Editing Dune (novel) (section)

===Heroism===
{{blockquote|I am showing you the superhero syndrome and your own participation in it.|Frank Herbert<ref>Herbert liner notes quoted in Touponce p. 24</ref>}}

Throughout Paul's rise to superhuman status, he follows a plotline common to many [[monomyth|stories describing the birth of a hero]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Palumbo|first=Donald|date=1998|title=The Monomyth as Fractal Pattern in Frank Herbert's Dune Novels|journal=[[Science Fiction Studies]]|volume=25|pages=433–458}}</ref> He has unfortunate circumstances forced onto him. After a long period of hardship and exile, he confronts and defeats the source of evil in his tale.<ref>Tilley, E. Allen. "The Modes of Fiction: A Plot Morphology." ''College English.'' (Feb 1978) 39.6 pp. 692–706.</ref><ref>Hume, Kathryn. "Romance: A Perdurable Pattern." ''College English''. (Oct 1974) 36.2 pp. 129–146.</ref> As such, ''Dune'' is representative of a general trend beginning in 1960s American science fiction in that it features a character who attains godlike status through scientific means.<ref>Attebery, Brian. Decoding Gender in Science Fiction. New York: Routledge, 2002. p. 66 {{ISBN|978-0-415-93949-2}}</ref> Eventually, Paul Atreides gains a level of omniscience which allows him to take over the planet and the galaxy, and causes the Fremen of Arrakis to worship him like a god. Author Frank Herbert said in 1979, "The bottom line of the ''Dune'' trilogy is: beware of heroes. Much better to rely on your own judgment, and your own mistakes."<ref name="Clareson">{{Cite book|last=Clareson |first=Thomas |title=Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction: the Formative Period |location=Columbia |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=1992 |pages=169–172 |isbn=978-0-87249-870-9}}</ref> He wrote in 1985, "''Dune'' was aimed at this whole idea of the infallible leader because my view of history says that mistakes made by a leader (or made in a leader's name) are amplified by the numbers who follow without question."<ref>{{cite book |last=Herbert |first=Frank |title=[[Eye (short story collection)|Eye]] |chapter=Introduction |year=1985 |publisher=Berkley Books |isbn=978-0-425-08398-7}}</ref>

Juan A. Prieto-Pablos says Herbert achieves a new typology with Paul's superpowers, differentiating the heroes of ''Dune'' from earlier heroes such as [[Superman]], [[A. E. van Vogt|van Vogt]]'s [[Gilbert Gosseyn]] and [[Henry Kuttner]]'s telepaths. Unlike previous superheroes who acquire their powers suddenly and accidentally, Paul's are the result of "painful and slow personal progress." And unlike other superheroes of the 1960s—who are the exception among ordinary people in their respective worlds—Herbert's characters grow their powers through "the application of mystical philosophies and techniques." For Herbert, the ordinary person can develop incredible fighting skills (Fremen, Ginaz swordsmen and Sardaukar) or mental abilities (Bene Gesserit, Mentats, Spacing Guild Navigators).<ref name="prieto">{{Cite journal| last = Prieto-Pablos | first = Juan A. | title = The Ambivalent Hero of Contemporary Fantasy and Science Fiction | journal = [[Extrapolation (journal)|Extrapolation]] | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 64–80 | publisher = The University of Texas at Brownsville | date =Spring 1991 | doi = 10.3828/extr.1991.32.1.64}}</ref>