Point of View

Frank Herbert narrates Dune in the third person past tense. More often than quoting character's words in dialog, Herbert lays out their inner thoughts (in italics). He opens new scenes by quoting epigrams in the manner of a historian. Paul Atreides is brought from a precocious 15-year-old living on an idyllic world to a planet where survival is a minute-by-minute struggle. The enemies who destroy his father pursue Paul and his mother Jessica as they live among the Fremen people, learning their ways and winning their allegiance, as Paul becomes their messianic leader and Jessica their Reverend Mother. Herbert richly indulges his interest in mythology and customs. Waterless Dune is so bleak and seemingly beyond redemption, that Herbert as a vehicle for discussing ecology. The presence of an Imperial Planetologist with a vision for a different future allows Herbert to examine what happens when humans interfere...