ipl-logo

The Use Of Addiction In William Gibson's Neuromancer

1629 Words7 Pages

Have you ever felt trapped unable to escape a certain situation, as if stuck in a room with no doors? It is easy to get lost in this feeling living in this type of world. Living in a world full of endless possibilities people tend to get trapped in their own vice. A professor of psychology by the name of Dr. Stone once said “We are not trapped by our thoughts. What we generally do, however, is create thoughts that trap us” (Stone 162). This correlates directly to the character in the novel by William Gibson called Neuromancer. The novel depicts a hacker, by the name of Case, who steals from his employers. When caught his employers poison him with a Russian mycotoxin, from there he constantly abuses his body with drugs and dangerous activities. …show more content…

People use these addictions to escape the world they live in, similarly to the way Case has a dependency on drugs. This type of dependency is usually started because people have the feeling of emptiness and are struggling with this feeling, looking for an easy way to feel better. Case was given the opportunity to escape his addiction, but instead Case states, “Thanks, but I was enjoying that dependency” (45). He enjoyed his dependency on drugs and alcohol because it was a form of an escape from his body, a chance to forget about his body slowly deteriorating. As Case gradually weakens he continues to abuse stimulants to help with the loss of energy. Case declares, “I’m a drug addict, Cath. Stimulants. Central nervous systems stimulants. Extremely powerful central system stimulants.” (Gibson 129-130) Using uppers allows him to feel the different kinds of feelings that he has not been able to due to his weakened state, which gives him a similar type of excitement. This type of enjoyment has been lost on Case because he feels trapped in his body by the lack of pleasure. Therefore, instead of allowing his body to health, which he was previously offered, he abuses it with harder substances that further entrap him within his body, with no means for an escape. He attempts to fix his dilemma of being trapped in his own body by replacing his bodily

Show More
Related
1172 Words | 5 Pages

The book Memoirs of an Addicted Brain follows Marc Lewis and his adventures in doing different types of drugs. Marc goes to boarding school in Boston, Tabor, where he was homesick and being bullied by the other children. Marc starts doing drugs to fit in. He started using legal drugs like cough medicine and alcohol but progressed to doing more illegal drugs like marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, and LSD. The more illegal drugs were accessible at the Berkeley university since there was a large hippie movement.

Read More
618 Words | 3 Pages

Although some aren’t as abrasive as others, each one provides its own set of challenges. Sometimes, this can prove too much for a person and they try to find an outlet where they can “hide” from the world. They turn towards drugs and alcohol instead of fixing their situation. Eventually their “outlet” becomes an addiction and soon that addiction takes over their lives.

Read More
757 Words | 4 Pages

For starters, Hari discusses how society over the years has made misconceptions about addiction, because of this addicts have been wrongfully treated, and blame was placed incorrectly. The author goes on to explain two different stories; both being well known about the prescription drug crisis. One being the fact that even the most powerful drugs such as diamorphine hasn’t caused addiction (Hari). In fact, that didn’t make sense to Hari on how powerful drugs were used in extreme medical cases and through prolonged use none became addicted. This is one of the misconceptions about addiction.

Read More
263 Words | 2 Pages

In James Baldwin short story "Sony's Blue" he uses music to represent Sonny's struggle with his addiction to heroin. Throughout the story, music was present whenever Sonny's addiction was mentioned. When Sonny first told his brother that he wanted to play jazz music for a living he mentioned that Charlie Parker was one of his inspirations, this is interesting because Charlie Parker was a drug addict who died from his addiction. This also seemed like it took place around the time that Sonny started abusing drugs with the goal of completely focusing on playing the piano. At the end of the story, Sonny talked to his brother about how he felt while he was taking heroin.

Read More
229 Words | 1 Pages

Paul stayed at home for college, unwilling to "leave the fish he had not yet caught” which in reference to the unfinished business he had to catch up on. Paul on the other hand was the rebellious one of the two. After he decided to stay back home in Montana he becomes a well known news reporter. After spending much time alone away from Norman he starts to drink more, and some may say he became an alcoholic. Not only did he begin drinking more than usual, he was introduced to gambling, and it turned into a troubling addiction.

