Neuromancer Conclusion

The conclusion to Gibson’s Neuromancer answered questions that had remained unknown throughout most of the text, but at the same created new ambiguity.

Towards the end of the novel we meet the mysterious AI which Case had longed to know more about throughout the text. The AI, which had not appeared prior in the text, presents himself for the first time when he tricked Case into jacking in into a dark place, a beach with no end; a beach where Neuromancer, the newly revealed AI, had put Linda Lee. Neuromancer gave himself the image of a young boy, and described himself to be the counterpart of Wintermute. The reader could sense the end of the novel because when Case saw Linda Lee on the beach he was not filled with emotions, instead he commented that he would not fall for Neuromancer’s trick, that the scene could not be real. By doing so, Case was able to override Neuromancer’s last attempt to over power Case.

Molly and Case were able to fulfill their mission and retrieve the information necessary from 3Jane. The toxin sacs implanted within Case became loose and, with a future blood change performed by the Zionites, would no longer present a problem. Ironically, Riviera himself became paralyzed and defeated due to poison.

In the final few pages ambiguities that remain deal with Molly and the matrix. When Case walked into his hotel room in the final scene Molly had left a note and was gone. After that no more was ever said by Molly and “He never saw Molly again,” which creates a mystery of what happened to her and where she went(261). Also, when Case is present in the room, he sees “The Finn’s face on the room’s enormous Cray wall screen” (259). The image mentions that he is no longer Wintermute, but the matrix, and he mentions that he has found others of his kind. This creates a question of what will happen in the future within the matrix and who exits within it. Yet, Case decides to show no further interest in the matrix.

In the end, Case begins another life, but one night he visualizes something out of the normal. The images of Riviera, Linda Lee, and himself, are presented to him as he walks; no explanation given, then the story ends.