Death of the Author by Roland Barthes explains the differences between an author and a reader of a piece of text. In Neuromancer, Case the dynamic character progressively changes through out the book from being an reader to an author. In other words he is becoming into a character that takes charge of his own life and is slowly breaking away from being a puppet. He is like a puppet because he is controlled by Armitage because Armitage implanted some toxic sacs in his system that does not allow him to get high. Case does not want to die so he listens to Armitage and follows his orders for the sake of his life." Armitage closed the door and crossed the room, to stand in front of Case. Your a lucky boy, Case. You should Thank me." " Should I? Case blew noisily on his coffee." The phrase that Armitge says which is " you should Thank me" gives him an arrogant tone and makes him seem if he is a God that did Case a favor. In this case, Case becomes a reader because he is given a lower position in the book. He is bossed around and has really no say in what he does or will do. Armitage is the creator, scripter and God like figure within Neuromancer that dictates what Case does. There are instances in the story where Case wants to break out of being a puppet or underdog. In part3 Case kills Julius Deane. This action shows Cases resistance towards Deane. Case declares," I guess I'm not in hurry. I guess it's your show. But all this shit, you know, it's getting kind of...old." The first sentence makes Case seem passive because he uses the word "guess" and makes him seem unsure about himself which gives him a quality of reader, rather than an author. He says the word "show" as if what Deane was doing is a show, a show where he is the director where he decided who does what and where everything goes, like a God. The second line shows his resistance towards Deane. He seems more sure with himself and it also shows that he does not want to be bossed around anymore. Case is going to explode at some point because he being oppressed.
