Neuromancer + Wintermute = :)

Duality consumes every bit of Neuromancer. But the duality we see in Neuromancer is not two simply coexisting facets of a given entity or situation – duality is presented as a competition. Destruction of one identity is what breeds combination, and this theme is present throughout the novel.

While this theme is present throughout the novel, from The Dixie Flatline's existence in cyberspace as a result of his real-life death, to Case's inability to experience reality or cyberspace without significant sacrifice, to the simple fact that physical modification in Neuromancer as a result of technology results in the destruction of the human element, it is no better exemplified by the products and existence of the Tessier-Ashpool corporation. Most obviously, the longing Wintermute has to combine with Neuromancer represents the primary act of combination and duality in the novel. Combination cannot occur without Wintermute's self-destruction, but the urge to combine and grow into something greater — in this case, a god-like entity — overpowers Wintermute's yearning for self-preservation. The combination of Neuromancer and Wintermute, two machine identities, represents the idea of duality as a destruction of at least one part of the combination in the least damaging light, an intriguing development on its own. But perhaps more fascinating in Neuromancer is the "meat" side of the Tessier-Ashpool relationship with duality and destruction.

On its surface, Tessier-Ashpool seems innocent enough: just the combination of two names and families that came together. However, an examination of the familial history of the Tessier-Ashpool group reveals the consequences of duality in its darkest representation. First, the literal — Ashpool strangled Tessier before Tessier's grand vision was given the opportunity to come to fruition. The joining of two families, Tessiers and Ashpools, resulted in the literal destruction of one of these partners at the hands of the other. This immediacy in destruction, with one entity being responsible for the destruction of the other, is a powerful fact that cannot be understated. Throughout the novel, in order to build, one must destroy; the Tessier-Ashpool family enjoyed great wealth and fortune through establishing a large software development company, but not without a grave cost.

More abstract — but far more powerful — is the notion of the Tessier-Ashpool collective as a family and as a corporation. At the stage in which Case encounters the Tessier-Ashpool group, they are primarily a corporation with familial remnants discernible only in the grudges that remained between living and dead members of the family. In their tireless pursuit for success, the notion that the Tessier-Ashpools are a family dissolved. The Tessier-Ashpools represent a dual identity — part family, part corporation — but these two parts could not effectively coexist. As with all other examples of duality in Neuromancer, from the AIs, to the marriage of Tessier and Ashpool, to the bodily modifications in the book, to Dixie Flatline, one part was destroyed in order for the existence to continue. In typical Tessier-Ashpool fashion, the part destroyed was destroyed at the hands of the opposing part: the family was destroyed by the corporate ambitions of the group.

Dichotomies play an extremely important role in Neuromancer, but the nature of their creation holds an even greater value. Headlined by the Tessier-Ashpool corporation and its creations, this theme has a stake in every piece of action in Neuromancer. One of the biggest questions posed by Neuromancer is that of the intrusion of technology on the human experience, and vice versa — but more important is the question of whether we can combine these two aspects of reality into one without completely destroying the other.