Yep, I remember the line from the book. To me that shows self reflection/awareness that Hitler would’ve never been capable of. Paul understands that he does monstrous things and might be a monster himself. I think it really wears on him which is why the ending happens the way it does. There were ways out of the situation if he really wanted to go full blown space Hitler.
I agree there is a hell of a lot of self awareness in this regard… Not as much gilt/remorse as one would hope though.
Overall though (and the core reason I have no problem calling him “Space Hitler”):
He is willing to kill half the universe for the greater good, but then, the key aspect to follow, the way to actually realize the safety of humanity, the Golden Path, he’s too afraid for himself to do and let’s his son do the hardest part.
(this is also according to himself, if memory serves)
That said, all of that is personal perspective and a hell of a lot of interpretation - just clarifying why I think the comparison is from my pov fair.
I don’t think Leto would’ve been able to go through with the Golden Path either if he had ever been a normal human. Leto even calls himself an abomination which is what the Bene Gesserit were testing for at the beginning of the entire story. Paul is a human so he has flaws and can’t follow all the way through with dehumanizing himself to realize the Golden Path. Leto was never human in the first place. He was an abomination so the path was achievable for him. That’s my interpretation anyway.
Just FYI they weren’t testing Paul to see if he is an abomination. They are testing to see if he is a human (self control) or a animal.
His sister is an abomination as she has access to the genetic memories like a reverend mother but without a formed personality being a child. It’s why the Baron is able to possess her.
But yeah Paul was a child playing god. Leto II was a god. Being a abomination did make it possible for him in a way Paul couldn’t achieve.
You must remember that I have at my internal demand every expertise known to our history. This is the fund of energy I draw upon when I address the mentality of war. If you have not heard the moaning cries of the wounded and the dying, you do not know about war. I have heard those cries in such numbers that they haunt me. I have cried out myself in the aftermath of battle. I have suffered wounds in every epoch - wounds from fist and club and rock, from shell-studded limb and bronze sword, from the mace and the cannon, from arrows and lasguns and the silent smothering of atomic dust, from biological invasions which blacken the tongue and drown the lungs, from the swift gush of flame and the silent working of slow poisons… and more I will not recount! I have seen and felt them all. To those who dare ask why I behave as I do, I say: with my memories, I can do nothing else. I am not a coward and once I was human.
Yep, I remember the line from the book. To me that shows self reflection/awareness that Hitler would’ve never been capable of. Paul understands that he does monstrous things and might be a monster himself. I think it really wears on him which is why the ending happens the way it does. There were ways out of the situation if he really wanted to go full blown space Hitler.
I agree there is a hell of a lot of self awareness in this regard… Not as much gilt/remorse as one would hope though.
Overall though (and the core reason I have no problem calling him “Space Hitler”):
He is willing to kill half the universe for the greater good, but then, the key aspect to follow, the way to actually realize the safety of humanity, the Golden Path, he’s too afraid for himself to do and let’s his son do the hardest part. (this is also according to himself, if memory serves)
That said, all of that is personal perspective and a hell of a lot of interpretation - just clarifying why I think the comparison is from my pov fair.
I don’t think Leto would’ve been able to go through with the Golden Path either if he had ever been a normal human. Leto even calls himself an abomination which is what the Bene Gesserit were testing for at the beginning of the entire story. Paul is a human so he has flaws and can’t follow all the way through with dehumanizing himself to realize the Golden Path. Leto was never human in the first place. He was an abomination so the path was achievable for him. That’s my interpretation anyway.
Just FYI they weren’t testing Paul to see if he is an abomination. They are testing to see if he is a human (self control) or a animal.
His sister is an abomination as she has access to the genetic memories like a reverend mother but without a formed personality being a child. It’s why the Baron is able to possess her.
But yeah Paul was a child playing god. Leto II was a god. Being a abomination did make it possible for him in a way Paul couldn’t achieve.
Leto II, The Stolen Journals
That is indeed a good perspective… I never tough about it like that.