Neuromancer Conclusion and Questions

By the end of Neuromancer, a lot of questions and issues are finally resolved for the reader. Case is brought into another hallucination, but this time it is manipulated by Wintermute’s brother Neuromancer. We learn that Neuromancer was the one responsible for killing Linda Lee, and in doing so, hoping that her involvement in the hallucination will keep Case inside forever. Several times throughout the novel, Linda Lee’s face appeared in the Matrix. Once again, it is revealed that Neuromancer was the one behind all of these occurrences. Neuromancer thought that Linda Lee would be able to make Case stay with her in the hallucination, but Case is able to say no to her and not fall into Neuromancer’s trap. Case’s doesn’t show love for Linda Lee and all his love for her has faded away.

After a lot of toying with the reader, William Gibson ends Case’s and Molly’s relationship. Throughout the novel, the reader is never sure if they are madly in love with each other or if its just a fling. There seemed to be love there when Molly tells Case “You’re kinda like he was”(179) and how Case reminded her of a man she used to love. However Molly leaves Case and her true intentions are revealed. Molly didn’t see their relationship lasting very long and reveals her true feelings for Case.

Throughout the novel, the reader, as well as the characters, are in wonder of what Case and Molly’s true mission is. By the end, Wintermute has manipulated all of the characters for his one purpose in life: fuse with Neuromancer. Wintermute reveals itself one more time to Case in the image of Finn once again. Case asks Wintermute what it has become and it replies “Im the Matrix”(269). Wintermute is in search for other AIs like him and finds one in the Alpha Centauri star system. The novel ends with the a inhuman laughter, possible referring to Pauley McCoy the ROM construct that assisted Case throughout the novel. With all that said, many questions arise by the end of the novel: Why did Molly leave Case? Did she not love him? Did Case truly love Linda Lee? Why did Wintermute want to combine with Neuromancer? What did Wintermute achieve by becoming the Matrix? What truly happened to Pauley(Dixie)? Was he erased or did he become a part of the Matrix?

Frameworks or Motifs in Neuromancer

After reading Section II: The Shopping Expedition and the first two chapters of Section III: Midnight in the Rue Jules Verne there was one constant framework/motif that occurred throughout these sections: Romance. So far in the story, Case has been seen with two woman, Linda Lee and Molly. Linda Lee was a short lived relationship that has fallen apart since the start of the book, while Molly seems to be the new lust in his life. Case and Molly started out as a relationship that only involved lust and sex, but it seems that they are growing closer together as the story unfolds. They have gone through many wild adventures together creating a relationship that is causing Case to forget about Linda Lee all together. “Once he woke from a confused dream of Linda Lee, unable to recall who she was or what she’d ever meant to him”(59). Linda Lee has become an image of the past and Molly is slowly becoming the present/future.

Another framework/motif I found interesting during this reading was towards the end of Chapter 9. Case has plugged into the Matrix and he is thrown into a hallucination. Case is brought back to an arcade in Ninsei where he sees Linda Lee. Linda Lee ends of being a figment of his imagination when she disappears right in from of him and Case ends up talking to Wintermute in the form of Julius Deane. This scene can be taken a Romance framework because Linda Lee appears once again. Even though Linda Lee was apart of a past life, Case is still clinging onto her. Case is with Molly during this scene, but he needs something in Linda Lee that Molly isn’t giving him. However, this scene can be related to the word neuro meaning image of the mind or nervous system. Wintermute has taken control of Case’s mind and is controlling Case’s state of reality. Case’s mind is away from his brain and Wintermute warns him he will see blood and brain if he shoots him. Case shoots Wintermute and Case is dead for a short period of time. To me this seems like the movie The Matrix because if your mind dies in the Matrix your body in the real world dies with it. This same action occurs during this scene.