CliffsNotes on Herbert's Dune & Other Works by L. David Allen

Author:L. David Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Under Pressure

1956

Formerly titled The Dragon in the Sea, Under Pressure is Frank Herbert’s first novel. For a first novel, it is fine science fiction, and it shows the signs of the detail and complexity that later won Herbert the Nebula and Hugo Awards for Dune. The storyline follows four men in a submarine as they leave from a “secret” base in the United States, meet a series of crises on their way to pirate undersea oil from the Eastern Powers, accomplish their goal, and return home after overcoming further crises. Weaving through and around this story sequence are three basic areas of exploration: the nature and workings of a submarine, only slightly extrapolated from current knowledge and models; the nature and workings of a society at war and in which such piracy is necessary; and the psychological adaptations which human beings make, both to the conditions in a submarine and to the larger social conditions.

In the area of submarine technology and the undersea world, Under Pressure is reminiscent of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. In both novels, there is a great deal of interest in how a submarine works; in both cases, the technical explanations are based on a careful extrapolation from the best and most recent scientific information available to the authors. Furthermore, both writers provide information about the world in which the submarine exists, although Verne is particularly interested in undersea fauna and flora, whereas Herbert concentrates more on undersea geography. There is, however, a difference of emphasis between these two novels, for Herbert places much more emphasis on the technological aspects, while Verne is far more fascinated by the world outside the submarine; to a large extent, of course, those elements which Herbert emphasizes are the ones which are necessary to the storyline or which reinforce the other areas of exploration. For example, since the submarine Fenian Ram, in the course of its journey, must evade enemy submarines, the capabilities of the Ram for doing so are important, as are any features of the sea and its floor that the crew could utilize to hide or to escape detection. In addition, since the interior of the submarine is the primary environment in which the crew must live, adapt, and interact, with the sea outside important but secondary, it is reasonable and necessary for the interior technology to be stressed more fully in the novel. As a matter of comparison, it would seem that Verne created his submarine, chose his characters, and arranged his storyline for the primary purpose of exploring the world under the sea, which accounts for many of the differences between 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Under Pressure.

The general society in which this adventure story takes place is rather vague, but the elements that are provided are essential to the story and to the theme of psychological adaptation. The first main point about this society is the fact that it has been at war for sixteen years. Perhaps one of the important

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