I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
December 15, 2007
I Am Legend is a pilgrim of it's kind (the suspense/thriller genre). Besides Dracula, Matheson had nothing to really base his ideas off of. He was the inspirer of big names such as Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
In his book, you can see why. The book has two constant emotions: the boredom of a quotidian exsistance, and loneliness. Almost the entire book is exclusive to his thoughts. Even in his rage and implusive actions, you sympathize with him. He is merely surviving, and honestly, almost with no reason or purpose. It is a tragedy; it is a view of the human mind, when put in awful circumstances; it is a book you can't put down. The book has a quiet undertone, it's theme rests solely on absence. The absence of his wife, his solace, and companion. The vacant child's room is a metaphor for the void in his heart for his daughter. Tragedy strikes this man more than I would think is bearable.
The last sentence, "I am Legend," speaks volumes. In those final moments, he puts himself in his enemies shoes. Think about it: if you had heard that there was someone on the loose who seemed human, but was not, he could go out into the daylight (almost invincible!), and he attacked your people, doing science experiments on them, killing them with stakes and leaving them out to die, you would be shocked and afraid for your safety as they were! Just as "vampires" were a "thing in the night", the legend that children scare themselves at sleepovers with, all of the sudden, Robert Neville realizes he is that "thing"! Social norms are only based on current majority. Humans are the "norm" for the earth now, just as dinosaurs were millions of years ago. It's normal for us to drive cars now, but it wasn't a few hundred years ago. Things change. And as Robert Neville sees, the last of his kind will die by him, and he will become Legend.
Touching, riveting, and satisfying, I Am Legend is a book you won't forget easily. I must warn you, it will bring residual emotions, long after that last page.
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