Throughout the novel ‘Dune’ and movie ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’, Herbert (author) and Scott (director) present many shared themes such as religion, politics and betrayal. Both story lines are set in societies where one gender is empowered and the other is not. Herbert’s intergalactic futuristic planet Arrakis is governed by forty generations of genetically manipulated bloodlines, so that females rule. In complete opposition Scott’s story line is set in an Egyptian pharaoh society where men rule. Both have hierarchy-structured societies led by a central messiah type male protagonist. The readers experience is made greater by exploring these leading characters actions and emotions. Herbert explores concepts before his time of genetic manipulation, …show more content…
Herbert’s novel foretold the birth of a male born leader, Paul Atreides, who leads the Fremen to power and freedom. He is also able to see into the future with his prescient abilities unlocked by the use of Spice Melange. In comparison, Scott directs a film which focuses on God as the almighty power and Moses as his almighty disciple who acts to free all men as equal. A high priestess divines a prophecy from animal intestines foretelling that “one brother will save the life on the other and eventually sit upon the throne”. This immediately casts a shadow of suspicion between brothers Moses and Ramesses as to who would be the next rightful leader. Dune explores a blend of religions such as Buddislam a fusion of Buddhism and Islam, Judaisim and Zenshiism. A blend of religions which can be likened to modern day blends such as Anglican, originating from the Church of England or Catholicism originating from Jesus of Nazareth during the Roman occupancy they have been blended or refocused over time. Exodus: God of Kings, follows the story of Moses based loosely on the book of Exodus of the Hebrews. All are blends of current belief systems. In Herbert’s text religion serves a more symbolic function – power, it is used to enhance political position in the eyes of the people. An example of this is the Bene Gesserit, who utilise their knowledge and superiority to earn the respect of others, boasting “we sift people to find humans.” “Usul” a name of Arabic origin meaning “the strength of the base of the pillar” was the private name used for Paul within the Sietch Tabr. The second name, Maud’ Dib, is what is used openly in the universe. Paul took the name from a small desert mouse and his choice pleased Stilgar with the rest of the Sietch Tabr. The word is of Arabic origin and means “private tutor” or “teacher”. This trait was shown when Paul taught the Fremen to become strong fighters. Maud’
Creation in Ancient Egyptian religion can be much different than the creation account taken from The Bible. Genesis has a set description of “The Beginning” while there are several different versions and variations in Egyptian mythology. The versions range from a “one god” myth (Ptah; see picture) to the more common creator out of Nun, which in itself has several derivations.
On page 80, the exchange between Stevenson and his client, Herbert, is written out in dialogue format. Herbert’s emotions shine through and the reader can feel his distress. As the reader continues to read the dialogue between the two individuals, the reader can experience Stevenson’s remorse for not being able to do enough for Herbert. This dialogue allowed Herbert to come to life. Herbert is a real person not a fictional character. Because Stevenson (2015) utilized dialogue in this way as a literary device, his clients’ stories causes the reader to have compassion for them and their story.
The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An
The Hebrew and Babylonian myths are two different versions of how the earth was created. Even though there are perspectives of how the world was created they do have some similarities. The point of the two views intertwine with each other because they are consistent with the events.
The content of the book “David and Goliath” written by Malcolm Gladwell is quite similar with the article that I was assigned to read which entitled The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The main focus of both stories is to explain more on the oppression, suffered by people all over the world in all eras. The book began with a story on how the author relates the title “David and Goliath” with overall content of the book. At first, I wonder and question on the title given by the author. The word “Goliath” seems a myth to me, so my impression on it was not quite good. Usually, any mythology stories were all written in an English language that I could never understand. My guess was right on the myth but I was shocked to see that the words were put in
In his science fiction epic Dune, Frank Herbert uses his characters to reflect and critique societal issues that are still relevant today. In many parts of the book, his social commentary is portrayed through scenes with high shock value. Most notably, he uses his female characters as a social commentary for the struggle for gender equality. Herbert created an imaginary, fantastical universe in which the female characters had the potential to yield great power, yet by the end of the book, he ultimately downplays all of the feminist ideals that earlier parts of the book held. The creation of the Bene Gesserit school conveys Herbert’s understanding of the female capacity for power and success, yet by ultimately choosing to downplay these characters
The Jewish religion makes Israel’s culture in 722 B.C. - 540 B.C. distinctive. Israel’s religion is important in the fact that it started the Catholic culture. Though most Christians do not do the same things the Jews did back then, the bases for their beliefs and ideas came from the Jews. The Israelites’ way of life was influenced by their religion. They maintained their faith even when they were being exiled. Their work, customs, laws, and other things were all influenced by their Jewish religion. The geography of Southern Israel was also important in the way that the location affected their way of life and work. These folkways and work are important since their religion influenced them. Religion was their structure of life.
