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.