In William Gibson's novel Neuromancer, he features the postmodern Cyberpunk lifestyle, giving rise to a
new genre in science fiction writing. The culture centers around the computer and a form of virtual reality
in which the characters live a separate existence. The setting is in the extremely urbanized and
deteriorating city of Chiba, where crime and pollution are common place and overwhelming. The
cyberspace serves as a logical escape for the inhabitants as their world is an unpleasant place to exist.
While Neuromancer is fiction and is supposedly set in the near future, many view it as prophetic as it
predicted virtual reality. Prophetic or not, the book brings with it some uncomfortable realities of the
urban world that we live in and its future. It is possible that our world may become overrun with pollution
and crime and society will need an alternative space which allows for a more humane atmosphere. It is
ironic that a more human world could possibly exist due to a computer generated atmosphere and that
possibly we will not feel human unless interfaced with the computer.
The Japanese setting is appropriate as westerners have always viewed it as a fantasy land and
manifestation of our imagination throughout history. Our view of Japan as a spiritual mystical place was
upheld until the industrial boom when it became seen as a place of technology beyond the human
imagination. For the west, Japan consists of technological mysteries and wonder- an artificial reality.
Japan's overpopulation and pollution is a haunting reminder to Americans of what life could become and a
further incentive towards virtual reality. In Neuromancer, Case is completely detached from his body,
relying on his mind for pleasure through cyberspace. Case, like the other members of this society have no
need for physical comfort, as shown by their living quarters, the coffins. The characters live through their
minds not their bodies in a simulated environment allowing interaction.
The Artificial Intelligence (A1) computer discussed throughout the novel is a computer capable of
replicating the functions of the human brain. The computer is able to store information in a person's head,
so that when they are deceased the mind can still be accessed via virtual reality appearing as a construct.
Case appears concerned when he says: "It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct, replicating
a dead man's skills, obsessions, knee-jerk responses...."(77) It is unclear as to whether such a construct
posses consciousness, but regardless, the ability to catalogue an individual seems to trivialize birth, death
and existence. If one is stored and accessible through a computer, reality is questioned because a person is
given an infinite life span and there are no boundaries defining life. In a dream state, it is difficult to
determine whether the dreamer is experiencing reality as he is there physically but his mind is not
conscious. To avoid this anwserless question, we have defined reality as a living experience, which ends at
death. The individual is no longer independent, because as with Simstim one is no longer private as many
have access to the mind. It would seem logical then, that reality is no longer needed, people's personalities
could be machine synthesized and programmed thus doing away with the individual all together.
As evidenced by the Straylight library's description of books as extremely outdated, the world that
Neuromancer portrays is one in which technology has forced the book to become obsolete. Computer
generated synthetic environments have replaced the virtual reality obtained from reading books and the
sensations from experiencing the real world. Because the environment is so altered, inhabitants are no
longer to determine what is real and what is not. "The Villa Straylight knows no sky, recorded or
otherwise," just as the prostitute that comes to Case's cubicle has had a "neural cutout" which disconnects
her mind from her body removing her from reality. The characters are strangers to the natural world and
live a hazy existence where nothing is ever as it seems.
HOME