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Amira Heath
Professor G. McClure
Writing 39B
24 October 2015
Legend or Monster?
In New York Times Bestselling author, Richard Mathesons horror novel, I Am
Legend, written in 1954, Robert Neville is the sole survivor in a world now filled with
blood-sucking vampires. Initially, it is easy for the reader to assume that the vampires are
the monsters and Robert Neville is the victim. The reader is able to sympathize with
Neville because it is easy for one to insert themself in his position and understand why
hes reacting the way that he is. So automatically, the reader mirrors Mathesons
depiction of Neville in that the vampires are the intruders and are dangerous to Nevilles
life (Carroll 53). Eventually, Neville begins to display signs that he is losing his mind,
which makes him a less credible character, in turn making it harder for the reader to
distinguish whom the monster really is. However, as the plot progresses the reader is able
to conclude that Neville is the actual monster, trespassing in a world that is no longer his.
He is the outsider. With respect to the establishment of Robert Nevilles victimization,
Mathesons I Am Legend can be used as a metaphor to consider point-of-view as it
pertains to racism. During the 1950s, The Civil Rights Movement was at its peak with
laws in place, like the Jim Crow Law making segregation legal. Blacks were fighting for
equal rights and desegregation and as a result, many Americans were unaccepting of the
change and believed that Blacks were unequal and should be segregated. Robert Neville,
too, was unaccepting of the changes in his world, thus separating himself from the

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vampires and viewing them as unequal and undeserving of basic rights. These assertions
are evident throughout various passages in the novel displaying Nevilles violence and
hate that he continues to display towards the monsters and the way he continuously
isolates himself from them. Given these claims, it is evident that Matheson intended for
his work to serve as a mirror for society, so that people will realize their racist and
discriminatory actions that still remain prevalent today.
Matheson immediately establishes Nevilles isolation and vulnerability and implies
that the vampires pose a direct threat to him. . Similar to how whites feared that if schools
were integrated, then it posed a threat that the quality of their childrens education and
success may be tainted by the presence of blacks. Robert Neville was never sure when
sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back (Matheson
1). From there, the tone is set: him vs. them and at that assertion, the reader is automatically
able to distinguish the intentional distance that is placed between Neville and the vampires,
even though the vampires were once just like him. This directly represents how many whites
did everything in their power to distance themselves from blacks, even though they are both
human and both equal.
Through repetition and diction, Matheson begins to slowly strip Nevilles
credibility for the reader, making it more and more apparent that his perspective is one
that shouldnt be trusted. It begins to seem as though Neville is losing his mind and
developing a split personality. He brushed his teeth carefully and used dental floss. He
tried to take good care of his teeth because he was his own dentist now. Some things
could go to pot, but not his health, he thought. Then why dont you stop pouring alcohol
into yourself? He thought. Why dont you shut the hell up? He thought (10) The

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distinction of the characters thoughts illuminates this lost of credibility and begins to
make the reader question the validity of their first assumption. If the character is really
losing his mind then how does one really know who's the hero and whos the monster.
Being that the audience is only able to read from the perspective of Neville, they
begin to feel what he feels and thinks how he thinks, forming empathy for the
character with no bias because theres no way to know the perspectives of the said
monsters. A sound of helpless terror filled his throat. He didnt want to die. He might
have thought about it, even contemplated it. But he didnt want to die. Not like this (31).
With the abruptness of the sentences and the repetition, Matheson creates tension for the
audience and capitalizes on the threat of the vampires, heightening the emotions and
building expectation. With this build up of tension, Matheson is fulfilling an expectation
of the genre but also drawing the reader in and forming a connection while also
provoking thought and in a sense, causing the audience to mirror the perturbation of the
character. Making one anxious to know what is happening, why it is happening and what
is it come. Noel Carroll, one of the leading figures in contemporary philosophy of art, and
author of the remarkable scholarly essay The Nature of Horror, states Thatthe
audience'semotionalresponseismodeledonthatofcharactersprovidesuswithauseful
methodologicaladvantageinanalyzingtheemotionofarthorrorwecangroundour
conjecturesonobservationsofthewayinwhichcharactersrespondtothemonstersin
worksofhorror(Carroll53).Therefore, because Matheson determined that Neville feels
the vampires are dangerous and should be feared, the reader too feels that the vampires
are dangerous and should be feared. Carroll also suggests that, Within the context of the
horror narrative, the monsters are identified as impure and unclean. (54) Matheson uses

