Spice Symbol in Dune

In the novel, the spice drug, also known as melange, takes on two different layers of significance: it represents valuable worldly resources that result in epic power plays, as well as the use of drugs to reach the human mind’s potential. Dune, a story set in a feudal society spread across the universe, is strongly focused on the clashes for control over the crop spice that is only mined from the planet Arrakis. Set twenty thousand years in the future, humanity has abolished all computers and thinking machines, and now relies on the mind-altering qualities of spice. Spice is a drug that can extend human life, allow interstellar space travel, and bestow heightened cognitive powers. Spice is therefore the most valuable commodity in the universe and has allowed humanity technological progress and cognitive development. As the most important resource in the galaxy, the spice drug symbolizes resources that have been critical for humanity’s technological and cultural advancements. Examples include digital data, as well as fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. As with spice, political battles have constantly pivoted on control of these real-world resources. With Dune written in 1960s America, spice can also represent recreational drugs of the time such as marijuana, cocaine, and LSD; in many communities, it was popularly believed that such drugs could increase cognitive abilities by unlocking dormant parts of the human brain. Like spice, such drugs are also highly addictive and often require the user to take more and more to achieve the same effects.

Spice Quotes in Dune

The Dune quotes below all refer to the symbol of Spice. 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:

People are the true strength of a Great House, Paul thought. And he remembered Hawat’s words: “Parting with people is a sadness; a place is only a place.”

Related Characters: Thufir Hawat (speaker), Paul Atreides / Muad’Dib, Lady Jessica, Duke Leto Atreides

Related Symbols: Spice

Page Number and Citation: 308

Explanation and Analysis:

The Guild Navigators, gifted with limited prescience, had made the fatal decision: they’d chosen always the clear, safe course that leads ever downward into stagnation.

Related Characters: Paul Atreides / Muad’Dib, Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV

Related Symbols: Spice

Page Number and Citation: 767

Explanation and Analysis:

“If I hear any more nonsense from either of you,” Paul said, “I’ll give the order that’ll destroy all spice production on Arrakis … forever.”

[…]

“Do it!” Paul barked. “The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it. You’ve agreed I have that power. We are not here to discuss or negotiate or compromise. You will obey my orders or suffer the immediate consequences!”

“He means it,” the shorter Guildsman said. And Paul saw the fear grip them.

Related Characters: Paul Atreides / Muad’Dib (speaker), Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV

Related Symbols: Spice

Page Number and Citation: 772-3

Explanation and Analysis:

Spice Symbol Timeline in Dune

The timeline below shows where the symbol Spice appears in Dune. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...80 years on a CHOAM contract to mine for the resource melange, more commonly called spice. The Harkonnens are now withdrawing from Arrakis, as the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV has awarded... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

Environment and Human Culture Theme Icon

...resolute and tough people, in order to succeed in governing Arrakis and mining its valuable spice. When Hawat mentions the stillsuits that Fremen wear to reclaim the body’s water, Paul suddenly... (full context)

...fierce people, known for their fighting skills and their blue eyes that result from ingesting spice. Paul is inspired by the Fremen’s fierce culture, where even the children are “violent and... (full context)

...a Harkonnen trap, but believes the Atreides can survive it. The value of the planet’s spice is also too great to give up because it offers House Atreides leverage with the... (full context)

...will likely resent the wealthy Atreides household and their new and valuable source of income, spice production. However, some of the population might also view the Atreides as fairer governors than... (full context)

...eradicating Harkonnen agents on Arrakis. He also charges Halleck with persuading some of the 800 spice hunters who are about to leave Arrakis to remain and work for House Atreides. (full context)

...the imminent Harkonnen attacks. They also plan to counter the Harkonnens’ moves by raiding Harkonnen spice reserves stored on another planet. (full context)

House Atreides will also try to win the support of the spice smugglers on Arrakis. Local Fremen and smuggler support would benefit Leto’s economic profits as well... (full context)

Numerous issues are raised regarding spice production. It is currently stalled due to the Harkonnens leaving the Atreides with largely inoperable... (full context)

...Sardaukar. He is pleased that Gurney Halleck has persuaded almost three hundred of the departing spice hunters to stay and work for House Atreides. (full context)

Duke Leto approaches Thufir Hawat and instructs him to destroy Harkonnen spice stockpiles on the planet Giedi Prime. Although House Atreides cannot spare many men, the Duke... (full context)

Kynes has been asked to accompany Duke Leto, Paul, and Gurney Halleck to view a spice mining operation. Leto pilots an ornithopter (flying ship) with Kynes directing him where to fly.... (full context)

