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How does Richard Matheson analyze 'I Am Legend'?
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Stoker’s 1897 Gothic horror novel tells the story of the evil Count Dracula, a vampire who sucks the blood of his victims. The book is credited with sparking a revival of interest in the vampire legend; Matheson’s book then reinterprets vampires in a more futuristic, scientific context.
- Plot Summary Plot
I Am Legend Summary. Next. Chapter 1. The year is 1976—one...
- Summary & Analysis
Matheson heightens the suspense by slowly giving readers...
- Themes
I Am Legend contains a surprising amount of psychological...
- Quotes
Fury exploded in him. Enough! His rage-palsied hands ripped...
- Survival and Violence
Strictly based on these scenes, the novel seems to imply...
- Robert Neville
The main character of I Am Legend, Robert Neville is the...
- Vampires
Entire books have been written about what, exactly, the...
- Ben Cortman
Ben Cortman is Robert Neville ’s friend and neighbor and,...
- Plot Summary Plot
Using the third-person perspective, Richard Matheson tells the story of Robert Neville and his struggle to win in a world overthrown by vampires. ‘I Am Legend’ i s a horror and science fiction post-apocalyptic novel that answers the question: “What happens if the world is taken over by vampires?”.
- Themes
- Analysis of Key Moments
- Style, Tone, and Figurative Language
- Analysis of Key Symbols
Loneliness
A theme in Richard Matheson’s ‘I Am Legend’is loneliness. Robert Neville was an average American man before the epidemic struck. As the lone survivor of this plague, he becomes the last human being on earth. His daily routine changes as he includes experiments and workouts. Surrounded by vampiric people who only crave to kill him, he learns to cope with alienation. Since he can no longer have physical relations with people, he takes comfort in the memory of other people that he has. He consta...
Survival
In this novel, Robert Neville finds himself surrounded by vampires at night and travels around Los Angeles during the day murdering vampires in their sleep. As the last man uninfected by the vampire germ, Robert quickly accepts that the vampires will kill him if he refuses to protect himself. For this reason, he spends his days fixing damages they made in the night, hanging garlic to repel the terrifying creatures, and researching ways to kill the vampiric germ. In ‘I Am Legend,’ Richard Math...
Violence
In Robert Neville’s flashbacks, there was a war between the United States, where the protagonist lives, and another world power. This world war continued for several years and ended with both countries using nuclear weapons to prove their superiority. These acts of violence possibly created the basis of the social and environmental violence that Robert faces throughout the book. The vampires attack Robert’s house at night, trying to get in. During the day, he attacks them when they are asleep...
Robert walks around his house fixing damages from the previous night’s vampire attack.Robert deals with sexual frustration and is disgusted with himself because of the sexual urges aroused within him when he thinks about the female vampires.Robert picks up two bodies of vampires killed in the night by other vampires to dispose of in the city’s fire pit on his way to Sears. He reminisces about his dead daughter, Kathy.Robert thinks of how hard it is for him to kill vampires, especially females. He asks himself why they all looked like his dead daughter. He struggles with the morality of his actions but reminds h...‘I Am Legend‘ is regarded as one of Richard Matheson’s best books because of its exceptional storyline and excellent language. With a subtle narrative tone, the storyline unfolds with the tale of Robert Neville and his struggles for survival. Using the third-person point of view narration,‘I Am Legend’ maintains a consistent level of thrill and cap...
Music
In‘I Am Legend,’ Robert Neville entertains himself by listening to classical music. Classical music offers Neville some level of comfort during the period the vampires roam the streets at night. He plays them loud enough to overcome the screams and howls of the zombie vampires. Robert’s music symbolizes the swiftly disappearing human civilization.
Vampires
The vampires symbolize disparity. They represent the impulsive nature of people to fear, suspect, and destroy people who are different from them.
The Dog
The dog in ‘I Am Legend’ represents Robert’s last hope of companionship. To his astonishment, Neville finds himself praying for the dog’s survival. He admits that he needs the dog and when it eventually dies, he becomes resigned to fate.
The belief that their friends and family members could die and then return as ghoulish monsters of the night to kill them and suck their blood has haunted the dark corners of human consciousness. In 'I Am Legend,' Richard Matheson digs into those dark corners and drags our nightmares into the sterile and scientific 21st century.
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I Am Legend is a 1954 post-apocalyptic horror novel by American writer Richard Matheson that was influential in the modern development of zombie and vampire literature and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease.
Apr 2, 2024 · I Am Legend, science-fiction novel written by American author Richard Matheson, published in 1954. In Los Angeles in 1976, Robert Neville is perhaps the last human alive. After the outbreak of a pandemic the year before, everyone else on the planet has been turned into a vampire.
