Heretics of Dune

Darwi Odrade is the Senior Security Mother for the Bene Gesserit and Miles Teg’s daughter. She has borne 19 children for the Sisterhood, each from a different father, which is a testament to her commitment to the Bene Gesserit’s breeding program. Odrade represents the willingness to change and the importance of independence, affection, and empathy. Odrade begins the novel as the ideal adept with a flawless record demonstrating her staunch loyalty. During her interview with Taraza, she confidently states, “You will not find petty decisions in my bio” (20). Odrade is careful to repress her emotions and is physically described as having a “natural hauteur” and a mouth that “was full and promised a passion that she was careful to bridle” (16). She represses her love for her foster parents and the trauma of their separation, though their memory pains her. As the novel progresses, Odrade questions the motives and ethics of the Bene Gesserit’s tenets and her complacency and unfulfillment as a Reverend Mother. 

Odrade is seen as a “heretic” for transgressing Bene Gesserit’s dictates, such as forming alliances with perceived inferiors, sharing and exposing Bene Gesserit’s secrets, and daring to connect emotionally with the people in her life. She empathizes with the Duncan ghola, and her own childhood experience of trauma attunes her to the suffering of others.