Johnny Mnemonic

            I must begin with saying that this has been by far one of my favorite reads of the semester, simply for two reasons.

One being that I like the story and how the author William Gibson sets up the three acts structure. The three act structure beginning with the first act, which sets up and presents the conflict of the story. The second, consisting of Molly and the crew fighting there way out of the assassination and meeting up with Jones. The third act allows for the crew to take a trip to Nighttown and the Killing Room, leading to the conclusion of the short story.

The second reason why this story is one of the most entertaining of the selected texts was because of the descriptive quality that Gibson’s diction create. This is especially apparent on page four, when describing the fight, the thumb and molly’s fingers. I feel that the language Gibson chose was most appropriate for the right rhythm to read. Not only did his descriptive quality provide for a cyberpunk world it also allowed for the readers mind to create their own world; which is incredible if a writer can accomplish that.

When I began to read Johnny Mnemonic I thought that it was going to be another cyberpunk cop out with dark imagery and another generic sci fi but when I read it I was surprised to find that it took a different aspect than other acclaimed works. Gibson also does an efficient job of describing the Killing Room and Molly’s Dance. This part of the short story was the second most appealing event to happen because you actually feel like you are there.

The last point that I found to be interesting was the ending. Because of the initial setup combined with the vivid imagery and descriptive diction, Gibson practically commands the reader to sympathize with the protagonist, which provides for an agreeable ending. If any other cyberpunk work would have ended it in the same sort of way that Gibson did, I hardly think it would be successful; unless they have the proper story setup. But because of the successful setup, as the audience I wasn’t upset with him having to wait it out in Nighttown, slowly waiting for all the chips to be removed from his brain. I was actually pleased that the protagonist was looking forward to the future and building his own memories and not just being a “bucket” waiting to be filled.