Burning Chrome
In William Gibson's short story, "Johnny Mnemonic," the setting is futuristic and gritty, with many if not all the characters being cyborgs. What was most interesting about the cyborgs was how different they are with various functions and upgrades. For example, Molly had deadly razor nails and Ralfi had a strange molecular weaponized thumb. Dog had canine teeth and other characters displayed other bodily enhancements. I particularly appreciated the beginning of the story where Johnny noticed two lesbians, one of whom was trans. While many sci-fi stories of the mid-century focus on the homogenization of difference, Gibson's story includes a proliferation of diversity. Human technological enhancement or cyborgism is not a one-size-fits-all in Gibson's story.
The cyborgs in the story are directly correlated with posthumanist themes that merge technology with humans, and even animals and humans. I'd say the two characters that displayed the most posthuman qualities were likely Jones, the cyborg dolphin, and Dog the cyborg man. Jones is an animal uplift with technological upgrades that allow him to communicate with humans. His character demonstrates that cyborgism is not simply about humans merging with machines, but also nonhuman animals merging with machines. On the other hand, Dog appears to be a human with animalistic enhancements with the use of technology. His posthuman character is the merging of human, nonhuman animal, and technology. This was a very interesting and provocative take on cyborgism that includes nonhuman animals.
Of course, the story's themes highlight the injustice, oppression, and subjugation of people in their respective posthuman classifications. Johnny, being the most obvious example of an exploited person, demonstrates that humans have not forsaken their lust for exploited labor. However, I appreciated the end of the story: Johnny's abilities turned out to be beneficial. He could access information and past clients to exploit his exploiters. It felt like poetic justice.
