Yueh explains this to Lady Jessica, and she says they're looking at this place too critically. The water wealth displayed by caring for 20 date palms is enormous, ostentatious, and shows a lack of understanding of the planet.

Every day, those 20 trees require an amount of water that could sustain 100 men. The 20 date palms outside the governor's mansion in Arrakeen are symbols that immediately communicate the scarcity of water, and how easily that water is wasted by non-Fremen on Arrakis. They inspire the Baron to wonder what Duke Leto thought when he looked at them, which is perhaps the only moment of genuine, non-manipulative empathy from the Baron. The Baron Harkonnen, after killing Duke Leto, steals these objects and hangs them in the Harkonnen hall, where they give him a deep sense of foreboding. For example, Thufir Hawat looks at them and thinks of himself as the bull, Jessica as the matador. The presence of the painting and the head continues through the novel, but their meaning changes depending on who's narrating. The old Duke didn't have to fight bulls, but he chose to, and when the time came, he allowed the bull to kill him, which contrasts with the Harkonnen slave-gladiator pits where the fights are always rigged. They bother Jessica to the point she won't eat in the dining room, but Duke Leto finds them a useful reminder of loyalty and bravery. Atreides portrait and bull's head (Symbol)ĭuke Leto keeps a painted portrait of his father, the old Duke, and the head of the bull that killed him mounted in his dining room on Caladan when they move to Arrakis, he has them hung in the dining room there. Hawat's final message seems to be that no matter where you orient yourself in the universe, you're never fully prepared for the unknown.

When he sees Hawat for the last time, Paul says, 'As you can see, my back is toward no door.' Hawat, however, responds with, 'The universe is full of doors.' He is communicating to Paul that one is never completely safe, and he's perhaps retracting his emphasis on that motif during training. The Baron Harkonnen has his back to the door after narrowly escaping Duke Leto's poisoned tooth.

Yueh has his back to the door, foreshadowing his betrayal by the Baron, and Paul has his back to the door when the Sardaukar attack him, Jessica, and Kynes. This is a motif throughout the novel, as characters are often described as being in a specific position in relation a door.

Buy Study Guide Having your back to the door (Motif)Īt the beginning of Dune, Thufir Hawat berates Paul for having his back to the door, allowing people to sneak up on him.

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