Wintermute And Neuromancer: A Brief Summary

Bukatman discusses how cyberspace creates a type of blind spot for the people that inhabit it. The power that machines have to shape identities in cyberspace seems to stem from the fact that humans can never completely control their experience. Bukatman explains that the “interface relocates the human, in fact redefines the human as part of a cybernetic system” (152). In this way, machines are capable of defining humans and also able manipulate them as well. This is especially important when considering how powerful Wintermute and Neuromancer become, as Wintermute is cold and calculating, with a “hive mind” while Neuromancer has a “personality” (Gibson, 269). Through their combined hive mind and personality as well as manipulative tendencies, when merged, the newly combined supercomputer is capable of controlling anyone more than ever. Even though before the merging, Wintermute often took on the appearances of people that Case often knew

However, the focus lies more on the definable line between cyberspace and reality fading to the point where the two become entangled. Gibson positions this question of what defines human identity by blurring the boundaries between humans and machines as well as between cyberspace and reality. This blurring reaches the point where reality and cyberspace become indiscernible in the end, as Case sees a replica of his dead girlfriend Linda as well as himself along with Wintermute while he is supposedly in the real world. In this moment, Case hears a “laugh that wasn’t laughter” (Gibson, 271). The laughter seems to represent a sign that Case has lost touch with reality and that cyberspace has become his reality. This is plausible because Case has always preferred cyberspace and perceived the world through technological language, and despite beginning to take care of his body, it appears to be too late for Case in the