Not only do the roles of the characters compel a reader, they also illustrate the
There are a variety of political and religious concepts throughout the Dune novels that varies so much through the novels which makes it a complex and cogitative science fiction series. The Dune novels are popular with many fans and partly this is due because of its political and religious structures. This essay will be focussing primarily on the first four Dune novels written by Frank Herbert.
Both the Hebrews and the Mesopotamians used religious ideologies to govern society. According to the Book of Exodus, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (1) The Hebrews emphasized only one God as their savior and protector. In the book, God states, “I will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you.” (5) The Hebrews, similar to the Mesopotamians, believed
The story of David and Goliath is instilled into the minds of children from an early age. The heroic passage from the Old Testament of the Bible is even widely known by people who are not of the Catholic or Christian faiths. The tale of the David and Goliath describes David as the youngest of three brothers who defiantly faces off against a giant from the Philistines in a battle to the death. Nobody from the David’s father does not want his youngest son going to battle and a theme portrayed throughout the story is that David is young, weak, and will surely die by the hand of Goliath. In modern interpretations of David and Goliath’s encounter, the two engage in battle, and before Goliath can strike, David slings a rock into his forehead, killing Goliath. David is the ultimate
After this church, came the Bene Gesserit, who privately denied that their order was a religious order, but in fact, all of their teachings and beliefs were quite religious. Following this religious order, came an age of agnostic rule. In this time, people thought religion was a type of theatrical way to keep the people amused and believed that all phenomenon even unexplained phenomenon could be reduced to simple scientific explanation. As time changed, the fourth religious movement was the Ancient Teachings. These ancient teachings included Zensunni Wanderers, the Navachristianity of Chusuk, the BuddIslamic Variants of the types dominant at Lankival and Sikun, the Blend Books of the Mahayana Lankavatara, the Zen Hekiganshu of III Delta Pavonis, the Tawrah and Talmudic Zabur and the Muadh Quran. Frank Herbert's imagination takes us through all of these religious orders to show the chaos in our own society's religious failings. All of these religious beliefs have shaped the final religion of Arrakis which is called the religion of the Muad'Dib.
Both books tell of Israel's settlement in the land of Canaan land. The first half of Joshua tell the entry of the Israelites (1-12). tells how the land was divided among the tribes of Israel (13-22) covenant ceremony the people committed to worship God (23-24).
I had taken a particular liking to Greek mythology when I read a certain book series. I knew very well about god at the time so despite me liking Greek mythology, actually believing it never crossed my mind. I will explain the overall difference between Gods sovereignty and that of Greek fatalism.
With the writing of the New Testament and the New Covenant, many Christians wonder if they are still obligated to follow the writings of the Old Testament, specifically the Mosaic Law. Romans helps to answer this question. Paul writes in Romans that the Christian is no longer under Old Testament or Mosaic Law, but is now under Christ’s Law (Rom 7:6 ) and that justification by faith, not works under the law is what will make a man righteous (Rom 3:28). This does not mean that the Christian should completely disregard the Scripture, for as it is written in 2 Timothy, all Scripture is from God and is good for teaching, however, Christians need to have a better understanding of the law they are now to live by. The Mosaic Law still has a useful purpose, and is still good to know, it is just no longer the rule of Christian life.