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I Am Legend (novel)

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This article is about Richard Matheson's novel. For the 2007 film adaptation, see I Am Legend (film).
I Am Legend
File:Iamlegend.jpg
AuthorRichard Matheson
LanguageEnglish
GenreHorror / Science fiction novel
PublisherOrb Books (1995 edition)
Publication date
1954
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Pages317 (1995 edition)
ISBNISBN 031286504X (1995 edition) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character

oI Am Legend is a 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson about the last man alive on the planet Earth.

Plot

The story takes place over a period of time between 1976 and 1978 in Southern California. The novel opens with the monotony and horror of the daily life of the protagonist, Robert Neville. Neville is apparently the only survivor of an apocalypse caused by a pandemic of bacteria, the symptoms of which are very similar to vampirism. Every day he makes repairs to his house, boarding up windows, stringing and hanging garlic, disposing of vampires' corpses on his lawn and going out to gather any additional supplies needed for hunting and killing more vampires.

Neville's psychological disposition is a significant element in the novel, and his struggles with despair imbue the character with intensity and gravitas. The author emphasizes that he is an ordinary, flawed man trying to deal with an extraordinary catastrophe. It also explores the loneliness of being by himself, excitement and hope of finding others, and disappointment over still finding himself alone. During the evenings, Neville drinks whiskey and listens to records. The records referenced by name sometimes reflect what is happening in the story, while at other times they simply reflect Neville's mood.

Much of the story is devoted to Neville's struggles to understand the plague that has infected everyone around him, and the novel details the progress of his discoveries. Instead of asking the reader to accept a supernatural explanation for vampire phenomena, the author strives to offer scientific basis for such symptoms as aversion to garlic, craving of fresh blood, and resistance to bullets but vulnerability to stakes and sunlight. The aversion to mirrors and crosses is classified as psychological. This represents one of the first attempts in popular culture to explain vampirism in the plot scientifically, something that has become commonplace in modern vampire movies.[citation needed] Neville hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by a vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama.

One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Neville spends weeks trying to win its trust and domesticate it. He eventually traps the terrified dog and wins it over, but it dies from the vampire infection a week later.

As the story progresses, it is revealed that some infected people have discovered a means to hold the disease at bay. However, the "still living" people appear no different from the true vampire during the day while both are immobilized in sleep. Thus, along with the vampires, Neville kills the still living people. He becomes a source of terror to the still living, since he can go around in daylight (which they can only do for a short length of time) and kill them while they sleep.

The still living send a girl named Ruth to spy on Neville, and they cleverly replicate Neville's relationship to the dog. Ruth pretends to be terrified of Neville at first sight, and rather than spend weeks trying to win her over, he attacks her and drags her back to his house. Though Neville is suspicious of her true nature and much of their interaction focuses on Neville's internal struggle between his deep seated paranoia and his hope, it is clear by his seizure of Ruth that the scales have tipped in favor of the irrational. Eventually Neville performs a blood test on her, revealing her true nature to him before she knocks him out. Ruth leaves a note telling him about the group of people like her, explaining that she was sent to spy and how monstrous he appears to them. Months later, the still living people attack, shooting Neville but taking him alive so that he can be executed in front of everyone in the new society.

Before he can be executed, Ruth provides him with an envelope of pills. Neville takes the pills so he will feel no pain when the still living execute him. He finally realizes why the new society of the living infected regards him as a monster: just as vampires were regarded as legendary monsters that preyed on the vulnerable humans in their beds, Neville has become a mythical figure that kills both vampires and the infected living while they are sleeping. He becomes a legend as the vampires once were, hence the title.

Adaptations

I Am Legend has been adapted to a feature-length film three times. The book has also been adapted into a graphic novel titled Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by Steve Niles and Elman Brown.

A nine-part reading of the Matheson novel performed by Angus McInnes was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and rebroadcast on BBC Radio 7 in December 2007.

The Last Man on Earth

Main article: The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)

In 1964, Vincent Price starred as Dr. Robert Morgan (rather than "Neville") in The Last Man on Earth. (An Italian production, the original title was L'Ultimo Uomo Della Terra). Matheson wrote the screenplay for this adaptation, but later rewrites were changed, because he did not wish his name to appear in the credits. As a result, Matheson is credited under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson." Nevertheless, the film is the most faithful of all three film adaptations, and adheres fairly closely to the book.

The Omega Man

Main article: The Omega Man

In 1971, a far different version appeared as The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston (as Robert Neville) and Anthony Zerbe. Matheson had no influence on the screenplay for this film; it deviates from the novel's story in several ways, completely removing the vampirical elements.

I Am Legend

Main article: I Am Legend (2007 film)

Will Smith stars in the film directed by Francis Lawrence, released on December 14th, 2007. This adaptation of the film changes more elements of the book than the past adaptations. Some big departures from the book include heavily toning down Robert Neville's vampire-hunting (in the film he captures them alive as laboratory subjects in his search for a cure). The manner of Neville's death is altered to allow a relatively upbeat ending. The Ben Cortman character of the book is reduced into a nameless recurring vampire leader who does not speak. The Ruth character is completely altered from the book to be an uninfected and immune human. The film also changes the origin of Neville's dog. The story is relocated from Los Angeles to New York City. It is ironic that this film adaptation retains the book's title 'I am Legend'; the film's rationale for the title is the diametric opposite of the one presented in the book (where Neville becomes a legendary figure for bringing salvation to humanity by developing a cure for the Infected, rather than for hunting and killing them).


See also

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