Ahira's Hangar

Quote:‘There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover that your father is a man – with human flesh.’ – From ‘Collected Sayings of Maud’Dib’ by the Princess Ir

A short chapter this, but an interesting one. Another rare glimpse at the inner workings of Leto I’s mind, his relationship with Paul and Jessica, and perhaps even his ultimate understanding that, for him, there would be nothing.

The chapter opens with Leto confessing to Paul that he planned a distasteful, even, in his words, “hateful” thing. Without at first telling Paul what he was talking about, he begins by explaining to his son, (who is viewing some information about the Fremen religion), that the Harkonnen are attempting to make him distrust his mother.

He adds that, of course, he does no such thing, but explains that by pretending to, by hurting her with his distrust, he hopes to lure out the traitor.

And suddenly a hint of the mortality that Leto feels becomes evident. He instructs Paul to tell her the truth should anything happen to Leto. Paul responds with the boyish optimism and faith that we might expect…

Quote:‘Nothing’s going to happen to you sir. The----’

But Leto tells him to be quiet, and Paul notices the fatigue, the tension, the he carries. On remarking that his father is just tired, Leto agrees. But it is not the tiredness of lack of sleep or hard work…it is, he says, a moral tiredness. Perhaps a sense of futility…he sees the degeneration of the great houses…and we see his bitterness over the necessities of political expedience which drive them, embodied in the fact that he dare not marry Jessica for exactly that reason.

And also here a lovely (to me anyway ) glimpse of the Dukes inherent cynicism. Paul talks of how men follow the Duke willingly and love him. And the Duke rebuts,

Quote:My propaganda corps is one of the finest.

The Duke labours under few illusions it seems. Perhaps he did not, as I have suggested before, truly underestimate the Harkonnen. Perhaps he knows full well how close he is to defeat. Perhaps he feels the cold hand of his approaching death and thinks only of his family…well…perhaps not only…for while he speaks of how he wishes that they had gone renegade, he still did not do it.

And he imparts a vital lesson to his young son…A lesson that will serve him well in the future…he emphasises the need for Desert power, which he contrasts to the sea and air power that held Caladan for them.

And he sees the future for his son…perhaps a moment of prescience of his own…

Quote: ‘Power and Fear. The tools of statecraft. I must order a new emphasis on guerrilla training for you. That filmclip there – they call you “Mahdi” – “Lisan al-Gaib” – as a last resort, you might capitalise on that.’

And Paul looks at his father…remembering his words of fear and doubt, even as the stimulant he took straightens his shoulders, and he mutters, wondering where the ecologist he sent for is.

--A ____________________________________

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

Perhaps Leto does have the finest propaganda corps out there...but men really are willing to die for him - and men who know him well enough to be beyond the reach of simple propaganda.

What bothers me is - given that Jessica is Bene Gesserit and has huge control of her emotions and expressions - it seems to me that Leto could have told her what was going on, and she could have pretended to be hurt. Wouldn;t that have been better than actually planning on hurting her through deception? ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Oh, I agree that they do Duchess. But how much of that feeling is fostered deliberately, if perhaps unconsciously, by the Atreides themselves?

The Atreides very deliberately gain loyalty by the application of fairness, justice, whatever. Do they do it selflessly though? Of out of the knowledge that love is perhaps an even more powerful motivator than fear?

As for Jessica, again I agree that the Duke would have done better to trust her, although I cannot see, in the end, what difference it would have made.

--A ____________________________________

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

It might not have made a difference in the life and death struggle with the Harkonnen - but it would have made a huge difference to her. ******************************************************

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

Very true Duchess.

--A ____________________________________

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

When Leto speaks of the degeneration of the Great Houses, I'm reminded of that thread in which we talked about the longevity of empires and such. I take Leto's words to be another hint that this particular age of empire in human history is nearing the end of its natural lifespan (or perhaps not so natural). Call it political/cultural entropy or whatever: the Landsraad, ossifying over all those 10,000 years (?) of existence until it has become like a decrepit old man. Or a dirty old man, since we're talking moral degeneracy.

It is an empire that must eventually pay the price for its corruption and decadent excesses, and Maud'dib appears to be the one who will exact that price. Duchess earlier in the dissection pointed out the parallels to ancient Rome. Yep, it's Rome.

So, the more things change, the more they stay the same? Humankind always repeats itself? We just can't escape the model of Rome. And like that ancient Empire at the end, the Landsraad has become something unable to change or adapt. The civilization has become stagnant.

