Introduction to “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story
“The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story could invite various interpretations. Written by John Shirley and William Gibson presents several characters including a lecturer of linguistics and a robot type of lady after whom he leaves his job and home but does not find her in the physical world. The story belongs to the new genre of cyberpunk, but it still misses several of its major features. The characters except Coretti are not only nameless but also sans identity. Their entire daily routine comprises visiting bars, drinking, rhythm-less dancing, and absurd conversation. The complete story presents a few days routine of the professor in a way that he is like a robot who is after robots, who are drinking but not feeling drunk, eating nothing, and engaged in a mechanical routine. Their identities stay the same, but their clothes, styles, and features change abruptly that they seem to him of a “kind”, he himself is. “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story not only shows signs of a cyberpunk story through its nameless characters but also through technical language and sexual seduction.
Opening of “The Belonging Kind” as a Syberpunk Story
When “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story opens, there is mention of bars in which Coretti is after a girl he has seen once. The first time he notices her in the Backdoor Lounge. In fact, “he hadn’t ever had a girl like the one”, he has seen there whose dress is “the green of young corn” and hair is “coppery.” He instantly falls into her magical appeal and experiences some mechanical type of erection. After this, he goes ahead with his chase which takes him into another bar where he drinks too much. He watches her with a young man but when he chases both, he sees her dress as “green foam, fizzing, dissolving, gone” like that of aliens. He could not sense that he is after aliens, but he carries on chasing them throughout the story. His chase then gets prolonged so much so that he loses his job and even his residence. He rents a new room and continues chasing the girl and the young man with her in Lothario, Waylons, cabs, and hotels. This becomes his routine. There is mention of her name as Antoinette but not of the young man who has been depicted with only the name of his shirt which is different each time.
Language of “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story
The language used by Shirley and Gibson in “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story shows it as highly technical or comprises technical and mechanical jargon. Even human emotions and acts have been represented through this language. When Coretti first sees that lady, he sees her “through the wrong end of a powerful telescope” which shows how far ahead of time the characters are placed. He might have seen her on some different planet. Then the writers have used words like “coppery” and “spikes” for her hair. They have also described her dress in digital terms “fizzing, dissolving, gone” exactly like her who “vanished there, into robotic flashing.” Then finally, he concludes that though he is an eavesdropper himself, this woman is “not a woman, this human wallpaper” that he is after. It means that he is either after shadows or he is placed in the far future when a human would have the power to move like shadows and then disappear. However, the interesting point is that he himself experiences feelings such as “cellular relief” while his heart throbs like “wipers.” This type of language shows that this story was heralding the more digitally stuffed novels or stories when interpreting “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story.
Sexuality in “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story
The third point is that sexual seduction has changed in this cyberspace of the story. The story shows Coretti going after the girl and when he finds her in a bar, he feels an erection. This has strangely occurred to him that she would know it and it was a fact that “he was startled to realize that he had one to hide.” Then when he found her with another young man, they were sitting with their hips touching each other which made him jealous of them. These sexually appealing parts dominate his mind from the very first of the story to the last and even when he chases her and sees that her “breasts had become slightly larger and her hips a shade heavier.” And very important thing takes place that now alcohol does not make him intoxicated. By the end, he feels that they are of its own kind like him, and he is also like them as his wife told him very early that he looks like a Martian. He experiences a strange type of copulation that even hips touching was sending “slow orgasmic waves” in him in which he felt that he was “two men” as if his other part was after her while real was with him. Its evidence is his last comment “like a real human being” showing the idea of sexuality in “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story.
Conclusion
In short, “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story shows not only its nameless characters but also the use of language as a representation of the cyberpunk genre. The character except Coretti stays nameless. Even the real name of the girl has not been mentioned though Annoinette has been mentioned at some places by the authors. It has also been observed the language has been merged with technical jargon including emotions and passions. To top it all, the hero, Coretti experiences not only erection but also copulation and ejac**lation in a strange way that could be called as if it has been happening in cyberspace. Therefore, on the basis of these elements, “The Belonging Kind” as a cyberpunk story confirms its place in this genre.
Works Cited
Shirley, John & Gibson, William. “The Belonging Kind.” Cyberpunk Project. n.d. Web. 08 March. 2022.
Relevant Questions about “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story
- How does the narrative style and the portrayal of a futuristic, dystopian society in “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story” align with the typical characteristics of the Cyberpunk genre, such as the exploration of advanced technology and its societal implications?
- What role do the themes of social stratification, corporate control, and resistance to authority play in “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story,” and how do they contribute to the overarching narrative and world-building within the Cyberpunk genre?
- How does “The Belonging Kind” as a Cyberpunk Story” address the idea of human augmentation and the blurring of the line between humans and machines, and in what ways does it draw upon the traditional Cyberpunk fascination with transhumanism and its ethical dilemmas?
