Dune

hi! Just noting that this is a MESS, idk what I’m saying or what the purpose is but Ok thanks for maybe reading! When I first read this book I can still remember how warm it made me feel, I never wanted it to end. When I re read it, it was as if warmness never left, and I really don’t know why that is. I am not a fantasy reader at all, in fact I truly steer clear of that genre entirely. And while I enjoy sci fi and respect the genre immensely, I haven’t read much beside Foundation and Star Wars, and Dune. One of my best memories in the last few years was simply laying in my bed until the wee hours of dawn reading Dune for the first time while my six month old kitten laid beside me all night. I would take the book after a particularly good chapter or when I was done reading for the day and I would hug the book so tightly, I simply never wanted it to end, I still don’t. A moment to walk alone. She is always holding her hand which I find to be something Rebecca totally just did on her own as a way of developing a character trait for her Jessica, and it’s my favorite thing in the world because it brings this comfort quality to her and of course, an intuition, like she must always be as close to herself as is possible. With all the fear and intensity surrounding her, this is her way of coming back to herself, her way of being. I knew I was going to like the ‘witch’ character because, of course, who doesn’t like the witch character in a story? Little did I realize just how much she would come to mean to me. I have read hundreds of books, and without hesitation I can say that the Lady Jessica is my favorite literary character, without question. Jessica creates this story, her choice to defy the bene gesserit the entire reason for all of this, she undid over 900 years of planning done by the bene gesserit order. She then trains Paul in the bene gesserit order, further defying the ways of the bene gesserit sorry but that takes serious guts. Because you are Jessica’s son. While waking Paul for the gum jabbar she is still and secretive but bleeding from the heart the moment she taps her son awake. Jessica is often described as being too cold, too stoic, but that simply isn’t so, sure she may not be the most affectionate being but that isn’t a lack of love, it’s protection. The reciting of the litany outside the chamber doors, Jessica is sharing in the pain of Paul and guiding him as a way to survive the experience. And when she walks into the great hall after the test of the gum jabbar, the relief that washes over her is palpable. She is so out of reach and that frustrates me to no end because being even 1% like her is not even in the cards, but it draws me to her all the much more. “With hair like shaded bronze, and oval face and green eyes” that shape is notable as a marker of her bloodline and was lated expressed by Herbert as a nod to his wife who Jessica was modeled after. Jessica is always about 15 steps ahead of everyone, her intuition radiates across the pages, between the lines, its endless and I find that to be the most interesting a gift a person can possess. Intuition is a gift and ultimately, a curse, I believe it is why she is so without hope. While the banquet scene was cut from the film, I just wanted to add this paragraph here *Most of the women in the hall seemed cast from a specific type of- decorative, precisely turned out, an odd mingling of untouchable sensuousness. Even without her possession as hostess, Jessica would have dominated the group, he thought. She wore no jewelry and had chosen warm colors, a long dress almost the shade of the open blaze, and an earth brown band around her bronzed hair. He realized she had done this to taunt him subtly, a reproof against his recent pose of coldness. She was well are that he liked her best in these shades, that he saw her as a rusting of warm colors. * I should have married you. The scene of Jessica walking from Paul’s room into Leto’s room is the most perfection depiction of Jessica and all she is, as she leaves Paul’s chambers tears succumb her and her body goes limp, not entirely but for her, it’s significant, knowing she is pregnant, knowing all about Paul and who is, it’s grueling and to then attempt to speak about this with her partner is excruciating. But before she walks into the room she wipes her face, places her hands across her waist and stands tall, withholding the vulnerability she just unleashed in the hallway. She knows what is to come, what is to happen to her Duke, to her son, to her daughter. She hunches over, her hands shaking as she approaches the door to her Duke. Duke Leto is so hopeful while Jessica is cautious and their Paul is the perfect mixture of the two. Their final moment together is so gentle and intimate his hand on her head , his head in her lap she rubs his forehead, it’s the calm before the storm. Your pitch, was too forced! Always a teaching moment from a Mother to her child, even in the face of death. The way Paul watches her in certain awe as she uses the voice and kills everyone aboard. I feel like we don’t see that enough in movies, not the ‘Strong female’ type or whatever the fuck, but just a teenager simply in awe of his mother, his great protector, in that moment I believe Paul sees just how much he has yet to learn from her and how vital she is, and just how little he knows about her. You are your Father’s son, you are MY son. You know who you are. When Paul screams in the face of his mother over his bene gesserit blood and blames her for him being a freak, the sheer hurt, anguish, and guilt on her face is devastating to watch, but for a mother to endure I cannot imagine. I have seen this movie twice now and my body breaks into chills seeing her react to his outburst, its the most honest depiction of hurt I have seen on screen. As hard as it is to watch this, I think it may very well be my favorite scene in the entire movie. Even when you walked in shadows. That final look is so haunting to me because Paul is so filled with hope while Jessica stalls behind him, and the look she gives is devastating and fearful, and for her to have fear….that should petrify the best of us. On that path lies danger. I was always so confused by people who would speak about how much they love and relate to Harry Potter or other leads from their favorite novels cause I never really experienced that with literary characters, just television or movie characters, but, for lack of a better comparison Lady Jessica is my Harry Potter. That is a horrible correlation but it is the best and most accurate way of describing how special she is to me as a woman. I want to be her when I grow up. I’m always my own champion. I have this written on a piece of paper that sits on my nightstand. It is what I live by. Thank you for her, Frank.