LogFAQs > #979167843

Okay so basic concept is that is a parallel for the war in the Middle East.

Spice is oil. Spice makes space travel possible in this world.

the Harkonen are the USSR. They want the spice/oil for themselves and are evil.

The Atredes are British/American. They also want the spice/oil for themselves. They are the good guys but its still a matter of who enslaves the native population this week type of good guy.

the Fremen are the rebel fighters native to the country. So the taliban. They will fight anyone who comes to their planet trying to take their spice/oil.

no body is a good guy. Its all shades of grey.

thats the basics.

to get more complex, there is an added layer of the messiah figure prophecy.

Basically, Pauls mother is part of a religion. That religion is the largest in the world, and has purposely married off into the wealthiest and most influential families of every planet. Said religion also speaks of a messiah coming and they say that to every region/culture they slip into. That way, in thousands of years, the native populations believe this messiah figure is their own native myth.

basically, the Catholic Church (or whomever our real world parallel is) has purposely used religion to brainwash the masses to accept whatever puppet messiah they put in front of the natives. So the religion shoves Paul out there to placate the taliban and give the church a legitimate claim to the spice/oil.

and then there is the world bank, which is purposely manipulating prices to keep the war for spice/oil going in order to make the most money.

once again, nobody is the good guy.

now then. Thats basically it. Yes there are magic powers, other stuff like that. But at the end of the day, its a story about a child raised to be a puppet figurehead caught in a war for oil with everyone on every side trying to manipulate him.

and then the book also adds in the fact that you can read everyones inner thoughts. Which. Is hard to read because there will be 20 people in a room with 20 different inner thoughts.