I am arguing against resolution, that Snow Crash is NOT a Hegelian story; rather, it is a Brechtian story.
Brecht thinks that a work “cannot end in repose, in equilibrium…it must show the ways in which society loses its equilibrium.” On the last page of Snow Crash, there is still chaos. People are injured, jets are exploding, cars are speeding away, and there is not clear knowledge of what happened to Hiro after the SnowScan (unless I missed something, which is highly probable). I believe equilibrium is never achieved, but more importantly, the reader is informed about the affects of a tragic virus on the society.
On page 81 of Theatre of the Oppressed, it is explained that Hegel believes that the animal is entirely determined by its environment, and since man is animal, his freedom is therefore limited by exterior needs. With the creation of the Metaverse, I think Stephenson creates a world that is nearly opposite of this description. The “animals” in Snow Crash created the environment, which means their material needs are built by themselves. So in the case of Snow Crash, the environment is determined entirely by the animal. Hegel also believes that the best characters are those that are most free from these exterior needs. As stated before, I think the Metaverse cannot be considered a place where man is “unfree,” when it is created by man itself. Therefore, I looked at the reality that is presented in Snow Crash to consider if the main characters are those that are least held down by exterior needs. In Theatre of the Oppressed, Boal uses a Prince as an example of good character choice according to Hegel. While Hiro may constantly be trying to save the day in the Metaverse, he is far from a character that can easily satisfy his material needs. He is essentially a bum living in a storage unit.
On page 96 of Theatre of the Oppressed, it is stated that Brecht thinks “the action is determined by the character’s social function.” Boal continues on to explain how this is seen in works such as The Good Person of Szechwan, in which Shen Te creates an alter ego to perform a specific social function. I think this is exactly what the characters in the Metaverse are doing. Hiro helps create the Metaverse, an alternate world where he has a different social function, which inevitably ends up being protecting the place he helps build. I believe he protects the Metaverse from Snow Crash because that ultimately becomes his role, not because of moral considerations. For instance, on page 456 of Snow Crash, Hiro is about to use SnowScan, the “piece of software he wrote while he was killing time on the liferaft.” Programming is simply Hiro’s social role; it’s not something he did for the good of mankind.
I had a very similar argument to yours; that man created the Metaverse, and therefore is not determined by its environment like Hegel suggests. I think that even though man created this environment, his actions are based on the social forces of that environment(rather than characteristics he is born with or that come from the soul like Hegel would say).
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that "the action is determined by the character's social function" (Brecht) and related it to Hiro creating the Metaverse which is an alternate world where he has a different social function.