The Essay: nearly done! (Week 12)

Well the book arrived on Monday (which was a relief), and I managed to finish it yesterday. It's actually quite a good read, cyberpunk while also slightly satirical. Anyway, I finished the first body paragraph, that focuses on comparisons between the social structure presented in both books. In the main body paragraphs, I focus on camparing the two books, while in the final paragraph, the conclusion, I comment on its relevance and realism in regards to today's world.

Here's the social paragraph. I've nearly finished the economic comparisons too, so you can probably expect the entire essay to be up later tonight.

The social futures typically presented by the cyberpunk genre are that of a dystopian society, generally in decline, with the advancement of technology disrupting society and the way the inhabitants of the society interact. This can be seen in both Burning Chrome and Snow Crash, with possibly the most important technological advancement in the novels – the Simulation Matrix, and the Metaverse. In Burning Chrome, the Matrix is “an abstract representation of the relationships between data systems,” a 3D virtual word in which the user is completely immersed (Gibson, 1986 p.196). The Metaverse, in comparison, is a 3D virtual world in which you can create or purchase your ‘avatar,’ and interact with other people in real-time. Property and advertisements, or ‘animercials,’ can be purchased using real money, in the virtual world. There is a blurring between life in reality, and life in the Metaverse.

This decline of society can also be seen in the way in which the physical society is structured in both novels. In Burning Chrome, the story is set in the Sprawl, a colloquial term for the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis, a huge megacity. In this representation of the future, space is at a premium, and virtually the entire East Coast of the United States has merged into one huge city. The majority of people are poor, but technology is easily accessible to all, allowing anyone to access the Matrix, or enjoy ‘simstims,’ a form of entertainment that allows people to experience a television program as seen through the eyes of the protagonist. Enhancements and augmentations to the body are also available, with the main character of the novel having a mechanised prosthetic arm, and other characters having eye augmentations, allowing them to record video through tiny cameras implanted in their eyes – the basis for simstim. In Snow Crash, society has disintegrated even further; governments and nations have broken down, and areas, armed forces, and even religions are owned by huge corporations, such as “Mr Lee’s Greater Hong Kong,” or “The Reverend Wayne’s Pearly Gates.” Universal laws and the justice system don’t exist; each corporation, or ‘franchise,’ has their own set of laws for their different areas, enforced by a private security corporation. As a result, crime isn’t necessarily wrong anymore - the Mafia operate in the open, as just another corporation. Society is dominated and controlled by corporations, and as such, money.

I'll include references with the final essay.