...that Arrakis could be a paradise “if its rulers would look up from grubbing for spice!” Leto also hears him refer to the ecology as “my climate.” (full context)

...of Kynes’s statements, but cannot pursue them further as the group has arrived at the spice mining operation. They approach a huge crawler (spice factory vehicle), and Kynes warns to be... (full context)

...a large worm and radios this information to the crawler. Gurney Halleck directs that the spice bonus that the Duke receives for being first to spot the wormsign is split out... (full context)

The sandworm is fast approaching, but the carryall ship required to rescue the spice workers from the crawler fails to appear. Duke Leto prioritizes the safety of his people... (full context)

Duke Leto is furious that spice workers are vulnerable to such risks during their regular work. House Atreides are also confused... (full context)

...and his perceptive son continues to grow, especially because they clearly value human life over spice profits. He views Leto’s behavior as the type of leadership that “would command fanatic loyalty”... (full context)

...Kynes and a Guild representative related to the earlier events of a sandworm destroying a spice crawler. She chillingly realizes that the Guildman has speech patterns from Giedi Prime and must... (full context)

Paul also realizes that there is increased spice in the air and in the food he has been eating. This mind-altering substance must... (full context)

...Harkonnens. He also states that they must attack House Harkonnen by taking control of the spice. Jessica struggles to follow his lines of thought. She believes that her son must be... (full context)

...costly enterprise that would equal the price of at least fifty years of the Arrakeen spice income. Hawat is still fixated on Lady Jessica as the traitor who sold out House... (full context)

...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... (full context)

Gurney Halleck meets with Staban Tuek, son of Esmar Tuek, who now leads the Arrakis spice smuggling rings. Tuek is uncertain whether his father was killed by Harkonnen men or the... (full context)

...and once again feels sure that there must be a strong relationship between sandworms and spice, although he has not yet figured this out or seen it using foresight. (full context)

Even in his delirious state, Liet-Kynes recognizes the smell of a pre-spice mass under the sand and can tell that it will soon explode upward out of... (full context)

...calls “little makers” who are giving water and organic matter to feed and grow a pre-spice mass. At a certain point the mass begins to grow quickly, and produces a large... (full context)

...began decades ago to alter the Arrakeen climate and that his son has continued. The pre-spice process that Liet-Kynes has been thinking of reaches a critical point amount of carbon dioxide,... (full context)

...Chani offers Paul food while teasing him. Paul notices that the food smells strongly of spice. Stilgar orders that the camouflaged door is put into place and for Fremen to see... (full context)

...people have stayed outside overlong into daylight hours because they are trying to gather enough spice to give to the Guild. Jessica wants to know why they are paying spice to... (full context)

Paul is also watching this scene and reacts to it intensely due to the spice-infused food he has just eaten. In his heightened state he can sense an unescapable “race... (full context)

...remembering the way that her son earlier seemed strange and private. She guesses that the spice is affecting him, perhaps enhancing his future forecasting abilities. (full context)

...from trying to turn Arrakis into a prison planet like Salusa Secundus, for the Arrakeen spice production is too valuable to endanger by altering the environment successfully. (full context)

...is hit by a wave of smells—unwashed bodies, reclaimed wastes, and the pungent smell of spice pervading it all. Jessica can tell from the smells alone that the Fremen community uses... (full context)

On Arrakis, Paul dreams beyond space and time under the influence of spice. He dreams of his family—he and Chani are now a couple and have a young... (full context)

...the smugglers for flying in Fremen territory—he and Stilgar set a trap using a fake spice patch to lure the smugglers in. (full context)

...the group that lands on Arrakis. The Guild are trying to protect their livelihood, the spice that they depend on for their monopoly over interstellar travel. (full context)

...a Water of Life weapon that will be the catalyst for destroying all the planet’s spice by setting off a chain reaction of destruction for little makers and sandworms, both of... (full context)

...themselves in the fight with their powerful atomic weapons because Paul is holding the previous spice to ransom. Paul is blackmailing the Imperial and Harkonnen forces in the same way—they know... (full context)

...shocked by Paul’s casual dismissal of the Guild, but he knows his control over Arrakeen spice puts them in the palm of his hand. Paul also thinks on the process that... (full context)

...authority before the young Duke reminds them that he can and will destroy the Arrakeen spice crops forever if they don’t obey him. They label him “mad” but know from their... (full context)

...death. The Bene Gesserit call her the “Accursed One” because of her exposure to intense spice levels while in the womb. (full context)

Dune

Frank Herbert

Spice Symbol Analysis

Spice Quotes in Dune

Spice Symbol Timeline in Dune