Dune Literary Elements

Science fiction

The desert planet Arrakis, thousands of years after a war to destroy all thinking machines

Third person, at times limited and at times omniscient, largely following Paul-Muad'Dib Atreides, Lady Jessica, and Baron Harkonnen

The tone tends to be serious and reflective, with a mood of historic importance conveyed by sayings and retrospections that begin each chapter.

Paul Atreides is the primary protagonist; Baron Harkonnen and Emperor Shaddam IV are the primary antagonists.

When House Atreides is sent to Arrakis, the spice-producing planet, Duke Leto is killed and Paul and Jessica escape into the desert. Paul becomes the mythical messiah of the Fremen, and as his powers grow, Paul gains control of Arrakis and the spice, kills the Harkonnens, and strips the Emperor of his power.

Paul and the Fremen destroy the invading forces of Baron Harkonnen and the Emperor; after the larger battle, Paul kills Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in one-on-one combat, then takes control of the Guild and becomes next in line to be Emperor.

Paul has numerous visions of the future that foreshadow (or notably don't foreshadow) the events of the novel.

While discussing the Harkonnen goal to completely destroy all members of House Atreides, Duke Leto says, “They wish the Atreides name to become unpopular.”

Though Dune doesn't make explicit allusions to texts or stories outside the world of the novel itself, it frequently makes allusions to Fremen history, like their forced exodus from multiple planets to avoid persecution. These allusions align with examples of religious and cultural persecution in real-world history.

Lady Jessica imagines "the Duke’s men rubbing their woes together in the barracks until you could almost smell the charge there, like burnt insulation." The olfactory imagery links the reader to the idea, which is associated with dangerous, bad-smelling burnt insulation.

By trying to prevent the jihad he sees in his prescient vision, Paul makes it so the jihad will happen regardless of what he does.

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Page 130: "Low on the southern horizon, the night’s second moon peered through a thin dust haze—an unbelieving moon that looked at him with a cynical light."