Neuromancer, Part I

Gibson’s Neuromancer begins with a great amount of action as we follow Case through an intricate winding of travel. Case’s movement from a run-down and rather sketchy bar to Julius Deane’s office where Wage’s intentions of murder are discussed, to being stalked on a walk home, and to the Chat where again Case is surrounded by many people. We can infer from description that Case is living in a grungy world, yet it obviously takes place in a far off time.

Much of part one takes place in the Ninsei neighborhood of Chiba City where prostitution and sketchy behavior flourishes. It is here that Case finds himself as a street hustler. The neon lights and high technological descriptions of Night City leads me to believe that the lines are blurred between cyberspace and reality for Case. Case finds himself in Japan, where there is not only an influx of chaos an people, but also of technology and crime. Following Case for a short amount of time in his daily life confirms this fact about criminal activity. In fact, Gibson refers to this place as a “techno criminal subculture magnet.”

Through Case, Gibson reveals to us information about the Matrix, a cyberspace world that Case has been excommunicated from, so to speak. It is explained that at one time Cast was a cyberspace cowboy “jacked into a custom cyberspace deck that projected his disembodied consciousness into the consensual hallucination that was the matrix” (Gibson 5). Though Case’s ability to get into the Matrix is no longer available, the descriptions of his life are quite cyber aged. The reader is told of “bright walls of corporate systems, opening windows into rich fields of data.” These descriptions blur the lines between his past cyber life and his grungy current reality.

Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

The opening of Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge hooks the reader from the very beginning by providing the opening scene with a man about to be hung. What is so captivating bout this is that we do not know the reasoning behind his execution. This leaves the reader wondering many things such as why he is being hung, or how the people witnessing the execution feel towards him. The point of view in which this story is told, which is third person objective, plays a vital role in this. The first few paragraphs the narrator does not tell us anything about the man or why he is being hung. The lack of information creates immense suspense which is important to the overall story.

There is an important switch just before part II in which the narrator tells us about the man being hung. This vital switch gives us over to a third person limited point of view in which we are given information only from the man being hung’s head. The break in part II which drifts away from information about the setting builds suspense further as we find out about the man’s family. The reader finds themselves, however, still wanting to know exactly why this man is being hung. The author obviously planned this out so that the reader is led through the story always wanting to know more.

This specific format was used to give great power to the very last sentence in which it is revealed that the escape we all thought possible did not actually occur. This small fact changes the entire view of this story and how a reader feels about it. The importance of the end of this story comes from the fact that any old explanation about an execution of a criminal is not very exciting. Bierce is able to make us believe that this story of a man being hung is actually much more fascinating then it is in reality.

Poetry In Popular Culture

Many years ago, those in the public eye were authors and poets instead of athletes and movie stars. This being said, sources of entertainment were poems and novels and people all over the world became addicted to their favorite readings. It may even be said that there were families who gathered around the fireplace to read an excerpt from their favorite poem every night at 9:00 pm, just like today many families will with the shows Glee or Gossip Girl, for example.

With the idea in mind that the popularity of literature sparked the necessity for shows and movies in today's technological world, it is wonderful to witness today's shows paying tribute to those poems that once were the entertainment industry, and still captivate us today.

In Episode 9, Season 2 of Gossip Girl the character Blaire states that she has her own albatross to worry about. This idea of the albatross is a reference to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poem that gave the symbol of an albatross great significance and power. (I could not find this particular episode online because it is from an old season, but I would recommend watching it, and the other episodes as well as they have tremendous literary references throughout the witty dialogue).

Scrolling down the list of titles on hulu.com it is easy to point out the ones that references literature. The witty play on words many titles contain is what draws someone in to watching that particular episode. The link i have included below is simply a list of current show titles involving "The Road Not Taken." This ever famous poem by Robert Frost is so prevalent in popular culture that many people even still quote this poem in everyday life. The show Glee presented one of its more recent episodes with the title "The Rhodes Not Taken" (this episode is included in the link below). In this episode one of the main characters states "Its times like these I know I chose the right path." This quote emphasizes the title and overall message that this show and the Frost's poem are sending to readers and watchers.

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=the+road+not+taken&st=

Anti or Pro?

“All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” as interpreted from an anti-technology point of view may bring many to the conclusion that technology is driving us further away from nature. By defining the contrast between natural beauty and the computer world through images such as deer walking by computers in the forest, Richard Brautigan is able to make fun of the idea of our society ever being able to function in a combination of these two worlds.

The author uses a progression in each stanza to signify the progressive take-over effect technology has on earth. The last word of the third line of each stanza progresses from “meadow” to “forest” to “ecology” to indicate the course of action that technology is using to take over the earth. This simple technique adds a great amount of power to the anti-technology base that this poem possesses.

It is apparent that the poem can be interpreted in a pro-technology light. By using the words harmony, pure, and peacefully to describe how technology could be one day when meshed together with nature, the reader gets a sense of optimism that perhaps it is possible. Although the author may or may not agree with the direction of technology, he hopes that because it is not going to go away, we must instead work towards the day when technology will work with nature as opposed to against it.

One may argue that Brautigan brings about the idea that we will be protected by technology. I disagree, however, because as a unique individual I am not keen about the idea of being “watched over by machines” (lines 24 and 25). The sarcastic mood of the poem appears to me that the author is poking fun at the idea of technology ever coinciding with nature which leads me to believe that this poem is in no way pro-technology.

Poetic Imagery

Felicia Heman’s Casabianca is a powerful poem that uses a great deal of imagery to portray devastation as a brave young boy loses his life to a burning ship. An image that is prevalent throughout and that greatly serves to offer an interpretation of the poem is the young boy standing bravely in the eye of the fire, all that represents his unfortunate and untimely death.

The young boy refuses to leave the ship without the permission of his father whom death has come upon. His braveness is illustrated as he stands alone “whence all but him had fled” (line 2). Standing in death’s way does not distract the boy, however, from his first priority which is to make sure he does the right thing. Though he is young, one can not deny that the boy’s maturity and strength in facing what will bring him to his ultimate death is what makes this poem so powerful. Lines five and six quote “yet beautiful and bright he stood, as born to rule the storm” which on the surface appears quite contradictory due in part to the fact that the storm ultimately rules him. This indicates that perhaps winning the battle does not always mean that the winner survives; in this case the young boy is victorious because he was “the noblest thing that perished there” (line 38).

Many can not understand exactly why the young boy stood his ground and did not flee as “fast the flames rolled on” (line 20). What makes the boy an admirable figure is the fact that he, instead of following his desire to leave the ship and preserve his life, followed his duty which was to stay with the ship until he was told to leave. The youthful, innocent boy standing at “that lone post of death in still, yet brave despair” (lines 23 and 24) is the image that recurs throughout the poem to exemplify the immeasurable strength contained within this one small boy.

Other Images In Casabianca:

1. Youthful boy standing on the burning deck

2. Flames consuming the boat but the boy stands bravely

3. The boy’s father peacefully laying dead below the deck while chaos erupts overhead

4. Huge flames consuming everything but the boy

5. The boy standing in brave despair as death is inevitable

6. Flames moving over the boy through “sail and shroud” (shroud = cloth to cover dead bodies)