I Am Legend | Study Guide

Richard Matheson

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Study Guide
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Course Hero. "I Am Legend Study Guide." Course Hero. 24 May 2019. Web. 20 June 2021. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/I-Am-Legend/>.

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Course Hero. (2019, May 24). I Am Legend Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved June 20, 2021, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/I-Am-Legend/

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Course Hero. "I Am Legend Study Guide." May 24, 2019. Accessed June 20, 2021. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/I-Am-Legend/.

Footnote

Course Hero, "I Am Legend Study Guide," May 24, 2019, accessed June 20, 2021, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/I-Am-Legend/.

Overview

Author

Richard Matheson

Year Published

1954

Type

Novel

Genre

Horror, Science Fiction

Perspective and Narrator

I Am Legend is told from the third-person limited point of view, from the perspective of the protagonist Robert Neville. Inner dialogue and flashbacks, also from Neville's perspective, reveal the backstory of war, plague, and the rise of vampirism in a postapocalyptic world.

Tense

I Am Legend is written in the past tense.

About the Title

The title I Am Legend echoes the final line of the book and is a fitting epitaph for Robert Neville. In the old world, vampires were horrific legendary creatures that hunted the living by night. In the new world, which vampires have inherited, they are hunted by the last living man. He is the legendary terror who kills them as they sleep.

Diagrams

Spouses Neighbors and enemies Lovers and enemies Helps Daughter Daughter Robert Neville Last living human; vampire hunter Ben Cortman Infected with vampire germ; terrorizes Neville nightly Virginia Infected with vampire germ; comes after Neville for his blood Ruth Spy for new society of infected humans; betrays Neville Kathy Child; dies from the plague The dog Survives plague and vampires; later becomes sick and dies
Character Map
timeline
Timeline
plot-diagram
Plot Diagram

Summary

This study guide for Richard Matheson's I Am Legend offers summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.

Characters

Robert Neville Ruth Virginia Ben Cortman

Symbols

Music The Library The Dog

Themes

Survival at the Expense of Humanity Loneliness Persistent Memory Identity The Nature of Legends
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Context
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