Analysis Of William Gibson's Neuromancer

William Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has had a very successful career. Gibson has built an impressive list of accolades including creating a science-fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk, creating the term cyberspace, and being the first author to win the science fiction “triple crown”--the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. What’s even more impressive is the fact that Gibson was able to accomplish all of this with one novel, Neuromancer. Published in 1984, Neuromancer was Gibson’s first novel and the one that would jumpstart his extraordinary career. However, one may wonder why Gibson’s Neuromancer was so well received critically. Gibson’s Neuromancer is a critically acclaimed piece of literature because …show more content…
Gibson clearly encourages the idea that the line between technology and man will eventually become blurred as he introduces the idea of cyberspace and other technological advancements. “Gibson popularized the idea of cyberspace: a "consensual hallucination" created by millions of connected computers” (Cumming). With the creation of the idea of cyberspace came a gateway of new possibilities. With the introduction of cyberspace Mullan states that Neuromancer “is dedicated to creating the feeling of a transformed reality, where a new vocabulary is required to describe how perception itself has been changed by computers” (Mullan). Along with cyberspace, Gibson also creates the Matrix and Simstim. “The amusement for the reader is that we are inducted into this patois, learning the lingo as we go” (Mullan). Gibson’s Neuromancer not only creates new technology but it also touches on how this technology will impact the world. The idea presented in Neuromancer is that technology will advance so far that it will begin to negatively impact the way humans live. “The characters themselves fixated on technology, and wonder aloud at how its powers might be stretched even further. The body itself is technologically formed - every character seems to have been the beneficiary of surgical enhancement or reconstruction. The natural has been subsumed into the artificial” (Mullan). Gibson presents new technology to the reader as advancements when really there is an underlying feeling of digression behind every new technological presentation. “In each case, technology has led to dehumanization, but it has done so because other humans have found it a convenient tool to that end. The poor are essentially disposable, tools to an end, the technology of Gibson’s future merely makes their exploitation more efficient and on a surface level more bearable for those exploited” (Cairnduff). Although Gibson presented such compelling and