Expressing Multiple Roles

When we discussed Dune in class, we spent much of the time talking about which of Paul’s titles best represents who he is, or if he is all of them, and what happens when his different roles come into conflict with each other. I think that the most likely answer is that he takes on each role as the situation demands it. If we all look at our daily lives, this is how we act in different situations. Since I know my life better than any of yours, I’ll use myself as an example. I have many different roles in my life, as I’m sure you all do. I am a Desk Receptionist at Hughes, a Writing Consultant and the Writing Center, the lighting technician for the Gathering service, a junior in college, and many other things depending on the situation. Depending on which role I am playing at the moment, I have to respond differently to different situations. For example, when I am studying in my room, being a student takes precedence, but when I am studying at the front desk in Hughes, checking someone’s spare key out to them becomes more important than reading an article on blackboard or whatever I am doing because I have other responsibilities that are more important. When I am working as a writing consultant, I work one on one with a student to help them improve their writing skills, but when I am setting up lighting for the Gathering, I work on an much more impersonal level with other people, telling them where to run wiring and such. In a way, Paul’s multiple roles are not any different from the multiple roles that we all have to play every day. Paul’s roles just have more impressive titles, and come with more impressive skills. So anyhow, I believe that Paul can be all of his titles at once, but that different situations bring different roles and skills to the forefront, just like different situations in our day-to-day lives call for responses from our own different roles and skill sets.