The section of chapters 6-9 in Gibson’s book I found the most intriguing was the one that talked about the Zionites. The people on Zion were “workers who’d refused to return, who’d turned their backs on the well and started building” (101). They live completely separated from technology except for what they require to survive because they believe that technology can only lead to destruction. Case describes Zion as smelling like “cooked vegetables, humanity, and ganja” (102).
Why does Case think the Zionites are so strange? Why would anyone in that future think they were weird? Because they are so anti-technology. Everyone in this future world is so wrapped up in technology they can’t even fathom how anyone could live without it, much less why someone would want to. Most people are either jacked into the matrix or a simstim, and all the youth have some kind of crazy techno-body modification. The Zionites are an important alternative perspective that Gibson presents in contrast to the majority of the characters he sets up in this world. They show the reader that it is in fact possible, even in this crazy future world where you can have and be anything you want, that some people see the dangers of living like this. When Case makes one of the Zionites jack in on his deck, all Aerol will say when Case asks him what he saw is “Babylon” (105). It is important to raise the question of whether or not living this entwined with technology is okay.
Great point, the Zionites almost act as a foil to the rest of humanity. Usually, we think of humans as separate from animals for their higher-level cognitive abilities and technological advancements but, ironically, the Zionites are the most human in Gibson's world because they reject technology.
ReplyDelete