Favorite character arc? Least favorite character arc? Any unanswered questions?
Hhmm, I think my favorite arc might be Lady Jessica. She kind of has this pivotal point in a multitude of storylines and her becoming a Reverend Mother in a way she never thought she would was very interesting. She was obviously a supremely talented Bene Gesserit and I think her decision to bear a son indicated that she was so unconsciously connected to the BG breeding plan that it was an instinctual answer to finding the Kwisats Haderach. There were so many great arcs though, I also really, really, loved the brief glimpse into Pardot Kynes arc that was at the end of the appendices. I wish that there could've almost been a more dedicated prologue characterizing him a bit more. As for my least favorite story arc, I was pretty unimpressed with the way Liet Kynes died. I thought his death scene was well written but I wanted more from his character. I thought there was more potential with him but I think Herbert may have killed him to kind of even the playing field between Paul and the Fremen, they both lost their fathers. I also thought The Shadout Mapes was killed just a little too early. But these are relatively minor complaints. One unanswered question I have is that I could've sworn multiple times in the book it was mentioned that a side effect of Spice addiction was prolonged life and yet I was pretty sure some of the birth/death dates for some of the characters (Lady Jessica chiefly on my mind) only barely made it to a hundred years old after being on a spice heavy diet for a multitude of years.
I think there are a lot of characters where it feels like we don't get a chance to fully explore all their interesting aspects and developments. This is especially true in the second book as well. I guess part of the intrigue of a good universe is that you don't pull away the curtain too fast or too completely though. One of the things I was bummed on about Dune is there seemed to be a big hubbub about some secret reason shields were not used on dune. I must have snoozed on this, because I can not for the life of me think of a satisfying answer to what that secret was.
I LIKE this idea. I like it a LOT. Good insight my dude, that might as well be canon for me. Plus the whole point about choosing to be different is very interesting. Was her choice worth it? I expected more from Liet Kynes too. He was sitting at such a fun power conflux, but then, that's why he died arguably. The Shadout also feels like a letdown when you think about how smart and tough a Fremen has to be to make it to old age. The long life thing I believe refers also to quality of life. Plus if a person can afford to eat lots and lots of spice they are likely influential enough to get murdered as well. Death by involuntary perforation is abundant in the Dune universe.I think her decision to bear a son indicated that she was so unconsciously connected to the BG breeding plan that it was an instinctual answer to finding the Kwisats Haderach.
I would say her choice is worth it if you consider revenge worthy. In the end, a lot of her decisions directly loosed Maud'Dib upon the Harkonnens and the Imperium so in that sense, I'd say hell yeah, kill Harkonnens! I also feel like by the end of the book she had lost a good deal of faith in the Bene Gesserit. She had seen their mistakes through her son's eyes and how they failed to react to a lot of pivotal points. Closing the book on her finals words of "History will call us Wives." left me thinking that she felt a deal of disappointment with the BG's handling of their own end-game. And I think you hit the nail on the head as to why the Shadout was disappointing. You'd definitely have to be pretty cunning to live that long as a Fremen.