Despite being the Messiah, Prophet, Lisan-al-Gaib, Muad’dib, Dune writer Frank Herbert never intended for Paul Atreides to be a hero. Yes, Paul is the son of a Duke, and his story has been woven through time by powers outside his control, but he is not a hero. In the latest instalment of the Dune saga, Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve has made a point to portray Paul as the original author intended - there is the potential for him to turn out to be a hero but, because of the circumstances in which he finds himself, he never gets to be.
You can be forgiven for thinking Paul Atreides is supposed to be the hero character after watching the first film, or beginning to read the first Dune book. But as his world gets slowly turned upside down and he realises that his path is largely pre-written, he becomes increasingly sinister in his power. The new film did such a fantastic job of showing the audience this without outright telling them that I thought it was due its own post.
Herbert was not afraid to say that Paul is supposed to be complex and difficult, not always doing the right thing and sometimes causing more damage than good. We see from the beginning of his story that he is destined to be the forerunner for a war across the galaxy, causing death and destruction everywhere he goes. He doesn’t want to, but he ends up whisked into a future where it happens anyway. Whether it’s his fault or not is where the contention lies.
I think that the way Channi, Paul’s Fremen love interest, responds to Paul in Part Two is a perfect. It shows that while the Fremen masses are chanting his name and celebrating the discovery of their Prophet, by stepping into that role Paul is solidifying his fate as a dealer of death. Channi knows what happens next, Paul knows what happens next, the Fremen however, do not.
As far as they are concerned Paul really is there to lead them to Paradise, and I think if Paul made his decisions believing in his heart that Paradise was the end point, we could still see him as a hero. But he has seen the chaos and destruction that happens on the road, and chooses to do it anyway. And that is why he cannot, as Frank Herbert makes clear in the second Dune book, Messiah, be considered a hero.
There were some rumblings of concern over whether Timothee Chalamet would have the gumption to truly portray the darker side of Paul Atreides. I would like to sincerely congratulate him for being able to switch on his anger appropriately and, most importantly, powerfully for this role. It is so important to show that Paul is angry at the world around him. He is angry at the situation he has found himself in. He is angry that his family have been set up to fail, and angry that he seemingly has no choice but become this Messiah figure knowing all the death it will lead to.
Chalamet is the perfect cast for Paul in the sense that Paul is a scrawny teenage boy who is in the process of finding himself. After all, Dune is essentially a coming of age story at its bare bones. I am so glad that we are seeing the progression of Paul’s character as a correlation to the progression of Chalamet’s acting. It started with that first moment in the first Dune film where Paul snaps at his mother Jessica, blaming her and her Bene Gesserit sisters for the death of his father and the ensuing pain he is and will continue to go through.
That moment of anger begins to be ignited in Dune: Part Two and it is done so perfectly to lead up to Messiah, the book that Frank Herbert literally wrote because the reception of the first book was too positive in regards to Paul’s character. It will be a while before we see Messiah come to life, but I am so excited to see the seed of darkness that Paul has right from the first film, that has been fostered in Dune: Part Two, and will truly take root in Messiah.
Did you notice the dark turn that Paul Atreides started taking as he accepted his fate as Lisan-al-Gaib? Underneath the Fremen celebrations of a saviour, there is pain in Paul’s response and there is fear in Channi’s desperation to prevent him becoming Muad’ib and losing the personable Usul that she knows. I want to congratulate Villenueve for successfully staying true to Herbert’s original story and showing that Paul Atreides is no saviour. Paul Atreides is no hero.
Until next time,
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