neuromancer.conclusion.

In Gibson’s Neuromancer, the protagonist, Case, was previously a computer hacker. He stole from his employers, so they tampered with his brain. Case then met Molly, and she helped him to gain back some of his knowledge and skills from being a hacker. Case and Molly work together for Armitage, but neither one completely trusts him. They are unaware of his plans and motives. Throughout the story, Case uses simstim to “travel” with Molly and experience what she experiences. He helps guide her on their missions by using simstim and other computer programs. The first mission Case and Molly had was to steal a memory chip that contained Dixie Flatline. During each mission, they recruit another person (or cyborg) for their team. Case encounters Wintermute, an Artificial Intelligence (or AI) as different people, such a the Finn or Linda Lee. Wintermute watches out for Case; after Case is arrested by the Turing police, Wintermute destroys them so Case can escape. Later Molly is captured by Lady3Jane, so Case goes to rescue her. Reunited, Case and Molly try to obtain the code for something from 3Jane. Towards the end of the novel, we finally find out what their “mission” was. Case and Molly have been trying to hack into another Artificial Intelligence system. They try to get the code from 3Jane, yet she does not have the key. On one of Case and Molly’s earlier missions, they had found the key. Case uses simstim once again to help Molly and to break into the AI system. We also find out the the AI system is called Neuromancer. The Neuromancer was the one who killed Linda Lee (Case’s former lover) to try to trap Case. The end of the novel ties up most of the loose ends for us, but Case states that he never found out the color of Molly’s eyes. The last sentence of the novel is “He never saw Molly again.”

simstim

One of the motifs in the William Gibson’s Neuromancer is extremely advanced technology. Simstim is used frequently throughout the novel. Simstim is “stimulation of the brain and nervous system of one person using a recording (or live broadcast) of another person's experience.”**In Chapter 4, Molly goes to see someone and Case sees everything through her eyes. “‘You got a rider, Molly. This says.’ He [Larry] tapped the black splinter. ‘Somebody else using your eyes.’” (pg. 56). On the way to see Larry, Case experiences what Molly hears, sees, smells, and feels. He tries to control her body, yet he can’t. Case is becomes “the passenger behind her eyes” through her glasses. Once she arrives to the place where Larry is, Larry can tell that someone else is “using her eyes.” At the click of a button, Case can no longer see, hear, smell or experience anything Molly is going through. Later on in the same chapter, Molly and Case must steal a ROM module for Armitage. Case uses simstim to help guide Molly through the process of stealing the ROM module. He uses a computer hacking system to deactivate and unlock alarm systems as Molly executes the mission. Once again, Case experiences parts of the mission through Molly’s eyes, yet he seems to move between different matrices as he controls and deactivates different systems. While completing the assignment, Molly’s code name is “Cat Mother.” Interestingly enough, the word “matrix” is derived from the Latin word mater or matr- meaning “mother.” Molly is the one who is doing the majority of the work in the assignment. Case’s code name is “Cutter,” as he is hacking into multiple systems and cutting his way through their database.

**http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=177