God Emperor of Dune

What role does family and lineage play in the novel? Do filial bonds outweigh other loyalties such as those to the empire, to a god, or to the Golden Path? Consider the father-daughter dynamic between Moneo and Siona, Duncan’s devotion to his memory of the Atreides family, Leto’s inheritance of Paul Muad’Dib’s empire and cognitive powers, Leto’s struggle with his ancestral memories, and Leto’s metaphorical reference to humanity as his child.

Compare and contrast the women in the novel. What is Leto’s view of women’s role in society? How does it differ from men’s roles? Does Herbert provide representations of powerful women, or do Leto’s essentialist assumptions undermine female agency? Some characters to consider are Hwi, Siona, Nayla, the Fish Speakers, and the Bene Gesserit.

Leto represents a dystopic view of government and religious institutions as fundamentally corrupt. Are these institutions doomed to failure or does the novel offer possible solutions for benevolent rule and enriching forms of spirituality?

How does humanity’s use of technology reflect its values and priorities? Does Leto have a point when he argues that there are some things humans should not invent? Compare and contrast how different technologies function in the novel. Some items to consider are weapons, the axolotl tanks and gholas, the Royal Cart, the dictatel, and the satellites that manage the Sareer.

Is Leto a sympathetic character? Is he a reliable narrator? Does he ever regret his decisions or feel remorse for his actions? Are his justifications persuasive?

What do some of the natural landscapes in the novel symbolize? What role does nature and the environment play in relationship to humankind’s role in the creation and destruction of ecosystems? Some elements to consider are the Idaho River, the Sareer, spice, and Leto’s symbiosis with the sandtrout and sandworm.

How does the novel represent the themes of fate and free will? Do any of the characters challenge their fate as Leto foresees it? What is significant about the moments that Leto intentionally chooses not to foretell? How is free will tied to moral responsibility?

Leto claims in his dying moments, “Only fools prefer the past!” (581), yet throughout the novel, his character often reminisces about the past in positive ways, particularly in his memories of the desert, the Fremen culture, and his resurrection of the Duncan gholas. Does Leto’s nostalgia contradict his claim that the past is for fools? Are there different types of pasts with different values? What is the significance that a desired consequence of the Golden Path is the return of the sandworms and desert to Arrakis?