Read More
1208 Words | 5 Pages

A drug addiction occurs when someone uses substances to give themselves a feeling of pleasure even if it has negative consequences for them or others. When an addiction occurs the brain changes too making it extremely difficult to quit. This is because the brain wants more of the pleasurable substance because it’s giving dopamine. Once someone is addicted to something all they want is that thing and they will do anything to get it.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

For example, a person who is not satisfied with their life might look into escape from their poor circumstance. In the beginning with the purpose for only relaxed and not think their family might turn into an addiction in their old ages. In the book, Lily throws herself from home to not see her dad and her mom and she uses ciggarettes and alcohol to stop thinking and relax herself. In the following pages, when Lily becomes an adult she drinks every day at least one bottle of alcohol. In Maté’s view “All addictions are attempts to escape the deep pain of the hurt child, attempts temporarily soothing but ultimately futile.”

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

Reinforcing the concept of degradation, he placed in and on the victims sex toys and sexual propaganda 4. His crimes were committed within a small geographic area of which he was familiar. 5. He showed a steadily increasing ability to kill swiftly, without pause. This was indicated by the defense wounds or lack thereof on the

Read More
1085 Words | 5 Pages

Internal pain, external pain, suicidal thoughts, drugs, and societal pressures, Craig Gilner experiences it all. Craig is a 15 year old boy from Brooklyn, New York, who lives with his family. One night when he plans to kill himself, he calls the suicide hotline, and they tell him to go to the nearest hospital and he does. Behind the doors, a huge world of experience and recovery awaits him. In the “short-term facility for adult psychiatric”(Vizzini 185), Craig meets new patients and works with others to heal himself.

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

Addiction is a disorder of the brain where a person feels he has to take the drug despite its destructive effects (Volkow, Koob and McLellan). Dependence is a state normally associated when an

Read More
1268 Words | 6 Pages

There are tons of influences within society that contribute to become addicted. Humans are like little fish. They see that appetizing worm floating free, untouched. That want becomes a need, and before they know it, snatch! That poor little fish has been hooked, unable to release and go back to their usual.

Read More
1465 Words | 6 Pages

Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.proxy151.nclive.org/apps/doc/H1420096909/LitRC?u=ncliverockcc&sid=LitRC&xid=706af6fe. Accessed 11 Feb. 2018. Originally published in The Languages of Addiction, edited by Jane Lilienfeld and Jeffrey Oxford, St. Martin's Press, 1999, pp. 175-192. Tackach, James.

Read More
548 Words | 3 Pages

This is a story that creeps along the lines of life and death. It is not merely about suicide versus the value of living but appears at society’s capricious construct on the definition of madness. Veronika, a 24-year-old attractive woman, who seems to have everything in life that most people envies and consider fulfilling suddenly felt a sort of powerlessness and apathy that lured her to suicide by overdosing herself from sleeping pills. With hopes of leaving the world, Veronika presumes that her attempt to die will be a breeze but she wakes up from a coma, finds herself in a notorious lunatic asylum, and has been told by her doctor, Igor, that the pills damaged her heart severely that it could no longer sustain her life for more than five days.

Read More
1251 Words | 6 Pages

All these characteristics led to the conclusion that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use. It is considered as a brain disease because drugs change the structure of the brain, and how it works. Every drug affects different systems of the brain. For example, in the case of cocaine, as the brain is adapted in the presence of the specific drug, brain regions responsible for judgment, decision-making, learning, and memory begin to physically change, making certain behaviors “hard-wired.” In some brain regions, connections between neurons are pruned back.

Read More
1893 Words | 8 Pages

I can’t escape myself, so how can I release the shackles I have created, how can I live? This cruel, destructive world that I am, or maybe I’m not, is a dangerous place. What I’ve played such a big part in is nothing to be proud of, instead while I’ve been living in luxury there’s a true darkness hiding. I’m not true darkness, for I’m a mere illusion and I suffocate myself with pity while I have no room. There is an expanding darkness ruining the world, the people within.

Read More

More about The Use Of Addiction In William Gibson's Neuromancer

Open Document