourcefulness."
~from "Muad'Dib, Family Commentaries" by the Princess Irulan

As Paul waits in a nearby meditation center, the Lady Jessica and the Reverend Mother talk. Jessica remembers her own testing with the gom jabbar, and she is goaded into anger by the Rev. Mother.

The two exchange words because Jessica had given birth to a boy rather than the ordered girls. She did it because having a son had meant so much to Leto. The old woman scolds her; an Atreides daughter could have been married to a Harkonnen son and ended the old feud.

It becomes clear in the old woman's words that the Bene Gesserit have a very long-term view. She states that all of mankind's most important parts are mere flotsam in the tides and times of history, and what matters is breeding humans according to their plan.

The current civilization is balanced on a tripod with the legs being the Imperial Household, the Great Houses, and the Spacing Guild and its monopoly on interstellar travel. With the political storm brewing on Arrakis, the Bene Gesserit only hope at this point to salvage key bloodlines.

The Reverend Mother tells Jessica that Arrkais is bad, but perhaps not that bad, as it has been visited by something she calls the Missionaria Protectiva.

Paul is then called in, and the Reverand Mother asks him about his prophetic dreams. He tells her of one he had the night before, set in a cavern where he talked with a girl with completely blue eyes.

Quote:
'You think I could be this Kwisatz Haderach," he bagan. "You talk about me, but you haven't said one thing about what we can do to help my father. I've heard you talking to my mother. You talk as though my father were dead. Well, he isn't!"

"If there were a thing we could do for him, we'd have done it," the old woman growled. "We may be able to salvage you. Doubtful, but possible. But for your father, nothing. When you've learned to accept that fact, you've learned a real Bene Gesserit lesson."

Jessica is shaken by those blunt words. Paul is even angrier when he sees his mother's reaction.

The Reverand Mother tells Jessica that she sees signs that Jessica has trained her son in the Way, and she approves of that, even though it is against the rules. She says Jessica must train him to use something called the Voice. She tells Paul that she hopes he will survive, but that the Bene Gesserit will succeed even if he does not, then she leaves, with tears running down her face.
******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i></i>

Maybe it's just me, but it seems oddly naive of the Bene Gesserit to think that merely marrying an Atreides daughter to a Harkonnen son would have somehow miraculously ended the old feud between these two Houses. I get the impression this feud has been ongoing for a long time. What do you think? Am I the one being naive about this? I understand the point of political marriages, but it's hard to believe the Harkonnens would suddenly turn nice toward their sworn enemy overnight.

If I were in Jessica's place, I'd be tempted to tell the Rev. Mother to shove her argument...in some nether region. Jessica's love for Leto and Paul seem to mean little to the Rev. Mother, though she recognizes those feelings. Jessica's feelings are irrevelant to the grandiose purpose that drives the Bene Gesserit. But the Sisterhood underestimates the bond of love and loyalty that exists within the Atreides clan. In these early chapters, we already see how much the Rev. Mother has rubbed Paul the wrong way via her disdainful treatment of his mother. The Rev. Mother may be an old pro, but she doesn't realize what fire she's playing with, by igniting such resentment in Paul.

To be fair, though, here we do see some human side to the Rev. Mother. She does appear genuinely fond of Jessica. It's just that Gaius Helen Mohiam (what a great name!) is bound to the demands of her duty and purpose; she has no time for the frivolous emotions of lesser mortals. But again, sometimes the best-laid plans go awry because of they involve the unpredictable emotions of human beings.

We haven't met Duke Leto himself yet, but in these opening chapters, we have gained some insight into what kind of person he is through the words of others, both friends and enemies. Leto would appear to be an honourable man, and is even grudgingly respected by the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (in the previous chapter). When Paul levels criticism at the Rev. Mother for her doom-and-gloom attitude toward his father, we already feel a pang of loss for this man whom we don't even know yet. We sense that Leto will be a casualty of the 'terrible purpose' that whispers in Paul's mind. <i></i>

Aah, the terrible purpose. Good post MW, and nice synopsis Duchess.

The terrible purpose which infects the entire future of the universe.

I don't think that the Bene Gesserit ever cared about ending the feud between the houses. I think that they only want one thing from it, and that is the issue of such a marriage.

Also, like the Emperors daughters, a daughter would be trained formally as a Bene Gesserit, strengthening their control.

As you say, the reverend mother has no time for the feelings of others. The Bene Gesserit too have their terrible purpose.

--A ____________________________________

A sense of the sardonic preserves a man from believing in his own pretensions. -The Sayings Of Maud'Dib<i></i>

If it were that easy to end the fued by marrying an Atreides daughter to a Harkonnen son (or vice versa) why wouldn't it have been tried before? Doesn't this fued supposedly go back to the battle of Corrin, some 10,000 years before? ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i></i>

To when an Atreides ancestor banished a Harkonnen one for cowardice, IIRC.

The BG care only about their breeding program. Ending the feud is a convenient cover.

--A ____________________________________

A sense of the sardonic preserves a man from believing in his own pretensions. -The Sayings Of Maud'Dib<i></i>

I think I would go along with that. The only way the BG would get involved in the fued is if they fear that their bloodlines would be lost. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i></i>