Character Analysis
Just Call Me Tom
Okay, let's assume you've just finished watching The Matrix. You probably think it's about some normal everyday Joe who gets caught up in a crazy mess of things because he is destined… by fate. (Dun dun dunnn).
It's a typical story where the protagonist goes from being a nobody to a somebody, and Keanu is just bland enough to fit into that "everyman" role so it totally makes sense. Does Keanu Reeves only have one facial expression? Seriously?
Rebel Rebel
It's not quite that cut and dried, however. Sure, Neo (a.k.a. Thomas A. Anderson) is in a reality he never knew existed and who has been told it's his destiny to save mankind: he's a little out of his element.
But think back to the original Neo, or maybe we should call him Thomas. Thomas is a world class hacker who, according to Agent Smith, is:
SMITH: guilty of virtually [pun intended?] every computer crime we have a law for.
We even get to see Thomas in action, selling some illegal disk to Choi for two thousand big ones. Not exactly petty crime considering he has a whole stack of these minidisks in his secret book. Thomas has been searching for Morpheus and the answer to the question "What is the Matrix" for years.
He isn't just a nobody who works at a software company; he's a hacker. He is curious and rebellious by nature, and it is these traits that make him a prime candidate for being what Matrix fans call a "redpill".
Yeah, let's talk a little more about Neo's rebellious side. If you were ever randomly detained by scary looking federal agent dudes who you've been warned about, by a mysterious man you've never met, your first reaction probably wouldn't be to say:
NEO: How 'bout I give you the finger [gives him the finger] and you give me my phone call?
Yeah, Thomas doesn't mess around. Even when he's in the car with people he's spent years searching for, when Switch tells him that:
SWITCH: Right now there's only one rule: our way, or the highway.
Thomas actually goes to get out of the car. He would literally rather bail on the completion of a years-long project than be told what to do.
But Trinity pulls him back into the car by appealing again to his curiosity, his natural need to search and his tiredness of the same, mundane life he's been living. She tells him:
TRINITY: You have been down there Neo, you know that road. You know exactly where it ends and I know that's not where you want to be.
Yup—Neo knows the mundane road. He has a boss that lectures him about being on time and informs him that he has a problem with authority. So although Neo is a newbie when it comes to being The One, he's not wet behind the ears when it comes to being Thomas, a rebel with a cause.
Neo 101
When we first meet Neo, he wakes up in a womblike vat of gooey fun with a bunch of umbilical-y machine cords feeding him nutrients Soylent Green style. We dare you to find a more visceral symbol of rebirth.
Right away, Neo's abilities are clear. He "trains" for 10 hours straight, taking in massive amounts of uploaded data (Tank even calls him a machine, lolz). Then he's way faster than normal fighting Morpheus; Mouse comments that his neuro-kinetics are
MOUSE: Way above normal.
But although Neo is way above normal when it comes to absorbing info, he's not getting an A++ when it comes to having faith in himself. Even though he is quite quickly able to outdo Morpheus in combat, he fails the jump program. This harkens back to another time he failed a height-related task— when he tried to make it to the scaffolding before he had swallowed the red pill. We can hear him muttering to himself as he steps out the window:
NEO: Why is this happening to me? What did I do? I'm nobody. I didn't do anything. I'm gonna die.
Buck up, Neo! You're not nobody. You're The One. Jeez.
Neo's lack of faith in himself is mirrored by his disbelief in fate (or destiny or prophecy or whatever you want to call it). Before offering him the choice of pills, Morpheus asks Neo if he believes in fate. Neo responds:
NEO: No… because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
The Oracle also reminds Neo that he doesn't believe in any of this "fate crap."
But then, when the Oracle's prophecy seems to come true and Neo has a choice between his life or Morpheus' Neo acquires a strange new belief. He says:
NEO: I believe in something… I believe I can bring him back.
Neo's faith is faith in himself; faith gained through the Oracle's prophecy.
Neo's Timeline