Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dune Messiah, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power
Religion
Guilt and Longing
Fate and Choice
Summary
Analysis
In Paul’s reception room, Edric and Paul are conversing. Edric tries to conceal his heightened claustrophobia from the small room. Using a laser, he points to a map and questions Paul about his father’s death. Paul wonders why Edric is opening old wounds. Scytale’s laughing eyes make Paul uneasy. Edric states his pleasure that Chani enjoyed the Guild’s performance the day before in which Face Dancers replicated her and Paul. Paul asks how Edric can appreciate these gifts from the Guild when the ghola claims he was made to destroy Paul. Edric asks how it is possible for a ghola to destroy a god.
The Guild’s gifts test Paul’s confidence in himself. First, it attempts to flatter Paul and Chani with the performance in which Face Dancers imitate them; then, it gives Paul Hayt and asserts that Paul has nothing to fear as long as he believes in his own invincibility—in himself as a god. Paul’s suspicion of the Guild’s gifts reveals that he does not think of himself as all-powerful. In fact, he dislikes that he is revered, and he fears his inevitable demise.
Themes
Stilgar enters and motions the guards closer to Paul. On Paul’s orders, Stilgar reluctantly moves Edric’s tank closer to Paul. Edric says that Paul at least “conspires” to be a god and asks if this is something a mortal can do safely. Paul feels that Edric is perceptive, but his prescience tells him there are more dangerous things than becoming a godhead. Paul asks if Edric is questioning his prescience. Edric denies this but says that there are other forces in the universe; if prescience alone existed, it would “annihilate itself.” Edric says that prescience can be confused with hallucinations, and Paul takes offense.
Edric claims that a mortal can neither become a god nor have complete powers of foresight. When such powers are complete, they “annihilate themselves,” suggesting that any kind of complete power is impossible. This paints a picture of the universe in which the universe’s multiple forces keep it in motion. Edric’s hint that there are other forces besides prescience is on the one hand defeating but could also be a potential salvation for Paul: since his power brings him unhappiness, his powerlessness could save him.
Themes
Sensing tension, Stilgar moves closer to Paul. Paul feels violence in the air. He points out that Edric seems to expect the worst from him. Edric says that people always expect the worst from the powerful. The odor of melange coming from Edric’s tank makes Paul feel that he is suffocating. Paul accuses Edric of suggesting that the Qizarate are spreading falsehoods about Paul. Edric suggests the Qizarate might be insincere, and Paul points out that this is to say that Paul is insincere. Stilgar grasps his knife under his robe. Edric says that power isolates a person and makes them lose touch with reality.
Edric upsets Paul because he is voicing the things that Paul himself fears. Paul’s power doesn’t make him feel connected to and in control of the world—instead, it makes him feel more isolated and afraid of the surrounding world. Although offended, Paul does not turn Edric away because he knows that he is right; in this way, Edric gets under Paul’s skin and dismantles his power by attacking his self-esteem.
Themes
Stilgar mutters that Paul should execute Edric for accusing him of “holy fraud.” Paul tells Stilgar to remain alert. Then Paul asks Edric how he imagines that Paul maintains this fraud through time and space. Edric asks Paul what time means to him and says that governments can hide anything. Paul notes that Edric uses words as a political weapon. Edric replies that religion is also a weapon. Paul realizes that Edric is trying to sow religious doubt in those of the “lower order,” like Stilgar. Paul says that religion was thrust upon him but that he won’t denounce it because Alia is a goddess; Alia could kill Edric with a glance.
Edric and Paul debate as to whether religion is a contrived weapon or based on truth. In claiming that he did not choose religion, Paul claims that religion was forced upon him against his control. As a result, Paul undercuts his personal power, claiming that there are other forces more powerful than him in the universe. In this way, religion is opposed to personal power. For a person to maintain total political power, they must use religion as an artificial weapon.
Themes
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Paul’s claim shocks Edric. He tells Paul that he no longer trusts him. Paul cautions Edric against thinking he knows Paul’s intentions. Stilgar asks Paul if they are to assassinate Edric; Paul says no. As Scytale pushes Edric’s tank toward the door, he tells Paul that he thinks people cling to the Imperium because they feel lonely in infinite space.
