The effect the technological advancements has on our lives
The action in the novel takes place in a distant future where technology advanced to such a state that the biological matter and the mechanical parts became one. Some characters in the novel became so consumed by their own inventions that they literally became one with them, becoming bound by wires and cables and confined to homes and cars. The animals were affected as well and some people invented creatures that were half animals and half robots, enhancing them. The idea transmitted through this novel is that no matter how one may try to keep humanity and the technological advancements separated, at some point they will become one. The fusion is gradual but it does exist and in a way it is inevitable. Thus, since we cannot stop the process from happening, we must learn how to control it before it becomes uncontrollable.
The American society
Another theme in the novel analyzes the way the American society functions and the way it focuses on consumerism. The narrator points out that a person is frequently bombarded with ads promoting various products and that there is no way a normal person could escape them. the people find themselves in a trap, shown things that could improve their lives and being told that without them there is no way they can be happy. Thus, the society presented in the novel is bent on becoming as rich as possible and on accumulating as much wealth as possible in a short period of time, thinking that those things will bring them happiness.
Religion
While the novel is set in the future, the narrator focuses a lot on religion and on the ways religion influenced society as a whole. Hiro names religion as being the first virus to infect humankind, shaping the way society thinks and making them act in various ways considered as being irrational. Hiro compares Snow Crash, a well-known virus such as herpes and religion and reaches the conclusion that they are almost the same, in the sense that they manifest in the same way and that they develop in the same way.