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certain adjectives when talking about the vampires that gives them animalistic qualities
and furthers their impureness as it pertains to Neville. Outside, they heard the bar being
lifted, and a howl of anticipation sounded in the night (Matheson 22). The placement of
outside and the comma the follows creates something like an imaginary wall that
firmly establishes the separation between Neville and the vampires just outside of his
door. The description a howl of anticipation directly illuminates how Neville views
them as less than him, less than human. This too mirrors how majority of America used
certain names when talking about blacks to separate them from everyone else, i.e. nigger,
colored, coon, etc.
It takes a while before Matheson even states exactly what/ who Neville was
hiding from, constantly using they or them, further driving a wedge between him and
them. This technique automatically makes the reader less familiar and detached from the
vampires because of the vagueness of the pronouns. Making it easier for the reader to feel
that Neville is the victim, and he is the one that should be sympathized with, for his
whole world has been destroyed by these impure and unclean creatures. And being that
Matheson only provides Nevilles experience through all of this and he is the only human
left, he has no one to tell him that what he is doing is morally wrong. The same way that
whites had the superior voice and felt that they had no other opinion/ voice in which they
considered equal to theirs, they felt that there was nothing wrong with their actions and
therefore, should not be changed.
Unfortunately, the violent and discriminatory actions that Neville displays in the
novel mirror many of the racist incidents that happen today. On June 17, 2015, the
Charleston Church Massacre took place, where eight blacks were murdered and one was

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injured at the hands of one white shooter, Dylann Roof. Before he allegedly opened fire
on members of a Bible study group at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Dylann
Roof sat with them. He might have prayed with them (Ellis, Shooting suspect in custody
after Charleston church massacre, CNN.com). The shooter, Roof, invaded the space of
the church members and just blatantly opened fired with the intention of killing the
victims. Neville also would enter the homes of the vampires, during daytime hours when
they were sleeping, and used them at his disposal, sometimes even killing them. He
found the woman in the bedroom. Without hesitation, he jerked back the covers and
grabbed her by the wrists. She grunted as he dragged her into the hallway and started
down the stairs (Matheson 28). Matheson uses blatant imagery for the reader to surely
pick up on the violence and carelessness Neville is displaying towards the vampires. He
regarded the vampires as tangible objects, completely disregarding their basic rights,
unremorsefully. It is at this point that Matheson begins to display Nevilles true character
so that the reader begins to realize that Neville isnt what he was initially perceived to be.
Matheson begins to really highlight the monstrous side of Neville when he
encounters Ruth, his actions from that point forward really solidifies that Neville is
indeed the monster. He had to drag her in Finally hed been compelled to take her in
the bedroom and lock her in (115). Mathesons choice of words criminalizing Neville in
a sense, considering the connotations of the words and also exemplifies his lack of
compassion, even towards another human. For example, drag implies that it was against
Ruths will. Lock her in, too, implies that it was against her will, but it also highlights
again his disregard for the rights of others. But, the use of the word compelled makes it
seem as though the character has no other choice, justifying Nevilles actions even though

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theyre wrong. Similar to the 1896 Supreme Court case H.A. Plessy v. J.H. Ferguson,
that sanctioned legal separation of the races by its ruling which held that separate but
equal facilities did not violate the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment (Brown v.
Board at Fifty: With an Even Hand). This ruling justified whites discriminatory and
racist actions towards black, making them legally ok, though morally wrong.
Throughout the whole novel, Matheson uses Neville as a metaphor to show the
audience how reluctant we as humans are to change and their fear of the unknown.
Robert Neville, a man living in the same house he did before the plague, and though his
life was different, still found a routine to stick to everyday. Completely unwilling to try to
learn anything about the vampires, except what killed them. During the 1950s, majority
of whites didnt even recognize the voices of blacks. None of their wants or needs
mattered. It was solely about keeping the system the way it was: blacks on one side,
whites on the other- and that was the end all, be all. Whites werent interested in coexisting and neither was Robert Neville. Neville did everything in his power to stay
separate from the vampires, as did the whites. Matheson left the clarity of the antagonist
and protagonist ambiguous, because he wanted the reader to be able to look his argument
for the bigger picture of society. It was so much right or wrong as it was a differencing of
opinions. Robert Neville didnt know what it was like to coexist among the vampires
because he never tried. Just as whites didnt know what would happen if whites and
blacks were integrated.

Works Cited

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"Brownv.BoardatFifty:WithanEvenHandACenturyofRacial
Segregation,18491950."ACenturyofRacialSegregation1849

1950.N.p.,n.d.Web.08Nov.2015
Ellis,Ralph,EvanPerez,andDanaFord."ShootingSuspectin
CustodyafterCharlestonChurchMassacre."Weblogpost.Cnn.com.
N.p.,n.d.Web.
Matheson,Richard.IAmLegend.NewYork:ORB,1954.Print.
Carroll,Noel."TheNatureofHorror."(n.d.):n.pag.Print.