65 pages • 2 hours read
Frank HerbertHeretics of Dune
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 9-18 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary
After Sheeana’s initial trial with the sandworm, the High Priest gives her his superior quarters, and the church grants all her wishes over the years. The Bene Gesserit confirms that she is the child they have spent generations to produce and patiently observe her development. Sheeana tells no one of what happened to her parents and the villagers and believes that Shaitan, the term she calls the worms, has spared her life. The priest Dromind explains that Sheeana’s name is a modern form of Siona, the Atreides who served and eventually killed Leto II to fulfill the Golden Path. Dromind shares the lore of Siona and Duncan and their numerous descendants who bear the gene that protects them from prescient detection. He requests that they continue to test the child. High Priest Tuek calls Sheeana “a new Siona” sent by God and silences all Dromind’s doubts and inquiries by ordering his aides to abandon Dromind in the sand with thumpers (123).
Chapter 10 Summary
Fifteen-year-old Duncan Idaho is frustrated with his imprisonment at the Gammu Keep. He tires of Teg’s repetitive drills, and Patrin refuses to answer his questions about gholas. Duncan begins to recall strong memories that feel simultaneously vague and familiar. He has visions of a woman who loved him as a child and wishes she was his mother. He feels like he is in a dream with someone else in his mind and body. Duncan refrains from delving too deeply into these memories, fearing that he will awaken the stranger inside him and lose his true self.
After a break-in at the Keep, Duncan learns about shere, a drug that prevents anyone from extracting the cells and memories of the dead with an Ixian probe. Lucilla detects Duncan’s desire for independence and treats him with sincerity. She fears he may run away, and they must destroy him. Duncan disparages the Bene Gesserit as “witches” who are aligned with the occult, and he rejects their manipulation of religion for their own purposes. Schwangyu is suspicious that the Tleilaxu have tampered with the ghola and believes the project may destroy the Bene Gesserit.
Chapter 11 Summary
Sheeana ends the practice of sacrificing humans to the sandworms and refers to the poor villagers as “my people.” To the priests’ dismay, she insists on referring to the giant sandworms as Shaitan instead of Shai-hulud, the god of the desert. She claims that the worms can be both the devil and God. Stiros, an older priest, thinks Sheeana is speaking heresy and convinces High Priest Tuek to test her further. They secretly hide recording devices in her clothes and eavesdrop on her visits to the desert. Sheeana asks the worms what motivates their actions, where people go when eaten, and if she should punish the “bad priests.” Tuek believes Sheeana is a child of God, and Stiros entertains the idea of eliminating Sheeana and Tuek. The people begin to worship Sheeana and regard her as an advocate for the weak. The Bene Gesserit believes it is time to send for the ghola.
Chapter 12 Summary
Taraza orders Teg to report to a Guild Transport orbiting Gammu. The ship smells of shere, and Taraza uses coded language to warn Teg that an enemy is hiding on board and watching them. She tells Teg it is time to awaken Duncan’s original memories and that the Tleilaxu will try to kill the ghola. Teg uses his Mentat abilities and deduces that the Tleilaxu hope to deplete the Bene Gesserit’s store of spice, their payment for the gholas, by forcing them to continually require a supply of replacements. He apprehends an officer from the Scattering hiding in the entryway. The man works for the Honored Matres, and Teg threatens to destroy the entire ship if they are not released. The man concedes, and Teg safely brings Taraza and her party, including Darwi Odrade, to Gammu. Taraza tells Teg that they intentionally allowed themselves to be captured to gather more information. She commends Teg for his rescue and ability to read both sides of a conflict. Taraza hopes Duncan will demonstrate the same skills when they awaken him.
Chapter 13 Summary
While on the transport ship to Gammu, Odrade recalls her first breeding partners and the sexual ecstasy and abandonment she experienced. These sensations were a contrast to the controlled lessons of her instructors. She understands how Lady Jessica fell in love with Duke Leto I. Taraza reminds Teg of his mother’s teachings about “the key log” (167), a metaphor for finding the one solution or main log to unjam a pile-up and allowing the wood and water to flow. Taraza explains that the Tyrant Leto II was a key log both blocking and releasing humanity. She believes the Honored Matres have ignored the dangers of using sexual pleasure to make themselves the object of worship. Teg surmises that the Honored Matres will reduce men to an addictive dependency and lead to humanity’s downfall. Taraza declares that the Bene Gesserit will release elements that may “jam” humanity and require their diligence.