So where or how to re-generate things, to start anew? For Leto, the antidote to Imperial degeneration is Arrakis. He pretty much says so to Paul here:

Quote:"Arrakis has another advantage...Spice is in everything here. You breathe it and eat it in almost everything. And I find that this imparts a certain natural immunity to some of the most common poisons of the Assassins' Handbook. And the need to watch every drop of water puts all food production...under the strictest surveillance. We cannot kill off large segments of our population with poison--and we cannot be attacked this way, either. Arrakis makes us moral and ethical."

Away from the lush paradise of Caladan (read: weak, apathetic existence), Leto sees in Arrakis a new "moral" beginning for his family - a much more austere kind of Eden. He just doesn't realize what a radical beginning Arrakis indeed represents, completely ignorant as he is of the "terrible purpose" brewing in his son. Maud'dib's own moral crusade - jihad - will make Leto's vision of Arrakis seem very quaint by comparison. (But I'm getting ahead of myself, heh.)



<i></i>

Excellent post MW, and something I neglected to cover in the dissection. Arrakis makes them moral and ethical. I like that...

--A ____________________________________

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

Hmmm...on the other hand, the Harkonnens weren't changed by Arrakis.

I guess because they weren't willing to be changed... <i></i>

I suspect that they saw Arrakkis from the other side...that a harsh place demanded (permitted? encouraged?) harsh actions.

--A ____________________________________

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

That was a beautiful post, Moonwatrcher!

Perhaps the Atreides were changed in a positive way and the Harkonnen not changed at all because the Atreides as a complete family/social unit (when you include all of the retainers it is something like an old time Scottish Highland Clan as a sort of fiefdom/extended family, with the Duke as the Laird) all moved there - whereas the Harkkonen for the most part still lived on Giedi Prime, with only that depraved bit of "humanity", the Beast spending any great amounts of time on Arrakis.

The absolute power he held there would have certainly done nothing to curb his appetites... <i></i>

Good point Duchess. Not that I think it would have made much difference if all the H had moved there.

And of course, the Atreides were moralists already. They measured their governance by the living standard of their subjects.

You see no mention of Atreides slaves...

--A ____________________________________

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

Good point, duchess! The Harkonnens mostly stayed home, while all the Atreides went to Arrakis - and thus gambled everything. I'm assuming there was nothing to prevent Duke Leto from doing the same as Baron Vladimir in ruling Arrakis by proxy - except that, as you say, the Atreides are like a closely knit Scottish clan: where one goes, everyone goes.

Yeah, what a freakazoid that Rabban is. Could you imagine living under his rule?

Hey, Av snuck in there. Good point about Atreides slaves, or lack of them. And yah, they aspire to treat their subjects with some measure of dignity, whereas the Harkonnens desire only to subjugate those they rule. Really, why are they such mean bastards? <i>Edited by: Moonwatcher at: 10/18/06 10:12 pm
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I dunno if Leto could have left his family on Caladan...I'm not sure what the deal was there. Perhaps he could have though, because, if we remember, he hung the key of Castle Caladan in the mansion/whatever in Arrakeen.

I've always been confused as to whether that meant he retained rulership of Caladan too.

--A ____________________________________

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

The Harkonnens are just corrupt. I do not know how else to describe them other than corrupt, in every imaginable way. In Lord Foul terms of Corruption.

While the Atreides are like a Highland Clan, the Harkonnen are more like a jaded and corrupt highborn family in Imperial Rome where every hand was raised against everyone else and only the strongest and meanest manage to survive...the Baron's brother turned his back on all that and even dropped the family name...and you sure do not see him around, do you?

As for Caladan, I am not sure, either. Jessica goes back there to live at some point, does she not? But that was after the Fremen conquest of the galaxy, so I am not sure if the Atreides still controlled that world throughout the story, or conquered it with the rest of the known planets. ******************************************************

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

Whoa...I had always assumed that the Atreides retained control of Caladan while stationed on Dune. Is anyone minding the store back on Caladan? Why would the Atreides be required to give up their ancestral home? Does the Emperor at his discretion have the power to just "give" planet Caladan to another House or something?

Is that why the Baron stayed home, to make sure no one else could claim Geidi Prime as their own? <i>Edited by: Moonwatcher at: 10/19/06 11:12 am
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