Science Fiction Novel the Neuromancer by William Gibson

Science Fiction Novel: The Neuromancer, By William Gibson

William Gibson's The Neuromancer is particularly important for the relationship it depicts between science and society. The novel, published in 1984, is prescient in the fact that it portrays a world in which the most powerful proponents of technology are not the governments, but rather corporate entities driven by conventional notions of greed and self-serving hegemony (which are the same impetuses for most governments, interestingly enough). Yet there is a degree of relevance in this aspect of the novel that reverberates in contemporary society, particularly in light of today's economic crisis and illustrations of socio-economic abuse by corporations such as Enron. Quite simply, the degree of autonomy and influence that corporations are able to exact today are not possible without government intervention and aid. In Gibson's novel this process is alluded to the point of extremity, with corporations directly in control of the technology to most powerfully influence the world.

An excellent example of this fact lies in the author's characterization of Armitage, who was a previous military employee as Colonel Willis Corto. The effectiveness of the military (which represents the government due to the fact that it is its belligerent arm) is contrasted with that of corporate power by the fact that in the service of the military, Corto was significantly less potent than he is in the service of corporations -- specifically the Tessier-Ashpool SA, which has created two of the most dominant artificial intelligences in the novel. As a military employee, Corto is severely injured and witnesses the death of his entire cadre. In the employment of Wintermute, however, Armitage is able to operate above the auspices of the government and access resources and technology to cure men of diseases (such as that which plagues Henry Case) and to pull off sophisticated technological espionage that significantly impact the world. The author's point is clear -- the place of governments in society has been usurped by that of corporations in terms of the ability of power exercised by these entities.

Of course, the nature of the artificial intelligence entities in the novel itself also reinforces this particular theme of Gibson's. Originally, Corto was led by the government and its military, which purposefully withheld information from him regarding the fatal mission in which he was severely injured. Now, that sort of autonomous decision making is disseminated by Wintermute, the artificial intelligence entity that essentially functions as the puppet master of the entire plot. Wintermute has unwittingly recruited Armitage to work for it -- by extension, it has also enticed Case as well as Molly Millions to carry out its machinations. In fact, all of the various pilots, thieves, and other personnel that are in the employment of Armitage and the aforementioned characters to help them fulfill their mission -- to unite Wintermute with Neuromancer -- are simply working as unwitting operatives of the Tessier-Ashpool SA corporation.