Chapter 14 Summary
On Gammu, Schwangyu is displeased to see Taraza and Odrade but remains cooperative. Odrade tells Teg that they are both Atreides, and she is his daughter. Lucilla was bred from a parallel Atreides line and bears her resemblance as part of the ghola project. Odrade accesses her Other Memories and recites stories about Teg from the recollections of her birthmother and Teg’s mother. She explains that all his offspring belong to the Bene Gesserit to protect his valuable genetic material from outside breeding. Teg feels no filial bond to Odrade and comments that the Bene Gesserit are not completely human and entirely motivated by manipulation. Odrade feels she is still human but agrees with his assessment of the Bene Gesserit’s practices. She delves into a poignant memory of a Vincent van Gogh painting in Taraza’s room. The artwork has always made her feel human. To Teg’s surprise, she sheds a tear.
Chapter 15 Summary
On Rakis, Tuek suspects Stiros will murder him and promote one of his family members as the new Rakian High Priest. Sheeana is now 14, and Tuek believes she is part of God’s design to test him. She continues to ask Tuek why he believes in his religion. She asks whether the Bene Gesserit are “good,” and he responds that most are. Kipuna, the Bene Gesserit spy, secretly trains Sheeana by masquerading as a priestess attendant. Rakis is suddenly attacked, and Kipuna dies shielding Sheeana. Tuek and another attendant lead Sheeana to safety. Odrade and a group of Bene Gesserit enter the premises and assure Tuek that they are there to protect the girl. Odrade informs him that Stiros was behind the attack and working with Face Dancers and Ixians. Tuek sees Stiros’s dead body in Sheeana’s quarters where they are all hiding. Odrade speaks privately with Sheeana and compares her to a van Gogh canvas that will bring order to chaos.
Chapter 16 Summary
On Gammu, Teg is distracted from his work and thinks about Taraza’s latest orders and Odrade’s revelation. He remembers when he and Taraza dropped formalities after a particularly grueling victory. In her quarters, the two were relaxed and treated each other congenially. Teg felt he could see the friendly person behind the Bene Gesserit mask. Taraza joked that his mother was a “heretic” for teaching him how to read Bene Gesserit’s emotions well. She commented that Teg’s utter loyalty to the Sisterhood will never make him a heretic but perhaps that may change. She surprised Teg by telling him that Paul Atreides and Leto II could not predict the future. They were creators of reality and were bored with their lives deprived of surprises. Teg comes to an epiphany that Taraza was teaching him how holding onto fixed beliefs creates a stagnant universe.
Chapter 17 Summary
Back on Rakis, Odrade regards Sheeana as untrained and in need of controlling her hatred and desire for revenge. Such strong emotions are as dangerous as love. Sheeana has taught herself Voice and uses her rudimentary skills to command her followers. Sheeana attempts to use Voice on Odrade and is surprised when the Reverend Mother neither obeys nor fears her. Sheeana petulantly demands to have her questions answered, and Odrade uses Voice to reprimand her. Sheeana responds pleased that she has finally met someone to relieve her of her boring life.
Chapter 18 Summary
On Gammu, Duncan is almost 16, and Lucilla has successfully imprinted a “mother-fixed” love on him. Teg worries maternal love will weaken the ghola, but Lucilla assures him that Duncan is not subservient and retains his independence. Lucilla reflects on the second stage of her task which requires sexually imprinting Duncan. She recalls an earlier desire to mate with Teg and produce his offspring. After Teg rejected her, Lucilla conceded that to seduce Teg would demean him and all that he has done for the Bene Gesserit.
A Face Dancer disguised as Teg attempts to kill Duncan with a lasgun, a handheld laser projector weapon, and Duncan deftly dodges his shots as Lucilla dives to his defense. The real Teg kills the imposter and confirms that Schwangyu’s men have let the Tleilaxu into the compound. Patrin holds Schwangyu by a lasgun in Teg’s room as the fighting outside continues amidst explosions. Teg tells Schwangyu that the Tleilaxu betrayed her and bombed her quarters. Disbelieving, Schwangyu leaves to check the room, and Teg escapes the compound with Duncan and Lucilla.
Chapters 9-18 Analysis
The rising action in the novel focuses on the parallel lives of young Sheeana and her counterpart, Duncan Idaho. Herbert’s characterization of Sheeana as a petulant behavior with unpracticed wielding of Voice reveals her to be a spoiled child with free rein. In contrast, Duncan spends most of his life with strict discipline of his mind and body and few personal liberties. One child needs constraints while the other has been deprived of freedom. The stark contrast between the two children’s upbringing highlights the importance of balance and avoiding extremes. The ability to nurture such equilibrium is found in the Atreides descendants. Odrade reins in Sheeana’s impulses, and Teg and Lucilla train Duncan while ensuring his independence. Although all three adults work on behalf of the Bene Gesserit, they also possess the very non-Bene Gesserit esteem for love and sentimentality that humanizes their interactions with the youths and promotes autonomy. Instead of rejecting all forms of love as taboo, weak, and a liability in the way the Bene Gesserit encourages them to, these characters display emotions and maintain a sense of humanity in distinct ways, emphasizing Herbert’s exploration of the theme of Love and Empathy as Vital Human Traits.
