MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Frank Herbert’s Dune has been a commercial and critical success since its publication in 1965. Its treatment of politics, power, and religion have garnered it renewed interest in popular culture and academic circles in the subsequent decades, and much of its appeal seems to be grounded in its depiction of its young hero, Paul Atreides, and his unlikely rise to power as the leader of the story’s free people. Frequent criticisms of the novel’s sequels (1969-1985) center on their more religious, even esoteric qualities, which lack a clear-cut “good” triumphing over “evil” in the form of a heroic figure like Paul, championing the rights of the oppressed. However, by framing the books simply in terms of their entertainment value or conventionally satisfying conclusions, critics perpetuate the regressive stereotypes of genre literature generally and shut down a more productive dialogue around these books specifically. Instead, the Dune chronicles should be read holistically, allowing for the possibility that these books’ perceived “weaknesses” are in fact imperative to understanding Herbert’s creative vision. This presentation posits that the complicated plots and how Herbert subverts Paul’s role as hero crafted in the first novel serve to underscore his warning to readers: absolute solutions cannot sustain the characters, the planet’s environment, or indeed the readers. Such an interpretation positions the Dune chronicles as works readers can view through their own cultural lens, questioning contemporary systems of power, their impact on ecosystems, and the folly of placing trust in a political “savior.”