Dune: Book 2, Part 5 Summary & Analysis

The epigraph from Princess Irulan’s text “A Child’s History of Muad’Dib” shares that by the time Muad’Dib was 15 years old, “he had already learned silence.”

Paul Atreides is fighting to keep control of the ornithopter in the middle of the sandstorm. His newly heightened awareness is constantly calculating different factors that interweave throughout the storm. He finds that he starts to be able to “see” through the storm, realizing that he must find the correct wind vortex to ride the ornithopter out of danger. Risking Jessica’s life alongside his own, he drives the ship into a vortex as his mother screams loudly. Paul’s risk has paid off, as the vortex spits the ornithopter out of the dying storm. No enemy ships are seen in pursuit.

Paul sets the damaged ship down clumsily on a piece of sand, and he and Jessica race for the safety of nearby rocks, knowing that a sandworm will be attracted to the sound of the ship landing. A sandworm “bigger than a Guild spaceship” quickly appears and devours the ornithopter. Paul and Jessica are awed by its size, and Paul is satisfied that there is now no trace of their vessel for enemy trips to spy.

Paul and Jessica know that they must travel by night and rest in the heat of the day. The fugitives find their way through a channel in the rocks; it is difficult and slow terrain. Although Jessica tires, Paul relentlessly pushes them onward. They come to a sheer cliff and see that there is almost four kilometers of dangerous open sand to cross in front of them. They must find a way to safely traverse the sand without attracting any worms. Jessica suggests a break for food and rest beforehand. Paul questions how his mother feels, to which she stiffly replies that the pregnancy is not impacting her physical capabilities. Jessica realizes that she fears her son’s new strangeness and what he may see in the future.

To cross the open desert safely, Paul and Jessica agree that they will set off a spring-loaded clapping device called a thumper in the rocks. The thumper’s rhythmic sound will attract sandworms and keep them busy for some time, as the worms cannot surface through rock. Meanwhile, the two will cross the open sand using non-rhythmic walking patterns to mimic natural desert sounds, thereby hopefully avoiding the notice of any sandworms not occupied by the thumper.

Paul and Jessica climb down from the cliff to spend the approaching daylight hours resting in shade near the desert floor. However, during their descent Jessica is totally buried in a landslide of sand. Paul must calm his fear and use his manifold cognitive abilities to locate his mother and free her from the dangerous shifting sand. He succeeds, but their pack with most of their precious supplies has been lost under the sand. Paul despairs, believing the two are now doomed to death, but Jessica is optimistic that they can salvage the situation.

With Jessica’s optimism boosting his spirit, Paul comes up with a creative plan to recover the pack. He uses his paracompass power pack and compass dish, a few mouthfuls of water, and a nearby spice patch to create a green foam that he spreads to hold back the slope’s sliding sands. While managing the foam and sand, he directs his mother where to dig and at what angles. Just as the foam runs out, the weary Jessica uncovers one of the pack’s straps. She cannot uncover it any further without the slope of sand burying her. With Paul’s help, she allows herself to be mostly buried by rushing sand while still keeping of the pack. He then digs her out of the settled sand, all the way down to the pack. With great physical effort and risk they have retrieved the pack.

Paul moves to set up the tent for the day and finds anchor holes in the rock, revealing that others have camped here before. After erecting the tent, he scans the landscapes for any sign of life. Seeing scrawny saguaro trees in the distance, he tells Jessica that he thinks there must be Fremen nearby. To him, this “has the feeling of a Fremen place.”

Jessica wonders if there are Fremen nearby, and if they will be friendly on approach. Although Liet-Kynes promised the Fremen would help Paul and Jessica, she has now felt the hardships of the desert firsthand and can understand why people would kill to reclaim a body’s water. Jessica reflects on the difference between this arid planet and the Atreides home planet Caladan, where lush jungles and deltas are bordered by oceans.

Paul and Jessica hear a hissing sound. It grows in volume until they see a huge sandworm pass by them in nearby dunes. The creature has an “uncaring majesty” and twists through the sand to create a huge burrowing, driving mound. When it has moved beyond sight and hearing, Jessica tells Paul that they should practice his lessons, as he panicked earlier in the day and would benefit from learning about the body’s prana-musculature. The young Duke suppresses his flare of anger at her suggestion and works on his training as she suggests.