What's in a Name?

In his book The Philosophy of Literary Form, Kenneth Burke compares the concepts of the semantic and poetic ideal. The aim of the semantic ideal is "to evolve a vocabulary that gives the name and address of every event in the universe." (141) The poetic ideal on the other hand utilizes metaphor and layers of meaning to identify an event, object or person. This ideal would "derive its vision from the maximum heaping up of all these emotional factors, playing them off against one another, inviting them to reinforce and contradict one another, and seeking to make this active participation itself a major ingredient of the vision." (148) This contrast between the semantic and poetic ideal plays out in The Matrix in the context of names.

Do We Have a Deal Mr. Reagan?

Agent Smith and other "authority figures" within the matrix refer to the main character as "Mr. Anderson." This is a prime example of the computers emphasizing the semantic ideal. As Burke explains, the semantic meaning is like a postal address. It uniquely identifies a place or person without ambiguity. Like a bar-code or digital address, that name allows the computers to locate the main character and attempt to control him.

But the poetic ideal must also be accounted for in the movie. During the interrogation of the main character, Agent Smith remarks that the Anderson has been living two lives. In one, he is Thomas Anderson-- a respected citizen who helps his landlady take out her garbage. In the the other life (the poetic ideal), he is Neo-- a computer hacker that has broken any number of laws and evaded control.

And the key to evading computer control appears to be actualization of the poetic ideal. Because he operates as Mr. Anderson at the beginning of the movie, the agents are able to find him at work and apprehend him. After planting a bug in him, they release him thinking he is merely another citizen of the matrix. But Morpheus recognizes him as more. The main character is not just Neo. He is also The One. And Morpheus' goal is to help Neo realize that potential.

As further evidence of the symbolic importance of names and the poetic ideal, it is interesting to note that the agents never refer to Morpheus by his birth name. They only refer to him by his hacker/revolutionary alias. In short, he is no longer plugged into the matrix. There is no semantic ideal/name that will point uniquely to him. He may slip in and out of the system and transcend the computerized "laws of reality."

Similarly, when Cypher betrays the others, he meets with Agent Smith to work out a deal. He wants to leave the poetic ideal behind. He wants to be reinserted into the matrix and given a new life; a new semantic meaning. During the course of dinner, Agent Smith asks, "Do we have a deal, Mr. Reagan?" Cypher does not correct the agent regarding the use of his name-- further evidence of his willingness to reject his current existence.

My Name is Neo

The agent attempts the same strategy to impose control on Neo in their subway fight. Holding him on the tracks as a train approaches, he asks, "Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? It is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your approaching death. Good-bye, Mr. Anderson." The reply is as simple as it is profound: "My name is Neo."

And with that assertion comes power. Morpheus notes earlier in this scene that Neo is beginning to believe. Indeed, Neo is willing to fight the agent rather than run. Earlier, however, Neo had doubts. The oracle tells him that he has "the gift," but that he seems to be waiting for something. Neo does not fully believe that he is The One. Only during the successful attempt to rescue Morpheus does Neo begin to believe. In Morpheus' words, Neo goes beyond simply "knowing the path" and begins "walking the path." His apotheosis has begun and his true potential begins coming to the fore. By rejecting the semantic meaning-- the control-laden name-- he is able to embrace the layers of emotion and contradictions that truly make him unique. He seizes his "poetic ideal" and is able to transcend the programmed reality. He is able to control the matrix.