Mirkhanian

Megan Mirkhanian
Professor Greg McClure
Writing 39B
6 November 2015
Historical Context on I Am Legend (RA: Second Draft)
Introduction: In Richard Mathesons I Am Legend, the main character Robert Neville tells the
story from his point of view, constructing the audience to relate to and build sympathy for
Neville. Neville is a protagonist in disguise, a character designed to carry interest, engagement,
but who will become a means of misleading the reader. Because the novel is written from

Megan Mirkhanian 12/9/2015 10:59 AM

Comment [1]: Realized I mixed up
protagonist with antagonist.

Nevilles point of view, the audience sees Neville as the protagonist, and the audience doesnt
understand the viewpoint and the message the other characters try to convey. This idea that
Matheson emphasizes on is that in an argument no side is correct or can be seen as the
protagonist until each side talks face to face. This idea correlates to everyday life. In I Am
Legend, Neville, who is seen as the protagonist at the beginning of the novel, is engaged in
creating monstrous plans, such as figuring out how to brutally get rid of the vampires, to brutally
testing the female vampires. Although the audience might feel sympathy for Neville who is the
only survivor from his breed, at the end of the novel after Neville meets with his enemies and
understands their point of view, he realizes that he is the monster himself in this new society.
Neville recognizes that the vampires want to rebuild society, but he is destroying it for them.
Robert Neville is seen as a protagonist in disguise because he spends time looking for
ways to kill the ordinary or the vampires. Matheson expresses the situation using Nevilles point
of view, making the audience relate to the human of the story and not the vampires of the story.
If Matheson were to write the novel with the vampires point of view, Neville would be seen as a

Megan Mirkhanian 12/9/2015 11:00 AM

Comment [2]: Complete change I final
essay. In this second draft I still make
Neville the monster, but in my final essay,
Neville is seen as the protagonist.

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monster, a man trying to destroy society, from the start of the book. At the start of the novel,
Neville is seen hanging necklaces of garlic on the window and uses every method to keep the
vampires away from him. He spends countless hours reading books relating on how to get rid of
the new society. He studies his ways to murder, such as learning that strong sunlight kills many
germs rapidly (Matheson 81). From Nevilles viewpoint, Neville and the audience believe that
Neville is the ordinary person in the new society. According to Noel Carroll, a prominent writer
of modern philosophy of art, in his essay The Nature of Horror, he mentions that in examples of
horror the monster is an extraordinary character in our ordinary world (Carroll 52). Neville is
not an ordinary in society, allowing the reader to think twice to if Neville is the protagonist or the
protagonist in disguise. Also, by Neville spending immeasurable hours on learning ways of
murder, this makes Neville look like a first-degree murderer.
Neville engages in the theories he learned about vampires by testing it on female vampires.
Matheson makes Neville look innocent. From Nevilles point of view, he is trying to figure out
how to get rid of what he believes are monsters, but who are actually the dominant society,
which is now the ordinary society. But his innocence is carried away when he found the women
in the bedroom (Matheson 39), using them as part of his research of how to kill the ordinary
vampires of society. For instance, he got a specimen of blood from a women (Matheson 86), in
order to test and figure out how to put an end to this dominating society. Matheson makes it
seem as if Neville is the protagonist, looking for a cure, but in reality he is in disguise because he
is actually raping these women in their sleep. If Matheson allowed the women who Neville tests
to express their point of view, Neville would be seen as a murderer.
Once all Nevilles deliberate planning of murder is forgone, Matheson introduces Ruth, a
vampire Neville makes contact with, allowing the reader to understand what the vampires

Megan Mirkhanian 12/9/2015 11:02 AM

Comment [3]: Good flow. I used the
method from the evidence and structure
assignment done in class.

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message is, through Ruths words. Here Neville understands that he is the monster and that the
vampires are no longer the extraordinary. When Neville meets Ruth, he begins to understand that
he is a murderer. In the letter Ruth sent to Neville about warning him about the vampires that are
after him, Ruth expresses how sooner or later [theyll] be too well organized, and nothing I say
will stop the rest from destroying(Matheson 155) Neville. This is when Ruths point of view is
changing Nevilles perspective on who is the monster. Ruth also mentioned in the letter to
Neville, on how she did have a husband, but he killed him (Matheson 154). With Neville
realizing that he has killed the ordinary characters, he realizes that he is the murderer. Matheson
reveals that everyones point of view is different, but when communicating with one another,
issues of who is right or wrong can be solved. Collaborating with one another is key, rather than
murder. At the end of the novel, Matheson portrays on how Neville realizes that he did not
belong to the new people of the earth (Matheson 170). The simple talk with Ruth, allowed
Neville to understand her viewpoint, making Neville understand that he is the extraordinary in
this ordinary world.
Matheson emphasizes on the message on how in society there is much violence because
people do not allow their enemy to share their viewpoint. Collaboration is not used. A simple
talk can settle an argument. If one does not take time to understand their enemies viewpoint,
then an agreement between the two will never be compromised. This topic relates to everyday
life. In todays society and also back in the days, wars have been fought. The wars could have
been easily prevented with both sides congregated to listen to each standpoint. Mathesons text
can be seen in present day. It can correlate to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Both
sides are brutally killing one another, with both sides believing they are correct. Communication
is key, listening to one viewpoint is not proper and can lead the listener to thinking the

Megan Mirkhanian 12/9/2015 11:03 AM

Comment [4]: Learned to not summarize
the essay in the last paragraph, but to
instead introduce topics that I was not able
to write about in the essay.

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protagonist with a disguise is actually innocent. Therefore, Matheson tries to convey that by
listening to both points of views from each character, amity can be made.

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Works Cited

Freeman, Will. "ISIS Is Forcing Thousands Of Christians From Their Homes In Iraq."
ThinkProgress ISIS Is Forcing Thousands Of Christians From Their Homes In Iraq
Comments. N.p., 24 July 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Matheson, Richard. "Chapter 16." I Am Legend. N.p.: n.p., 1954. 129. Print.
Matheson, Richard. "January 1976 (Chapter 1)." I Am Legend. N.p.: n.p., 1954. 18. Print.
Richards, Adam. "McCarthyism and the Red Scare: Definition, Causes & Effects." Study. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Weber, Bruce. "Richard Matheson, Writer of Haunted Science Fiction and Horror, Dies at 87."
The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 June 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Wood, Graeme. "What ISIS Really Wants." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 15 Feb.
2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.