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Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Book 1, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Truth and Falsehood:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 1, Part 2, Princess Irulan waxes poetic about the broad ideological differences between her husband, Muad'Dib, and the Harkonnens, his mortal enemies.
To attempt an understanding of Muad‘Dib without understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens, is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It can not be.
Book 1, Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Flotsam:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 1, Part 3, the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohaim discusses the genetic future of the human race with Lady Jessica:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I see in the future what I’ve seen in the past. You well know the pattern of our affairs, Jessica. The race knows its own mortality and fears stagnation of its heredity. It’s in the bloodstream—the urge to mingle genetic strains without plan. The Imperium, the CHOAM Company, all the Great Houses, they are but bits of flotsam in the path of the flood.”
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Book 1, Part 4
Explanation and Analysis—Fruit Tree:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 1, Part 4, Gurney Halleck contemplates his position in Paul Atreides's life, wondering at the use his skills are being put to:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I’m the well-trained fruit tree, he thought. Full of well-trained feelings and abilities and all of them grafted onto me-all bearing for someone else to pick. For some reason, he recalled his younger sister, her elfin face so clear in his mind. But she was dead now—in a pleasure house for Harkonnen troops. She had loved pansies … or was it daisies? He couldn’t remember. It bothered him that he couldn’t remember.
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Book 1, Part 7
Explanation and Analysis—Seeding:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 1, Part 7, the Princess Irulan uses her epigraph to discuss the Bene Gesserit breeding program. The terminology she uses for this discussion is telling:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The wisdom of seeding the known universe with a prophecy pattern for the protection of B.G. personnel has long been appreciated, but never have we seen a condition- ut-extremis with more ideal mating of person and preparation.
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Book 1, Part 8
Explanation and Analysis—Puppet:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 1, Part 8, Lady Jessica conveys her first impression of Dr. Yueh's demeanor as she observes him:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[Yueh] looked, from behind, like a fleshless stick figure in overlarge black clothing, a caricature poised for stringy movement at the direction of a puppet master. Only the squarish block of head with long ebony hair caught in its silver Suk School ring at the shoulder seemed alive—turning slightly to follow some movement outside.
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Explanation and Analysis—Hostile Soil:
In Book 1, Part 8, Dr. Yueh and Lady Jessica enter into a somewhat loaded conversation about their current predicament on Arrakis. Jessica does not yet suspect Yueh's betrayal. She utilizes metaphor to characterize the Atreideses' precarious situation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“We’ve been uprooted,” he said. “That’s why we’re uneasy.”
“And how easy it is to kill the uprooted plant,” she said. “Especially when you put it down in hostile soil.”
“Are we certain the soil’s hostile?”
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Book 1, Part 13
Explanation and Analysis—The Hawk:
In the following passage from Book 1, Part 13, Duke Leto Atreides utilizes metaphor to speak with anger and conviction about his enemies. He resents their hunting of him, and vows to return their vitriol and despotism ten-fold.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Anger shot through him.
The Harkonnens have hindered and hounded and hunted me for the last time, he thought. They are dung heaps with village provost minds! Here I make my stand! And he thought with a touch of sadness: I must rule with eye and claw—as the hawk among lesser birds. Unconsciously, his hand brushed the hawk emblem on his tunic.
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Book 1, Part 21
Explanation and Analysis—Shares:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 1, Part 21, Baron Harkonnen gloats as the captured Duke Leto Atreides is brought before him:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Observe this prize person who denies he’s for hire,” the Baron said. “Observe him, Piter.”
And the Baron thought: Yes! See him there, this man who believes he cannot be bought. See him detained there by a million shares of himself sold in dribbles every second of his life! If you took him up now and shook him, he’d rattle inside. Emptied! Sold out! What difference how he dies now?
Explanation and Analysis—Rabbits and Bees:
In the following excerpt from Book 1, Part 21, Baron Harkonnen looks down upon the chaos his actions have sown on Arrakis. The Atreides household scurries around, trying to fight back against their attackers as the Harkonnens take them by surprise. The Baron utilizes metaphor to describe the frantic movements of his victims on the ground:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The whole universe sat there, open to the man who could make the right decisions. The uncertain rabbits had to be exposed, made to run for their burrows. Else how could you control them and breed them? He pictured his fighting men as bees routing the rabbits. And he thought: The day hums sweetly when you have enough bees working for you.
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Book 2, Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Wave of Time:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 2, Part 2, Paul contemplates his newly discovered mental powers, enhanced and drawn out by the spice on Arrakis.
Unlock with LitCharts A+He felt a new sense of wonder at the limits of his gift. It was as though rode within the wave of time, sometimes in its trough, sometimes on a crest—and all around him the other waves lifted and fell, revealing and then hiding what they bore on their surface.
Book 3, Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Religion and Politics:
In the following example of metaphor from Book 3, Part 3, Lady Jessica meditates on the nature of religion and politics, noting the symbiotic, often paradoxically detrimental effect that confluent ideologies in these areas can have on a population.
Unlock with LitCharts A+“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong—faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thought of obstacles and forget that a precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late.”
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Book 3, Part 11
Explanation and Analysis—Hostile Soil:
In Book 1, Part 8, Dr. Yueh and Lady Jessica enter into a somewhat loaded conversation about their current predicament on Arrakis. Jessica does not yet suspect Yueh's betrayal. She utilizes metaphor to characterize the Atreideses' precarious situation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“We’ve been uprooted,” he said. “That’s why we’re uneasy.”
“And how easy it is to kill the uprooted plant,” she said. “Especially when you put it down in hostile soil.”
“Are we certain the soil’s hostile?”
Related Themes:
