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Lawrence of Arabia + Islam's founding = Dune?

posted 18 years ago by dhummel-1
5 replies | jump to latest

Hi all. I have not read the books yet (I plan to start soon and am justing finishing the mini-series (it is ok, the quality is low, though). Anyway, not knowing any of the story beforehand, I was struck by how much Paul compared to Lawerence in Lawerence of Arabioa (my fav. movie of all time). I mean, nearly the exact same plot, just different settings. Secondly, the Fremen are uncannily similar to either the Arabian tribes before Muhammad or the tribes needing uniting in LoA. Either way, was this the intent by the author? i mean, they even call Paul the "Mahdi" which, in Islam, is the Messiah. Lawrence was called that by some during his time.

[–] Little_Korean 18 years ago

I was thinking the same thing when I read the books. Another borrowing from Islamic culture but which they left out of the mini-series was the 'jihad' the Fremen proceed to unleash on the galaxy.

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

[–] hafabee 18 years ago

Yes, there is no question that Dune is based directly on Lawrence of Arabia...the novel came out 3 years after David Lean's movie and the stories are very similiar. Not to take anything away from Frank Herbert, he's one of the finest authors I've read and Dune is so imaginative, it's just that you can plainly see where he got his inspiration from.

[–] travellingsalescamel 17 years ago

what do you mean "no question"? Judging by how much material Herbert wrote and how i depth all his ideas were it seems to me that he must have been working on it for more thatn three years, so unless you have proof of this claim dont act like its a fact.

[–] palindromicevilolive 17 years ago

Well, the movie Lawrence of Arabia may only have been out for three years, but T.E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" had been out since 1922.

[–] dragoon419 17 years ago

They have much of the same content: desert-dwelling folk, two great nations fighting over land, both nations foreign, a foreigner leads the desert-dwelling folk against the bad guys. It's not based on Lawrence of Arabia, though it does share similarities and Herbert was likely influenced by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia.

Regarding Islam's founding: in the world of Dune, Islam has been around for tens of millennia. In fact, in this future, Islam is a primary religion that is to say that Islam has fused with Buddhism. Those religions resulting from this union being: Zensunni, Zenshiism, and Zensufism. So, you can see that the parallels regarding Islam are entirely intentional.