The Reverend Mother Mohiam is an old woman who comes to test a youth and to kill him or let him live. I think she bears comparison to a midwife as described by Socrates in the Theaetetus.
Dec
16
A beginning seems to be a fine time at which to note that a character, even one that is made to speak authoritatively, is not necessarily a spokesman for the author. A beginning may not be a time for letting some literary princess tell us what is so. Consider what a poor model quantitative precision of correct balances is for the delicate matter of understanding the meaning of Muad’Dib, whether considered from Irulan’s standpoint as a real human being, or from the standpoint of the author and his readers as a character. Different sorts of inquiry seem to require different sorts of precision. When one comes to the point of inquiring as to what sort of inquiry one should make, it seems that inquiry requires the precision of the fullest openness to possible problems.
For the moment, we may consider the subject of Muad’Dib’s “place.” What, other than Irulan’s apparent certainty, supports the opinion that Muad’Dib has only one place, and not Caladan, but Arrakis? Careful consideration of Caladan as Muad’Dib’s origin would raise a question as to what “Caladan” was for Muad’Dib. Was it a water-world? It seems young Paul led a life apart from his father’s subjects, held apart and sheltered in Castle Caladan. The castle was not more watery than Dune, but more stony, that is, more solid. Unlike Castle Caladan, Planet Caladan was in flux, like the sands, winds, worms, and spice-blows of Arrakis. When Paul and his mother the Lady Jessica crashed in the desert, they were forced to sink or swim. If you think that’s just a metaphor, then please recall Paul’s rescue of his mother from beneath a wave of sand. And if you still will not consider the equivalence I’m making, of flowing water to flowing sand, then remember that Paul fixed the sand in place using foam, that is, a mixture of air and liquid. The earth of Arrakis became more solid, less “watery,” when Paul mixed it with a mixture of air and liquid.
To come to a point, then, Irulan’s precision about Muad’Dib’s place obscures the question as to whether flowing ocean and flowing desert may be much the same. Drawing such an equivalence seems to be a sort of precision, even a sort of equalizing or correction of balances.
Dec
15
I’ve struggled to use Duncan Idaho’s name as a means to connect the character to a high problem. It’s occurred to me that “Duncan Idaho” may be a pun on dunamis or one of its forms. One can consider also whether this conjecture offers insight into the meaning of the planet Dune and the series Dune.
Sep
23
I think I’ve read a suggestion that the Face Dancers Daniel and Marty represent Frank Herbert and his wife. However, their actions and their self-understanding as portrayed in their conversation suggest that they represent the readers. Certainly I didn’t let the big mentat get away; I wanted to gather in his persona fully and make it another one of my own.
May
31
In Anteac and Luyseyal’s audience with Leto, Leto begins by considering and rejecting the possibility that Luyseyal is a Face Dancer mimic. It’s interesting to read the text with an eye for all the evidence that Leto quickly changes his mind. It’s also interesting to note and consider the other, numerous features of the scene that have a bearing on the issue of images, among them: Museum Fremen, False Sietch, ritual substitutes.
May
19
The Dune series seems, in part, to be Frank Herbert’s exploration of themes and images he encountered in Plato’s dialogue The Sophist. Herbert’s connection to Plato’s Sophist may be partly by way of Martin Heidegger, who wrote a commentary on The Sophist.
May
18
I think Plato’s character Theaetetus is in some ways Frank Herbert’s model for the Face Dancers in the Dune series. I wonder if I’m the only person in the world who suspects this.
