The role of fate in Dune

In my opinion one of the many themes in Dune is the issue of fate/destiny, and more specifically the inability of one to change one's destiny. The most obvious example of this is evidenced in the character Paul. Throughout the novel he constantly feels that he has a terrible purpose and he eventually finds out that that purpose is to inspire a jihad that will sweep across the universe in a wave of destruction that will drench countless worlds in blood. Upon making this terrible discovery he works to stop the jihad from happening but he ultimately comes to the conclusion that that is impossible and that the jihad will go on no matter what he does. Thus, showing that he cannot escape his destiny. What makes this really interesting though is that Paul has the gift of prescience. He can (to a certain degree) see the future, or rather see possible futures. What this means though is that he should be able to see a way to stop the jihad being launched in his name. In effect to be able to change his destiny. Yet he was not able to do this. In fact, it seemed to me, that he often was unable to use his gift to his advangtage in overcoming the obstacles in his path. All of this seems to send that message that everything that happened to Paul was meant to happen. After all, he had the ability to see alternate futures, he should know how to alter the course of events. The fact that he could not do this all the time seems to show that those events were meant to happen that way. That there was nothing that could have been done to change them. Essentially the message I get from this is that your destiny is inescapable.

I also believe this idea of destiny being inescapable is also shown in what happens with the Bene Gesserit. With their breeding program they were trying to create a superhuman. This can be seen as an effort to manipulate humanity's destiny, an effort to exercise a modicum of control over the fate of humanity. And yet in the end they failed. Their ultimate goal was achieved in Paul Atreides, but he did not come when they expected nor was he what they expected. Their efforts to bend fate to their will failed completely.

All of this ties in nicely with the religous aspect of the novel. After all, the idea of predestination is a relgious concept common in many religions. However, I dont think one should necessarily say that since destiny is inescapable nothing we do really matters. I still believe that one's actions do matter and do have an impact on the future. After all you do not know your fate so you should take matters into your own hands and attempt to shape your fate into what you will. In my opinion this is really the only way to continue to go on living if you believe that the outcome of everything is preordained as Frank Herbert seems to be implying it is.