Flashing Lights (Visual Imagery)
The novel frequently describes experiences through images of flashing lights, be they in cyberspace or in the real world. This imagery helps convey the frenetic, disorienting, fast-paced lifestyle that Chiba City demands from Case. Stimulation is all around him and he has to always be on his feet in order to keep up.
Dissociation and Confusion (Tactile Imagery)
Case experiences many bouts of dissociation and confusion as he "jacks" between cyberspace and the real world, which is described through his physical sensations and body. The disorienting experience gains a tangible dimension through description that relates it to Case's physical, tactile relationship with the world.
Riviera's Snake (Visual Imagery)
Case witnesses Riviera conjure a hologram of a snake that delivers drugs in the form of venom into his arteries. This image is disturbing yet effective at demonstrating Riviera's ability to create holograms—a power he later uses for evil and to taunt others, such as Molly.
Villa Straylight (Visual Imagery)
Villa Straylight is described as a series of chambers and tunnels, intricate and foreboding in a Gothic style with narrow curves. This description allows the reader to understand the space as one that is claustrophobic and constricting, which heightens the tension surrounding Case and Molly's presence within it.
