Dune chapters four & five

We have slowly been doing a group read of the classic science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Here is a dissection of two chapters.

Dune chapter 4

You have read that Muad'Dib had no playmates his own age on Caladan. The dangers were too great. But Muad'Dib did have wonderful companion-teachers. There was Gurnsey Halleck, the troubador warrior. You will sing some of Gurnsey's songs as you read along in this book. There was Thufir Hawat, the old Mentat Master of Assassins, who struck fear even into the heart of the old Padishah Emperor. There were Duncan Idaho, the Swordmaster of the Ginaz; Dr. Wellington Yueh, a name black in treachery but bright in knowledge; the Lady Jessica, who guided her son in the Bene Gesserit Way, and - of course - the Duke Leto, whose qualities as a father have long been overlooked.
~ from "A Child's History of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

In the fourth chapter we learn more of the inhospitable planet of Arrakis. We learn that the Atreides think that there are many more native inhabitants, the Fremen, than there is usually thought to be there. The Fremen hate the Harkonnen, and the Atreides hope to make an alliance with them. Paul mentions the prison planet of Salusa Secundus, which was once the Corrino homeworld before it was ecologically destroyed in an act of war. Paul thinks that Arrakis sounds even worse than the notorious prison planet...it sort of makes you wonder if the tough-as-nails peoples of those two worlds would make good soldiers, doesn;t it?

More importantly, we meet two of the top Atreides aides - Thufir Hawatt the Mentat and Gurnsey Halleck, a warrior. It is made clear that each would be willing to do almost anything to keep Paul safe. That in fact, they are completely and nearly obsessively loyal to House Atreides. Halleck lost a sister to the Harkonnen, and bears a terrible scar that he received in a slave pit on the Harkonnen home world.

Paul tries to talk to Thufir about the things the Rev. Mother said to him, especially about how she thinks his father is doomed. But he finds he cannot speak freely about his interactions and discussions with her. He can talk about some of it, but he realizes that she has put some sort of block on him...which in turn made me wonder yet again about the Bene Gesserit and the odd powers these "witches' seem to have over mind and body...

Dune chapter 5:

YUEH (yu-e),Wellington (weling-tun), Stdrd 10,082-10,191; medical doctor of the Suk School (grd 10,092-10,112); md: Wanna marcus, B.G. )Stdrd 10,092-10,186?); chiefly noted as betrayer of Duke Leto Atreides. (Cf: Bibiliography, Appendix VII (Imperial Conditioning) and Betrayal, The.)
~from "Dictionary of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

Chapter five is a very short little chapter, which is important in that it shows who the betrayer of the Atreides is, and his motives in doing so.

Dr. Wellington Yueh is a physician, one who is considered so trustworthy he would be able to treat even members of the Imperial family. He is a graduate from a wekk known medical school, the Suk.

He is one of Paul's teachers, and comes to talk to Paul and tell him that he has assigned Paul some lessons for the crossing of interstellar space to Arrakis. He also talks to Paul about the Fremen, and answers some of Paul's questions about them.

He also gives Paul a gift of a precious old Orange Catholic Bible, designed to be used by space travellers - a priceless gift.

He also hates himself for what he knows he will do to the Atreides, and for his hypocracy in still pretending to be a loyal Atreides servant, and for the sheer waste of the loss of lives such as Paul's. It is clear that the betrayal has been brought about by the Harkonnen, whom Yueh passionately hates...the Harkonnen whom he hates as much as he loves his lost wife...

I've been thinking about this chapter in the back of my mind all day.

It is sheerly and horrifyingly evil the way the Harkonnens twist Yueh's love and concern for his wife into an instrument of betrayal.

That's just sick and wrong...to take what should be someone's strength, someone's goodness and turn it into a weapon of grief, death, and despair. To turn one deep loyalty into the destruction of another loyalty...