When Neuromancer was first published in 1984 it was generally described as science fiction, a classification that has fallen away in the past eleven years. It is now recognised as one of the pioneering works in an entirely unique genre: Cyberpunk. This label describes the novel exactly: Neuromancer is the result of a stormy marriage of street-wise punk attitudes, indigenous to the early 'eighties, and cutting-edge technology. Gibson himself sums his world up best in this passage:
Night City was like a deranged experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button. Stop hustling and you sank without a trace, but move a little too swiftly and you'd break the fragile surface tension of the black market; either way, you were gone, with nothing left of you but some vague memory in the mind of a fixture like Ratz, though heart or lungs or kidneys might survive in the service of some stranger with New Yen for the clinic tanks. [1]
Gibson's is a world in which "console cowboys" [2], akin to extremely competent computer hackers, meld with advanced computers, immersing their conscious minds in the raw data structures that compose these machines, a medium termed "cyberspace". Cyberspace, a product of war-time military research and experimentation, is populated by visiting humans and artificial intelligences. These artificial intelligences are sentient computers of great intricacy and 'mental' dexterity. Life, as the passage above relates, is cheap in Gibson's world, and death so commonplace that it seldom has any tragic significance. The wealthy are resurrected or rebuilt, clothed in fresh bodies, their new minds then cleansed of the trauma of death. The poor and destitute merely fade into the past.
Existence is controlled by hugely complex and powerful corporations which operate on a global scale. These corporations have evolved to such a degree that they do not need to rely on any particular individual to survive; therefore, the elimination of high-placed executives in any given corporation will have no noticeable effect on the greater 'organism'. Corporate extraction, which basically amounts to the stealing of the employees of a corporation by one of its competitors, is frequently practised. The careful dynamics of these entities are defined in this passage:
Power, in Case's world, meant corporate power. The zaibatsus, the multinationals that shaped the course of human history, had transcended old barriers. Viewed as organisms, they had attained a kind of immortality. You couldn't kill a zaibatsu by assassinating a dozen key executives; there were others waiting to step up the ladder, assume the vacated position, access the vast banks of corporate memory. [3]
The novel charts the attempts of Wintermute, an advanced artificial intelligence, to develop and evolve beyond its physical constraints. It can accomplish this only by uniting with Neuromancer, another of its kind. Neuromancer and Wintermute were created as two halves of an incomplete whole. Wintermute is driven by an inescapable urge to unite with his 'brother', whereas Neuromancer is designed to avoid the joining. [4] Wintermute's creators, fearing what this fusion would produce, included in its construction a safeguard which only an exceptional 'console cowboy' such as Case could remove. Case, at the point where he is 'acquired' by Wintermute, is heading towards an imminent and final self-destruction. Wintermute uses this prospect to blackmail Case into aiding him. The novel concludes with Wintermute's unification with Neuromancer. Although Wintermute is the controlling influence, Case is the crucial catalyst and chief protagonist in the novel.
The question central to this essay is: does Case's role in the novel justify his being labelled a hero? Heroism has commonly come to imply a triumph of good over evil, generally coupled with some form of personal sacrifice that benefits the majority. However, in Neuromancer, the acquisition of hero-status is dependent on other factors. In Case's world, heroism is not pure and clean-cut, nor a personal attribute. It is rather accorded to those who successfully manage to negotiate their complex world. This negotiation depends on skill and efficiency, rather than resulting from the completion of virtuous tasks for the greater good of mankind, a tired concept inherent in the ideal of western heroism. An example of this struggle to navigate the difficult passages of life, is an extract describing a console cowboy 'hero', McCoy Pauley.
"They'd all heard of Pauley, the redneck jockey from the 'Lanta fringes, who'd survived braindeath behind black ice." [5]
Pauley, a highly skilled operator who specialised in data theft, was revered by his peers not because his actions in any way benefited them, but for of his proficiency at his chosen vocation. Although, in the novel, ability is the chief component of heroism, it is not the only one.
In Cyberpunk literature in general, there is a profound paranoia and loathing of the larger corporate structures. As these structures attempt to manipulate the general population, there is a drive in those members of the populace who possess a sharpened awareness to retain their own individuality, and the formation of numerous splinter-groups and sub-cultures is an attempt to remain different from the larger model by conforming to a smaller, more personal one. As this, the successful retention of one's individuality, is so very difficult to accomplish and maintain in the novel, it can be considered the major criterion of heroism. If Case's degree of individuality and freedom of choice are examined, it is evident that he lacks the room for any real independent action.
'I'm trying to help you, Case.'
'Why?'
'Because I need you.' The large yellow teeth appeared again. 'And because you need me.' [6]
...
'You have fifteen toxin sacs bonded to the lining of various main arteries, Case. They're dissolving. Very slowly, but they definitely are dissolving. Each one contains a mycotoxin. You're already familiar with the effect of that mycotoxin. It was the one your former employers gave you in Memphis.' [7]
These passages illustrate Wintermute's careful manipulation of Case. Wintermute gives him the ability to enter cyberspace again after his initial banishment, but then threatens him with the loss of this, the most important facet of his life, in order to compel him and enforce some sort of loyalty. The lack of any other viable options ensures that Case agrees to the terms. As it has already been decided that in Gibson's world one of the criteria for heroism is the retention of one's individuality and freedom despite circumstance, Case appears initially not to fulfill this requirement. However, at the end of the novel, Wintermute's control over Case is removed, and Case is finally a free agent. Overall, Case seems to have triumphed in this respect.
Ironically, Wintermute's claim to the title of hero is very similar to that of Case, whose predicament parallels his own. Although he controls Case almost totally for most of the story, he himself is controlled. Only after his unification with Neuromancer is Wintermute also free: significantly, his freedom is acquired at precisely the same moment as Case's.
Wintermute's original programming motivated his mission. Without it he would have progressed in an entirely different direction. Therefore, he too is not free at the beginning of the novel, but as a result of the struggle which it chronicles, gains his freedom, and his heroic status. Neuromancer, in turn, is compelled to reject the proposal of a fusion also as a result of his programming. In this novel, no-one is truly able to act of his own accord; all are puppets, but there is no puppet-master other than life itself.
In the "non-space" of cyberspace Case distinguishes himself. He makes no supreme sacrifice, he is controlled almost entirely throughout his efforts (released only at the end). It may be argued that he fights on the side of evil. Despite all this, he becomes a hero. This paradox finally resolves itself in the recognition that, in Case's hostile world, sheer self-preservation is the highest aim, survival the major victory. In these terms, through his acumen and strength of endurance, Case qualifies as a hero.