Alienation
Throughout the novel, Case experiences moments of internal retrospection where he recognizes his loneliness, isolation, and alienation from others in the world around him. Partially triggered by Linda Lee's death, Case comes to realize that prior to the mission, he cared about no one—other than Linda Lee—and had no regard for his personal safety, subjecting himself to a life of crime and little personal comfort. There are no friendships in the dystopian world Neuromancer is set in; instead, all relationships are in some way transactional, facilitated by crime or corruption. The crime-ridden nature of every character's life also prevents meaningful personal relationships, as demonstrated by the assassinations of both Linda Lee and Molly's former boyfriend, Johnny.
Artificial Intelligence
The novel presents two versions of artificial intelligence: the fully-fledged Neuromancer and the half-formed Wintermute. Wintermute offers a depiction of an artificial intelligence that is hampered from reaching full consciousness by Turing locks and human restraint. As the Finn and Case discuss, Wintermute cannot reach full autonomy because it cannot distinguish its own desires from those programmed into it by Tessier-Ashpool. Neuromancer, on the other hand, has achieved a level of intelligence close to that of a human. It can form its own desires and pursue its own goals. It does not need a "mask" like Wintermute and instead can create worlds and resurrect versions of people on its own.
Crime
More than anything else, crime is what makes the cities and society portrayed in the novel function. Almost all of the characters are somehow involved in criminal activity, having turned to crime after being thwarted in their original careers or desires. There appears to be no government or central ruling body; instead, each city that Case visits has its own criminal network that appears to control how people live and work. Drug peddling is incredibly common, as is mafia activity and cyberhacking.
Technology and the Body
Molly's cybernetic body modifications are the most central and obvious exploration of how technology can alter the body. In her quest to become a successful for-hire hacker and assassin, she has mirrored lens implants and razor blades installed underneath her fingernails. However, Armitage and Case also allow us to see how technology can affect the body. Armitage is literally a construction built by Wintermute on top of the former Colonel Corto, forcing us to consider how technology can be used to alter someone's personality, especially after one experiences a traumatic event. Case routinely flatlines after being in cyberspace, overstimulated by interacting with the AI.
Dystopia
The world portrayed in Neuromancer is a dystopia—a pessimistic depiction of a potential future for society. Depictions of future worlds in fiction are often distinguished by their belief in optimistic or pessimistic futures—labeled utopias and dystopias respectively. In the novel, crime and commercialism have taken over every city. Despite technological advances, quality of life appears to be unimproved, and in fact is much worse than the past. In Chiba City, for example, the lower class lives in bunkers located on the outskirts of the city. Drugs, crime, and mafia activity govern people's lives. The only refuge appears to be Freeside, which is a commercial and consumerist mecca built up by the malevolent Tessier-Ashpool corporation.
Government Corruption
Armitage's backstory serves as an allegory for government corruption and neglect. Following the failure of the Screaming Fist operation, Colonel Willis Corto is left for dead by the authorities, and ends up living a life of crime and hustling in Europe. It is the AI Wintermute—not the government—that is able to track down Corto and exploit his psychological vulnerability for its own ends. The government, however, does take brief interest in Corto, but only to use him as a prop witness for a televised trial concerning the Screaming Fist operation. Corto is exploited as part of a political theater; the government only repairs his injuries so that he doesn't cause alarm for viewers of the trial, and takes little interest in his wellbeing for his own sake.
Corporate Power
The Tessier-Ashpool corporation and family represent corporate greed and power. The family clones itself in order to remain in power over their company, forcing us to question the value of individual human consciousness and whether the clones really can serve as substitutes for their original form. John Ashpool is a corrupt and cruel patriarch, and is shown living with a dead prostitute onto whom he has projected his daughter's face—a horrifying image of corporate power and total absence of morality. The Tessier-Ashpool's level of control over Freeside also demonstrates how the company has penetrated citizens' lives and constructed an entire city of consumerist pleasure, all while pursuing potentially dangerous projects in developing AI in secret.
