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Book 1, Part 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dune, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power and Violence
Free Will and Fate
Environment and Human Culture
Human Cognitive Advances
Summary
Analysis
An epigraph by Princess Irulan from “Manual of Muad’Dib” states that to understand Muad’Dib, one must understand his mortal enemies the Harkonnens.
The narrator uses another fictional textual reference to offer clues about Dune’s world. Because the narrator has already commented on the fierce rivalry between the Atreides and Harkonnens, readers can assume that the figure of Muad’Dib may be an Atreides family member.
Themes
Elsewhere, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen boasts to the “effeminate” Piter de Vries and “sullen-faced” Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen of the trap he has set for the Atreides on Arrakis. The Baron is an arrogant and elephantine man whose enormous extra weight is held up by anti-gravity suspensors. Piter is the Baron’s cunning and sadistic Mentat, and Feyd-Rautha is the Baron’s cruel 16-year-old nephew and heir.
While the Atreides are concerned with their move to Arrakis and defending themselves from any political attacks, the Harkonnens are plotting active violence against the Atreides. Immediately the two families are set up as honorable and immoral counterparts, respectively. Feyd-Rautha’s age and family name also sets him up as a direct foil to Paul Atreides—a deadly relationship that will be teased out later in the novel.
Themes
Baron Harkonnen has persuaded the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to assign Duke Leto to govern Arrakis. Although this is a seemingly positive assignment due to the desert planet’s unique production of the valuable resource known as spice, the Baron has arranged for the Duke and his family to meet death upon their move to Arrakis. He has managed to turn one of the most trusted members of Duke Leto’s household to his cause—Dr. Wellington Yueh will betray House Atreides. The Baron is adamant that before the Duke dies, he must be aware that the Baron is responsible for his downfall. The Baron also wants the rest of the Great Houses to also learn about his treachery as “the knowledge will give them pause.”
Political intrigue abounds as the plot revolves around the scheming Great Houses who jostle for power. Baron Harkonnen takes the bold stand of wanting to reveal his treachery to the rest of the Imperium so that they will respect his rule, too afraid of repercussions if they stand against him like Duke Leto—clearly the Baron uses violence and fear as his key tools of political craft.
Themes
Responding to the Baron Harkonnen’s daring plan, Piter is concerned that his master’s success will be viewed as a threat by the Emperor. The Baron laughs off this apprehension, and Piter reminds his master that he has been promised Lady Jessica in return for his help in planning the Atreides demise. The Baron begins insulting both Piter and Feyd-Rautha, undermining them and pointing out their dependencies on consuming spice. Piter voices his concern that the Baron may kill him and find another Mentat. The Baron rejects this theory, wondering aloud where he could find a Mentat as skillful as Piter.
Baron Harkonnen’s style of leadership—instilling fear through overt violence as well as underhanded manipulation—must work against him if Piter, one of his most trusted and valuable employees, is afraid of him. It seems that Piter’s greed for promises of spice and Lady Jessica outweigh his fear, and therefore he remains with House Harkonnen. The Baron’s thoughts demonstrate that Mentats are valuable commodities in the Imperium due to their impressive cognitive processing powers—later, readers will learn that all computers have been banned from the Imperium, making Mentats indispensable.
Themes
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At Baron Harkonnen’s command, Piter runs through the plan to destroy House Atreides. It hinges on the Baron’s success in having turned Dr. Yueh a traitor against the Atreides. This is a surprising coup because Yueh is a Suk school doctor who has undergone Imperial Conditioning, a strict training program that ensures its doctors unable to cause harm to human life. Consequently, doctors with Imperial Conditioning aree the most trusted beings in the Imperium. The Baron and Piter plan to cause Duke Leto and his Mentat Thufir Hawat to suspect Lady Jessica as the traitor in the Duke’s household. The Baron also has the support of the Emperor’s fearsome Sardaukar troops, who will be disguised as Harkonnen soldiers in an attack on the Atreides holdings on Arrakis. The Emperor has pledged this secret support because he is threatened by Duke Leto’s popularity amongst the Great Houses.
The narrator reveals that Thufir Hawat’s earlier concern that Duke Leto’s popularity will have dangerous repercussions is, in fact, true. Baron Harkonnen has put in place a plan with many layers of secrecy, coercion, and deceit in order to take down House Atreides.
Themes
