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Symbols
Throughout Dune Messiah, melange symbolizes power and its negative consequences. As an addictive drug from which withdrawing is fatal, melange is Paul’s primary tool for power. Melange subjugates the universe to Paul because everyone depends on him to provide them with the life-giving drug. However, Paul’s dependence on melange for power also makes his power incomplete. Throughout the novel, he is often struck by a feeling that the more power he gains, the more the universe eludes him; he decides that it is impossible for one man to hold power over the entire universe. Melange and the unnatural state of power it creates represents this idea.
Melange also symbolizes the negative consequences of having power. Paul and Alia both suffer from melange addiction themselves. While melange heightens their powers of prescience, both of them resent their ability to see the future, and they spend much of their time wishing they did not possess such a power. Moreover, Paul’s prescience forces him to witness the negative effects of melange on his loved ones. His lover Chani even takes melange while pregnant with her and Paul’s child, an action which causes her fetus to grow alarmingly quickly and further endangers Chani’s life. In this way, melange symbolizes the guilt and the futile longing for a normal life that accompany a state of power.
Melange Quotes in Dune Messiah
The Dune Messiah quotes below all refer to the symbol of Melange. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 7
Quotes
She should have understood long ago this similarity between the spice and the ghola. Melange was valuable, but it exacted a price—addiction. It added years to a life—decades for some—but it was still just another way to die.
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Melange Symbol Timeline in Dune Messiah
The timeline below shows where the symbol Melange appears in Dune Messiah. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...religious control. He captured the planet Arrakis, or Dune, and with it “the ultimate coin” melange—a life-giving poison. The Imperial citizens are now vitally addicted to melange, which gives the power...
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Chapter 2
...with the hands and feet of a fish who floats in a container of orange melange gas—gives a sneering reply. Princess Irulan—the enemy and wife (but not “mate”) of Muad’Dib—exclaims that...
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...of orange gas, Princess Irulan says it was a mistake to come. Edric takes a melange pill. Scytale knows that Edric disgusts Princess Irulan, and he reminds her that it is...
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...route. Edric submits to the judgment of his colleagues and then says the Bene Gesserit’s melange stock is low. Scytale hints that he plans to steal the recipe for melange from...
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Chapter 3
...cups. Paul looks in the mirror and notes his appearance—a mixture of Fremen, Atreides, and melange addiction. He remembers something his grandfather said about rulers needing to selflessly love their subjects,...
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...earlier that day. He flashes back to his conversation with Irulan: Irulan’s room stank of melange. Paul asks Irulan mockingly about her visit to the Bene Gesserit. He senses her anger...
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Chapter 4
...her. Farok’s son starts playing the violin, and a Fremen woman appears, heavily drugged with melange. Farok introduces her as Otheym’s daughter Lichna and says that his son overpowered her with...
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Chapter 5
...know where Tupile is located. Addressing Paul as her husband, Irulan suggests that he withhold melange from the people on Tupile. Chani shakes her head, and Paul says that Tupile is...
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Chani says that denying Tupile melange would cause its collapse, and it would be their fault. Paul says that he will...
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Chapter 6
...before Paul’s throne. Paul, who is not looking at the ghola, greets Edric. Popping a melange pill, Edric offers Paul a gift: the man who looks like Duncan Idaho (the ghola)....
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Chapter 7
...can destroy Muad’Dib. The Reverend Mother says that the ghola’s destruction is as certain as melange’s destruction.
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Knowing that melange is valuable—but also that it extracts the price of addiction and death—Irulan wonders what the...
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Chapter 8
When Alia asks, Paul says that Irulan believes the Guild is trying to capture a sandworm—melange carriers—in hopes of starting a melange culture on another planet. Paul says he is troubled...
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Chapter 9
...him. Edric says that people always expect the worst from the powerful. The odor of melange coming from Edric’s tank makes Paul feel that he is suffocating. Paul accuses Edric of...
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Chapter 11
On Dune, Paul lies in a melange-drugged stupor. In his head, he sees a moon become an oval, then fall. He sits...
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Chapter 16
...doesn’t recognize his sister. Alia lifts a chalice (that Paul knows it is filled with melange) and says that in the beginning they were ignorant of the “Power” that exists in...
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Chapter 19
Paul enters, Chani beside him, and says that his enemies stole a melange worm and took it to another planet. Paul looks at Korba with his empty eye...
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...traitors. Paul says that even if he were to release Korba, the blinded Fremen whose melange worm was stolen would seek their revenge on him. Korba insists that the blinded will...
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Chapter 21
...there, Alia watches a boy with a ball. She just took a huge dose of melange in hopes of penetrating the fog that lay over the future. She wants to know...
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...been in her dreams. Fearing suddenly for Alia’s life, Hayt demands to know how much melange she took. Alia looks out at the Shield Wall, watches it crumble in her vision,...
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...to stay. She snaps at the doctor when he chastens her for consuming too much melange, saying she has a right to her visions.
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Chapter 22
...paralyzed by the desert’s transience. She pictures the desert with its private sounds, and a melange worm slithering into dry depths. Although it was only one moment, she feels that the...
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...allows Hayt to escort her into the moisture-sealed building. Inside is a thick smell of melange. Chani looks around, trying to believe this place is still her home. A birth pang...
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