Neuromancer Ending

The ending of Neuromancer leaves the reader, in my opinion, a bit more puzzled than anything else. We find ourselves wondering why so many things ended the way they did, although we do also find some answers. A few, in particular, stuck out as I read.

We learn that Molly leaves Case at the end of the novel, but there is no real reason why. Sure, we can speculate as to why Gibson did this, but there isn’t a true answer. It is a bit frustrating that this happens, as the two spend so much time together throughout the novel. I know I found myself “rooting” for the two of them to stay together. Another question I asked myself towards the end was, “exactly why are Molly and Case still working for this evil force even though it is clear he has no good intentions?” Wintermute is clearly evil; he kills people, even children, and for most of the novel, we have no idea why.

We finally do find out Wintermute’s ultimate goal: to combine with Neuromancer. It is still hard for me to understand, though, why they continued to work with him. Reading further, we also learn that Wintermute becomes the Matrix. Not only that, but we are able to conclude who is responsible for Linda Lee haunting Case. It is Neuromancer’s doing that that happens, and he is the one who kills Linda Lee at the beginning of the novel.

The novel ends similar to how it began, with a feeling of hopelessness. The reader is left with the idea that the best they can do in this scary world being overtaken by technology is survive. Just like Case and Molly, you do what you have to do to get by and move on to the future. That future will not necessarily be one filled with hope either. It left me kind of sad, and as I said before, pretty puzzled.

Neuromancer Motifs/Frameworks

“The abrupt jolt into another flesh. Matrix gone, a wave of sound and color…She was moving through a crowded street, past stalls vending discount software, process feltpenned on sheets of plastic, fragments of music from countless speakers.”

William Gibson’s Neuromancer has, thus far, left me with one motif/framework in mind. We discussed in class the idea of control, and I see it repeatedly in these last chapters. First with the device Case uses to experience the world from Molly’s body. It is a very strange concept, and a demonstration of how Molly loses a little bit of control. Molly is aware of what is happening, but she cannot do anything about it until Case decides to “leave.” Case, though, is the one who cannot respond to Molly. She can speak to him, but he is unable to answer back. So, the idea of control flip-flops because while Molly cannot get Case out of her body or her mind, Case cannot respond to anything Molly asks of him. This whole idea of telepathy controlled by technology is very interesting, and a new way to look at what technology could possibly be capable of.

“‘Wintermute,’ Yonderboy repeated, nodding, bobbing his crest of pink hair. His suit went matte black, a carbon shadow against old concrete. …Case closed his eyes, massaging them with numb fingers, leaning back against peeling brickwork. Ninsei had been a lot simpler.”

Another motif I became aware of was romance. Molly and Case grow increasingly closer as the story unfolds. The two are on adventures of sorts together, trying to investigate and figure things out. These adventures seem to be the cause of their growing bond. Control plays into this relationship as well, as they become determined to find out whom Armitage is working for. The tip that Wintermute is involved leads them on a further search. The two appear obsessed and express the desire to be in full control of what is going on.

Neuromancer

William Gibson’s Neuromancer begins with the main character, Case, at a bar in the Night City Zone of Chiba City, Japan. It is obvious that the place is a little bit “sketchy,” as we later learn the type of person that Case is. The people he encounters, consequently those that frequent the bar, just in the first two chapters, are criminals up to no good. The bar also has call girls at every corner; its description does not give the reader a good impression of the kind of place it is.

Night City is where the bar is located, which is apparently an area full of chaos. There seem to be no laws in this part of town, and technology is being sold and bought. Case, an ex-cyber cowboy, continues to do business in this part of town. Case moves between the bar, to visit Julian, to his cheap hotel (where he sleeps in a “coffin”), and more. He has an operation performed in this cybernetic world, and he ends up watching a knife fight as entertainment. The places he travels to are strangely familiar but completely different than the way we see and experience them.

In this novel, the descriptions leave the reader with the impression that the current world the characters are apart of is hazardous, poisonous, and unpleasant. The first line describes Chiba City, stating the sky was “the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." From the start, we see that this is something unusual to most, because nature is typically seen and expressed as something beautiful. Nature is described with technology, which are very apparently two contrasting ideas. Gibson continuously suggests there was recently a war, most likely with nuclear weapons that have destroyed the surroundings. Gibson uses descriptions that are very new and unusual to most readers, and this unconventional approach helps to draw the reader in. Nature is really no longer around, instead everything has become very urban.

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce’s “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” begins with a 3^rd person objective point of view. The setting is explained, up until the plank is removed. The narrator describes the scene and relates it to circumstances from outside the story. It is essentially setting up the rest of the story without giving away any details. Bierce is instead giving the reader background information, probably to provide a better understanding of what is to come. Starting the story this way draws the reader in, and leaves them curious, especially in the situation described.

