Do we like them?

Do we like Paul Atreides?

A character from Dune (1965)

Our score: 5 out of 10. We'd back the clever, decent boy who loves his family. We'd be wary of the legend that grows around him, because his good intentions may not be enough to stop what follows.

Paul is the son of Duke Leto Atreides and the Lady Jessica, a Bene Gesserit. At the start of the book he is about fifteen. He has been trained from birth to be a duke and is good at combat and strategy. He is also quiet, thoughtful and observant. The story starts when his family is given control of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the valuable spice. Their old rivals, House Harkonnen, are not happy about it.

Paul is easy to like. He is dutiful and sharp, he loves his parents, and he worries about whether he can live up to his father. He is also pulled along by visions and by a destiny he never asked for. The score stops at the midpoint because being sympathetic isn't the same as being safe to follow. Fans and critics disagree over whether he is a hero or a warning. As one guide puts it, he is a good-hearted, brave young man who wants to do good for others, with his own insecurities and flaws.

After disaster hits his family, Paul escapes into the desert and joins the Fremen. He rises to lead them as the prophesied Muad'Dib, and he wins his fight against the Harkonnens and the Emperor. But he sees that the movement he leads will turn into a holy war across the galaxy, and he can't stop it. That is why a book that looks like a hero's triumph is better read as a tragedy, and why Paul gets a middling score.