Dune Essay (Corrected)
Dune Essay (Corrected)
Dune Essay (Corrected)
Catalina Milan
Imaginary Lands
In the year 1965, the soon-to-be famous and world-renowned author, Frank Herbert
released his first novel from his highly recognized sci fi-fantasy series called Dune. Although at
first the idea of Dune was turned down by all the publishers that he attempted to pitch it to, it
finally was published by Chilton Books. It was understandable that it Frank Herbert had to go to
more than twenty different publishers just so he could find one that would publish his book.
That was because he was doing something new that had not been done before. The author of
Dune, took his idea of a story and made it take place many thousands of years into the future.
He had to create what he believed humanity would end up including religion, government,
business and even aliens. He basically had to predict what he believes will happen in the future
of humanity. Dune would become one of the defining novels that made science fiction what it is
today. Frank Herbert’s Dune has been a major inspiration and influence and countless other
pieces of literature, many films, and even countless video games that are would be considered
At this point, humans had advanced so much that they were capable of space travel and are
now habited across the galaxy and have civilizations in many solar systems. However, the
events of Dune all take place completely on one planet called Arrakis (Sparknotes). Arrakis is a
planet that is completely covered in sand and can be a very dangerous place. Arrakis is also very
important planet to the galaxy because it is home to the most important substance in the
universe. This substance is called Spice. Spice has become high in demand because it allows for
people to get to other parts of the galaxy fast. Because of the Spice a lot of people have tried
come to Arrakis to get their greedy hands on the spice. Dune also includes giant sand worms
Born October 8th, 1920, Frank Herbert was raised in Tacoma, Washington but moved to
Oregon sometime during his high school years. After high school, he served as a photographer
for the United States of America Navy during World War Two. After the war was over, he went
back home and began writing for new papers and fictional stories for popular magazine
companies such as Esquire or Modern Romance Magazine. He decided to never finish his
education because he had already learned what he wanted to learn. Basically, the degree was
not meaningful for him. Instead he continued writing fiction and became a journalist. That is
when he first began becoming interested in science fiction after reading the works of H. G.
Wells and Robert A. Heinlein, and many other early science fiction writers. These names would
Dune came from the sand dunes of his home state Oregon. It took Frank Herbert 6 years to
finally complete Dune. He had to create a whole world full of characters, governments,
hierarchy, religion, and history. Never had a science fiction author put this amount of time and
thinking into their one of their stories and a result of Herbert’s hard work, Dune became a
commercial success. In fact, Dune won the Nebula Award for the best novel in 1965 and the
Hugo Award the following year. Dune would also continue to impact and inspire many more
authors to write science fiction novels and stories. Many other works of science fiction have
During the latter half of the 20th century, Television became a huge part of the lives of
everyday citizens, and with technology on the rise, people were curious and were entertained
by films about the future. Many science fiction shows and movies became very popular
amongst a wide audience such as Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner, and countless others. These
are believed to be inspired or partly inspired by Dune (Reese, “Sci-Fi Movies Influenced by
Dune). Not to mention Dune was also adapted into its own film version in 1984 by the famous
film maker David Lynch. Dune not only has a movie but it has a series of video games based on
One of the major ideas that Frank Herbert used in Dune that has been seen in all types of fiction
is the sand worms. In fact, the sand worms are not exclusively for science fiction stories either.
In the film Star Wars the Return of the Jedi, there is a giant man eating worm like creature in
the middle of the desert. Many people believe this is a direct inspiration from the Dune novels.
Also, in 1990, a film called Tremors was released. Although Tremors is not a science fiction film,
it went on to be considered a cult classic. The whole premise of the film is about a group of
people stuck in the desert who must save themselves from giant underground worms. Giant
worms have even been seen in the Nickelodeon television series, Spongebob Squarepants. In
season 2 of Spongebob Squarepants, in the episode titled Sandy, Spongebob, and the Worm,
the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom are threatened by a Giant Alaskan Bull Worm who keeps eating
things around Bikini Bottom. So, Sandy Cheeks and Spongebob Squarepants decide to go find
the worm and end its reign of terror over their beloved city. To find the worm, they travel to
the middle of the desert where he finally reveals himself (Fandom, “Sandy, SpongeBob and the
Worm”). The facts that these three completely different works of fiction released in different
Not only did the Star Wars franchise take the giant worm in the desert idea from Dune,
but it is believed that Dune was the direct inspiration for Star Wars. Star Wars is by far the most
popular science fiction franchise of all time. Since the film’s release in 1977, it has become a
household name all around the world. There have been more than 10 films, videogame
adaptations and dozens of fans inspired books and stories. Star Wars has also sold millions of
toys and household decoration. Star Wars itself has inspired millions of people to write more
science fiction stories. The fact that Star Wars was inspired by Dune, means that Dune indirectly
monopoly on the spice and other goods, much like how Star Wars has the Trade Federation
works very similarly. Also, both main character come from planets that are almost covered
entirely by desert. Both stories also feature a lot of hand to hand combat and people with super
natural abilities to control objects and people with their mind. The two stories also include boy
and girl sets of twins, much of the technology is similar, and they both even contain a very
similar plot twist. It is incredible to see the amount of similarities are in the two pieces of
Beyond film, Dune has also inspired Video Game creators to design new Science Fiction
video games. Many people believe Dune had a lot of inspiration on hit science fiction video
games such as Halo, Rage, Borderlands and Lost Souls. Lost Souls and Borderlands take place in
the desert of a dry and barren planet and share similar ideas about different companies who
have monopolies on certain goods. Many of these video games also include characters who
super powers.
Since Dune was written, there has been countless works of fiction that show similarities
to Dune in direct ways and indirect ways. With out a doubt Dune has successfully could change
the way authors approach science fiction and has defiantly played a large role in what science
fiction is today and how we think of science fiction. Without great authors, such as Frank
Herbert, many people would not be able to enjoy their favorite science fiction stories of today
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