Neo
A man who prefers a hostile reality to a comfortable world, and refuses to let anyone, machine or prophet, write his life for him.
film · 1999
Thomas Anderson, a programmer by day and a hacker by night under the name Neo, has long sensed that something is wrong with the world. When Morpheus reveals that this world is a simulation, he chooses to wake up from it without knowing what he will lose. A character of apprenticeship, he moves from suspicion to sight: he learns that the simulation's rules are only rules.
Justification
Neo takes the red pill blind, on the sole promise of the truth, and does not go back on that choice when reality turns out to be a desert, even though he throws up aboard the Nebuchadnezzar on learning what has become of the world. His search in fact comes before the revelation: as a hacker, he was already looking for what the Matrix is.
The two pills scene · The loading program: the desert of the real · Neo's collapse aboard the Nebuchadnezzar
Justification
When Morpheus asks him whether he believes in fate, Neo says no, because he does not like the idea that he is not in control of his life. His actions follow his words: .
The first meeting with Morpheus · The visit to the Oracle · The decision to rescue Morpheus
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Justification
His training is an apprenticeship in mastery: Morpheus teaches him that some of the simulation's rules can be bent and others broken, and the spoon boy at the Oracle's shows him that it is oneself that bends, not the spoon. An inner lesson, but one that turns into power over the world: Neo does not merely discern what depends on him, he pushes back its limit.
The sparring session with Morpheus · The visit to the Oracle: the spoon boy
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Justification
His boss reproaches him for his problem with authority and his belief that the rules do not apply to him. : a revolt against domination rather than a worked-out anarchism, with no alternative order in view.
The office scene at Metacortex · The final phone call