During his survey of damaged qanats in a sietch, Gurney observes a willow tree torn by wind and sand, struggling to survive without water. Gurney considers the tree “silly” and just as “alien” as he is to the planet (530). The willow symbolizes the foolishness of the terraforming project and the inequities of a social hierarchy. Leto has been destroying the qanats to sabotage the ecological transformation of the planet, yet the people still attempt to gather their reserve to water the “doomed” (530) plants. Gurney regards the scene as a misdirection of priorities and begins to see that the terraforming project has no place on the planet.

The practice of watering trees alludes to the date palms from Dune. When the Atreideses move into their home on Arrakis, Paul learns that 10 palm trees planted outside required the same amount of water to keep 100 men alive. The trees represented wastefulness and decadence of the elite class, and Gurney draws a similar parallel at the sight of the willow tree. He envisions how the changes to the planet will stratify society into those with resources and those without. Using a metaphor of colonialism, Gurney imagines that Arakkeen life will have a similar dynamic to the social classes on Caladan, where “[t]he rural districts were colonies of the urban centers” (531).