The novel’s depiction of families and the attention to mothers and fathers further depicts this theme. Teg’s mother continues to hold a central influence in her son’s life, and her valuable teachings enable him to interpret Taraza’s designs for the ghola and the Bene Gesserit’s future. Duncan has visions of a forgotten mother and comes to love Lucilla as a maternal figure after her first imprinting stage. Sheeana mourns the loss of her family while becoming a nurturing figure to the community she calls “my people.” Like a parent, she ensures that the two prisoners she saves are bathed and given new clothes. In Heretics of Dune, the family unit functions as an analogy for community, society, and humanity. The trope of family as a unifying force contrasts sharply with the earlier novels in the Dune Chronicles series where various families fought internally and often viciously. As with romantic and platonic love, the Bene Gesserit devalues filial love. They regard humans as needing genetic fine-tuning. For them, families are merely the generational stages in their long-term breeding programs. By contrast, Duncan, Lucilla, Sheeana, and Teg demonstrate how filial love can promote unity rather than competition.
Sheeana’s upbringing on Rakis also highlights the theme of The Critique of Religious Corruption. Religion and economics have developed in the last millennia and a half to perpetuate social inequalities. Rakis is populated by “pioneer” villages, a section of the population disenfranchised by the priests’ exploitation of their religious authority. Sheeana’s original home was one such village. She notices the disparity between the rich and the poor and steps in to improve the lives of those whom the priests punish with imprisonment or sacrificial death. In one stark juxtaposition, Herbert describes the people Sheeana saves from the sacrifice as “[t]wo ordinary people of the lower orders, rather dirty and poorly clothed. They smelled of the unwashed from the perimeter hovels” (138). Later in the chapter, Tuek and Stiros, the two Rakian priests, argue in Tuek’s quarters “comfortably ensconced in rare blue chairdogs, melange-laced confits close at hand” (142). The contrasting imagery emphasizes the role Sheeana plays as an advocate for just treatment. By challenging the priests and improving the social conditions of the poor, Sheeana exposes the manipulative relationship between religious faith and oppressive class hierarchies.
While Duncan and Sheeana are being primed for their mysterious purpose, Teg reaches a stage where he realizes that he must unlearn some of his lessons. Highlighting the theme of Change and Resistance to the Status Quo, Teg re-trains himself to think beyond accepted beliefs. Whereas Odrade was warned not to delve too deeply into her ancestral memories, Teg achieves enlightenment by delving into a specific memory he has of Taraza. Taraza hopes that he will one day become a “heretic,” or one who refuses “to follow a Mother Superior’s orders with absolute devotion” (205). Taraza’s desire for a heretic mirrors the novel’s larger exploration of The Critique of Religious Corruption and examination of political compliance and complacency.
In many ways, Teg functions as Duncan Idaho did in God Emperor of Dune, where Leto II felt exhausting disappointment in his followers’ obsequiousness. Duncan’s resistance and doubts about Leto II’s authority were precisely why Leto valued him. Likewise, Taraza values Teg beyond any other non-Bene Gesserit and encourages him to “cling to [his] doubts” (207). She argues that “[t]he mind of the believer stagnates. It fails to grow outward into an unlimited, infinite universe” (208). The term “heretics” in the novel’s title gains more significance as the main characters awaken to the need for an ideological change in Bene Gesserit’s immutable principles, foreshadowing how Change and Resistance to the Status Quo will continue to develop throughout the novel.
These chapters see Herbert’s depiction of female sexuality in the novel continue to develop. Taraza believes the Honored Matres have ignored the dangers of employing sexual ecstasy to make themselves the object of worship. Teg, likewise, expresses concern that the Honored Matres will reduce men to an addictive dependency that will lead to humanity’s downfall. Here, women’s sexuality is portrayed as manipulative, for it possesses the potential to weaken or control men. The depiction in these chapters, focused on the Honored Matres’ predatory, emasculating ways, continues to present female sexuality as a dangerous, threatening weapon that characters like Taraza and Teg fear will have far-reaching negative effects.
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