Dune is oftentimes mentioned as one of the greatest works of science fiction. I tend to disagree. It clearly deserves to sit on the shelf with the greatest literary works, but Dune isn’t science fiction. People commonly use the genre science fiction as a catchall for any story that takes place in the future, or in space, and for many other reasons. Dune qualifies under that categorization, but importantly, there is astonishingly little science in this fiction story.
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Political Fiction
Political fiction is constantly at the center of the story’s plot at various scales. From galactic politics to inter-family politics, the tension and conflict are deeply layered across time and space. The Baron Harkonnen’s raison d’être is to crush the Atredies family. Yet, the events in the book Dune represent only the final acts of a 10,000-year feud between the families.
The Harkonnen family plays a deadly politics thought-out the story. The Baron is raising his nephew to be his hair but must contend with assassination attempts. However, these assassination attempts are not seen as a betrayal but as a teaching lesson. The Baron knows that his nephew wouldn’t be worthy of the Harkonnen throne if he weren’t smart enough, and more importantly deceitful enough, to try and take the throne. And this is just a side plot in the book that is riddled with plots within plots, which is a line frequently repeated in the book.
Spiritual Fiction
Herbert doesn’t preach a specific version of spirituality, but each culture in the book has their spirituality that adds depth and realism to the story. Most obvious is the Fremen culture, who are deeply spiritual, as would be necessary for any people living in such harsh conditions. But their spirituality doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The Bene Gesserit profoundly influences them. The Bene Gesserit sit in the deep recesses behind every powerful family to control the bloodlines to their own ends.
Although it isn’t mentioned in the Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, the Orange Catholic Bible or OC Bible, was one of the most important religious texts in Dune universe. There is nothing more than quotes from it here and there in the books and Paul have a micro-copy of the book that he keeps with him. The book is a fusion of all significant religious thought in human history.
Ecological Fiction
Perhaps the most important fiction of Dune is the ecology. In fact, Frank Herbert was inspired to write the story after visiting the dunes of Oregon and falling on love with the ecology there. He would spend five years doing research as he brought together the ideas that would become the Dune saga. Herbert explored many ecological themes in the books, such as sustainability, symbiotic relationships, and the consequences of resource exploitation.
The planet Arrakis isn’t just a planet of sand and worms. There are grasses, rodents, such as muad’dib, and birds. The movies only have scant time to even mention the ecology, but in the books Herbert explores many details of the ecology of Dune.
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