neuromancipation of the body

The body seems to be something that is limitless, privileged, and binding throughout "Neuromancer." Limitless because it seems that body modifications are huge in possibilities. Molly has mirror lenses, knife-like objects under her nails. She can always know what times it is. She is linked to Case through the computer. It just seems like almost anything is possible to do to the body. Case, on the other hand, whose nervous system was previously destroyed can rejoin the matrix and be a cyber cowboy. Body modifications changed Cortes to Armitage with the help of the AI Wintermute. Nevertheless, this technology is for those who can afford such procedures. Case would not change his situation without the help and money of Armitage. Not everyone can participate in the huge realm of body modifications, but it appears that many can. The body is also binding. It appears that individuals are in constant search to escape the body through drugs, body modifications, or the matrix. The body is "the meat." Its urges tie the mind down. The body limits what the mind can accomplish. If the body desires sex, this "need" can override one's thought process. The body needs to be escaped, changed, in essence, destroyed so that the mind can win over it.

Gibson's dystopic scenes about the body are prophetic in such cases like Julius. He doesn't appear to be human anymore. His constant fight against aging has left him seeming timeless, odd, and unsettling to both Case and the reader. I found Case's killing of Julius in the matrix almost a relief, as if it stopped Julius' pursuit of the fountain of youth. Also, on Straylight (?), the body is a site of privilege. Gibson goes into great detail describing the fake tans, the "perfect" youthful bodies, that all come with a price. Few seem happy with the body they were born with. There is always something wrong with that body, and always a way to fix that. It seems like we can see that today in Southern California. I have never heard so many commercials or seen so many advertisements for plastic surgery or weight loss until I came to Scripps.


Laser eye surgery reminds me of Molly's eyes in Gibson's novel. Laser eye surgery can correct one's eyes if they needed corrective lenses, but some use this surgery to have better than 20/20 vision. Botox helps individuals retain the appearance of youth longer. Tanning lotion and foams one can buy at a drug store is like the spray tan that Molly uses on Case.