The end of the story is in first person, which helps give the reader great insight as the character fights for his life. We can feel what he is feeling, and hear his thoughts as he nears death. It is described in a lot of detail how he feels and what he is going through. This helps the reader sympathize with the character, and it gives great dramatic effect. The very end of the story then switches back to third person point of view. The constant changes in point of view are important because it confuses the reader, leaving he or she puzzled as to what and when things are going on. Those feelings mirror the feelings of the main character, which leaves the reader with a connection to the main character.

There is also a flashback part of the story, before the reader finds out that the main character is dead. The chronology of this story also helps to fog the reader’s mind a bit. The flashback makes the reader forget the current, unfortunate, events. The character has illusions in this flashback, which also help to provide insight on a near-death experience. We see the character appreciating the simpler things in life, specifically nature, rather than trying to change what is happening to him. This is a unique way to see it, but helps the reader to look on the brighter side of an awful situation.

Poetry in Pop Culture

The poem "Casey at the Bat" by baseball player Ernest Thayer is parodied in an episode of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, in which the character Cindy recites a poem and the ending of it is identical to "Casey at the Bat." She changed the name of the town in the poem to the name of her town, Retroville, and the last line was also different. The last line was instead "cause Jimmy is an idiot!"

The episode of Spongebob titled "Enemy-in-Law," the character Plankton falls in love with Mr. Krabbs' mother. Mr. Krabbs was very against this because he thought Plankton only wanted the secret recipe for Krabby Patties, but the two characters dated anyways. In the end, Mr. Krabbs was right, and Mrs. Krabbs throws Plankton through a window. As he is flying through the window, Plankton quotes Alfred Lord Tennyson and says, "Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."

"All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace"

In “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace,” Richard Brautigan is suggesting that, eventually, technology can replace man. He is anticipating the inventions to come, and feels that technology will one day take over. In the poem, nature is at ease and “mammals and computers live together in mutually programming harmony,” hinting that there is no longer a need for humans or their labor. I took this as a warning, saying that as computers and technology become more advanced and integrate into our lives, we have to be wary of letting them take over our lives.

Living in the age we do now, we all know just how simple it is to let your life be run by gadgets and computers, and I believe that the writer is anticipating this and trying to “save” future generations from making the mistakes he is just beginning to see.

This poem can indeed be viewed as anti-technology, for the reasons I previously stated and many more, but one could also read into it as taking a pro-technology stand. The images create a utopia of sorts between nature and technology, which can signify a very constructive relationship between man and machinery. It seems as if it is the kind of relationship people dream of when new technology comes about. They do not feel that computers will eliminate their purpose entirely, but instead that they will become their “friends” or allies, there to aid them and collaborate with.

Personally, I see this poem’s message to be one of anti-technology. All of the images describing a “cybernetic ecology where we are free of labors” convinced me that this was not so much people and animals living in harmony with technology, but instead computers taking over completely. It is easy to believe, based on the beginning of the poem that the world has become a cybernetic paradise, nature and inventions cooperating with one another, but as you read on you see that humans are rid of labor. A world in which human beings have no purpose does not seem like a world I, nor anyone else, should want to be a part of. Therefore, I perceived this poem to be a forewarning of the dangers technology can be capable of.

Imagery in Poetry

John Keats: This Living Hand

This living hand, now warm and capable

Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold

And in the icy silence of the tomb,

So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights

That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood

So in my veins red life might stream again,

And thou be conscience-calm'd—see here it is—

I hold it towards you.

Images:

· “This living hand”

· “Warm and capable”

· Cold

· Icy silence

· Tomb

· Haunt the days

· Nights

· Heart

· Blood

· Veins

· Calmed conscience

· “Hold it towards you”àit=hand

Cold/tomb/icy silenceàdeath (of author)

Haunt the days/calmed conscienceàrevenge

Living hand/warm and capableàhis love for her, offering comfort when he is dead

“This Living Hand” by John Keats proved to be quite a challenge when trying to analyze it. It is full of imagery, and I had no problem listing all of the images I saw when reading it. But then I reread it, and reread it again, trying to figure out just how to depict this poem.

The obvious group of images to choose was the ones about death: cold, tomb, icy silence, haunting days, and nights. Now I was left with how to interpret the poem based on these images. A few major ideas came to my mind. A hand is obviously a focus of this work, most likely the hand Keats is writing with. It is possible that he is trying to tell his readers that although his death is approaching, he wants his work to stay alive, otherwise known as “this living hand.”

As I continued to read this poem, there were images of revenge that kept jumping out at me. The phrases “haunt the days” and “conscience-calm'd” were ones I could not look past. It is possible that Keats knows his death is nearing and he is trying to let someone know that he will come back from the “icy silence” of his tomb. The rest of the poem goes on to say, essentially, that Keats will make this person do whatever it is he wants of them, so they can both then have a calmed conscience.

Lastly, I could not help but think this could be about love. The images of a living hand, and the descriptions of that hand being warm and capable could possibly represent his love for a woman, nonetheless a woman who will be so sad when he dies that she will want to die herself. I took this set of images to mean that his living hand will offer her comfort when he is dead.