Scytale’s statement suggests that religion has no basis in the truth. In this view, Paul manipulates the universe with religion because everyone is afraid and alone. Therefore, Paul’s religious power is flawed: it relies on exploitation rather than on Paul’s eminence.
Themes
When Scytale and Edric are gone, Stilgar remarks that Scytale’s comment was odd. Paul dims the lights and goes to the window, watching a gang of workers repairing Alia’s temple. Addressing Paul in his sietch name, Stilgar asks why Paul invited Edric over. Paul says that he wanted more data. Stilgar says that some threats are best left on the outside, but Paul fears that thing that will destroy him is on the inside: himself.
Paul does not fear external threats. Having vanquished most of the universe, he is no longer vulnerable to attacks. Instead, he fears his own internal stability. This reveals that attaining power does not finally protect a person from danger; rather, it subjects them to their innate human flaws.
Themes
Korba comes running into the room, carrying a load of film reels. He peers through the dark and sees Paul and Stilgar. Korba says that he is afraid Paul is honoring his enemy by welcoming Edric. Ignoring his comment, Paul takes the reels he asked Korba to bring and says they are historical documents he wants Stilgar to peruse. Offended, Stilgar says he knows everything about the Imperium. Paul asks if Stilgar knows about Earth’s Golden Age. Korba says that, at Paul’s request, he also brought a device for scanning for certain data in the histories.
Paul’s concern for Stilgar’s historical knowledge reveals that he does not think of himself as all-powerful. He recognizes that he makes mistakes just like the failed leaders who came before him. Although he is prescient, Paul feels the necessity of looking to the past for guidance. This suggests that, in some ways, looking to the past better prepares a person for their fate than does seeing their fate.
Themes
Stilgar protests against this mentat work. Paul says that Stilgar needs a sense of balance and suggests he study Genghis Kahn and Hitler. Hitler had, like Paul, marshaled his legions to dominate, but Hitler had only killed 6 million whereas Paul has killed 61 billion. Korba says that Paul’s triumph brought thousands of believers into the light. Paul says the believers were brought into darkness; he thinks that no one will surpass the devastation his Jihad caused, and then he laughs, recalling that Hitler once said something similar. Paul says that his legions control more than him. Stilgar starts to feel how much his own hand guides Paul’s power.
The fact that Paul has killed more people than Hitler and Genghis Khan—who are among history’s most horrific leaders—throws his reign of power into a negative light. This comparison also likens Paul’s Jihad to a movement that inflicts violence and oppression in the name of the good. Though the Jihad claimed to bring people into the light of religion, it killed billions of people to do so, and the religion itself is based on a lie. Like the Holocaust, Paul’s Jihad is a reign of terror that uses perverse ideals to disguise its motive for power.
Themes
Korba puts the reels on a table, then he assures Paul that Alia is managing the Guild’s reception while Chani watches from a spyhole. Stilgar says that Bannerjee—Chief of Imperium Security—is afraid the Guild will try to infiltrate the Keep. Korba adds to this suspicion by saying that strangers were gathering in the gardens, trampling plants and muttering about taxes. At Paul’s request, Korba promises he will have the strangers removed from the garden.
The strangers’ rumors suggest that most people in Paul’s universe are unhappy with his regime. Not only has religion displaced many people from their homes and killed others, but Paul’s Imperium puts a financial strain on its subjects. In this way, Paul’s rule imparts little that is both beneficial and genuine.
Themes
Paul detains Korba, and Stilgar moves deftly so that he can see Paul’s face. Paul senses that Stilgar is growing suspicious of his odd behavior. Paul asks Korba if he ever feels like an apostle, and Korba says he has a clean conscience. Paul says mysteriously that Korba will survive all this and notes the understanding in Stilgar’s face. He then tells Stilgar and Korba to have Bannerjee banish the strangers in the garden, and to kill all those whom Chani identifies as Sardaukar (ancestors of Shaddam). Stilgar’s studying can wait till tomorrow. Paul instructs Stilgar to end the Guild’s reception party.
Korba seems to be answering a question that Paul has not asked him. Korba—as the head of the Qizarate—does indeed seem to be an apostle, spreading the word of the Jihad as far and wide as possible. Korba’s response therefore seems to be the kind of defensive response that reveals a person’s culpability. Korba is prepared for being accused of being disingenuous, suggesting that he has not been practicing religion wholeheartedly but instead has some kind of ulterior motive.
Themes
