From Mythology to the Metaverse

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson creates an interesting twist on cyberpunk, capitalism, and techno-orientalism. In this novel, Stephenson successfully creates a story full of interesting technological twists and a bizarre world dynamic. Basically, the U.S. government has sold out. Instead of private gated communities, large corporations like Mr. Lee’s Greater Honk Kong, not the actual Honk Kong, have taken over, and the only things that American’s are good at are making small micro-parts for computers, making musicand movies, and delivering pizzas. Yes, I said delivering pizza. Stephenson makes it clear that this is a very real job by showing how the protagonist, Hiro Protagonist, a Korean and African American half breed, struggles to deliver a pizza, for CosaNostra Pizza, the mafia run pizza conglomerate, that he has been given just ten minutes to deliver, because in this reality, the thirty minutes or less doesn’t just mean it’s free, it could cost him his job as a “Deliverator.” Interestingly, the government, which has now sold the Smithsonian buildings and allowed them to become a “theme park” because they wanted to focus more on governing, has allowed for the mafia to run wild and monopolies to take over. This seems Dystopian, but reality isn’t the focus of the novel, the Metaverse, Stephenson’s version of a virtual reality cyberspace, is.
While the Japanese, referred to by a more nationalistic name, the Nipponese, referring to the Japanese name for their own country, seem to be feared by the western world for their keen business sense, Hiro has embraced the way of Bushido, becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. Hiro is a super hacker who works in the Metaverse, where people use avatars to interact in a virtual world where almost anything is possible. Hiro describes himself as “last of the freelance hackers/ Greatest sword fighter in the world/ Stinger, Central intelligence Corporation [a radical version of the Library of Congress where they literally hire people to look for facts and observations that might be interesting]/ specializing in software intel/ (music, movies & microdes)” (Stephenson 17). In this job description, I find two very interesting cultural differences. One is that Hiro, who clearly embraces kendo, the way of the Japanese sword, chooses not to refer to himself as “samurai,” or even “ninja,” as his suit while working as a “Deliverator” would suggest. Hiro is the world’s greatest swordsman, but instead of choosing to assimilate himself with the samurai, who are generally considered one of the best swordsmen, if not the best. While this might be considered a poke at the Nipponese and a way of degrading them since the best swordsman is an American hybrid, if one delves deeper, there may actually be another reason. Samurai literally means “one who serves,” however, as Hiro says on his business card, he is a “freelance hacker.” He only works part-time for the CIC, and even that he does more out of his own leisure. Thus, Hiro serves no man, he works for himself and his own interests, so Stephenson can’t classify him as samurai, for he is ronin, a sword without a master.
Also, I find the term “hacker” to be rather amusing. Right now, hackers are regarded as criminals who violate people’s privacy; however, in this digital world, hackers are just computer programmers. Interestingly, Y.T, the skateboard riding “kourier” that Hiro ends up partnering up with, says that her Mom is “a programmer for the feds” (Stephenson 266). This creates an interesting dynamic dividing the line between those who are with the Feds and those who aren’t. The corporate “hacker” seems to live a freer lifestyle while the programmer doesn’t even now what project he/she is working on is. In the end, the programmers end up being used by our villain, the mysterious billionaire L. Bob Rife. Stephenson romanticizes the “hacker” through Hiro who seems to embody everything cool from his two katana, to his hair, motorcycle, and outfit.
Obviously, the novel deals with a drug crisis called “Snow Crash.” With the help of a “kourier” called Y.T., Yours Truly, Hiro works in the Metaverse, and the CIC database to delve into the mythological creation of this virus. The mythos goes all the way back to the Sumerian mythology of Babel. I found Stephenson’s interpretation of Babel to be fascinating. He describes Babel as a shifting point in humanity. “Prior to Babel/Infocalypse, languages tended to converge. And after that, languages have always had an innate tendency to diverge and become mutually incomprehensible—that this tendency is … coiled like a serpent around the human brainstem” (Stephenson 218). Not surprisingly, Stephenson creates this links to biblical stories of Adam and Eve and the loss of Paradise. However, while Jewish midrash seems to push away from Eve being the sole source of temptation and moves toward the idea of “Lilith” being the snake, Stephenson presents the idea that Eve is present through out all ancient religions and that she is Asherah, a deity who was worshipped during the time of the Ancient Hebrews, and that through her cult, the Sumerian being Enki was able to change human tongue. This idea was mind blowing. Stephenson connects the future with the past because “Snow Crash” is really a new version of the linguistic virus that created split languages and destroyed the Sumerian spoken tongue. Stephenson takes the bible and creates a “Da Vinci Code-esque” cult surrounding the origin of human language.
Hiro is able to relate the computer language to that of the Sumerians since at some level all computers use the same language for operating and programming, just like the ancient people apparently did. Through this link, Stephenson does something truly amazing; he creates a sci-fi drama in the past. The idea of a linguistic virus that erased human “programming” seems fantastical. Usually science fiction is a reflection of the present conditions, however, Stephenson takes the fears of the late 80’s and early 90’s and ties them to the mystique of the past. Stephenson creates an epic point, that if “you forget history, you are doomed to repeat it.” Thus, by creating a Metaverse where everyone essentially uses the same language, just like the ancient days of Sumer, destruction is evident.