I Am Legend

            I have read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It is about a person named Robert Neville who struggles to survive in a world of vampires. He is the only human left on the planet; everyone else is dead, undead, or infected. During the day, he goes around scavenging for supplies and killing vampires while they are asleep. During the night, he seeks refuge in his fortified home. His family is all dead, he, himself, had killed them because they had turned into vampires. Everyday was the same, until he decided that he needed to take action. He discovers that the vampire plague is actually caused by an invincible germ. The germ cannot be fought off and it slowly takes over the entire body to the point where you aren’t alive anymore; the disease will then have total control. His spirits have risen from encountering a completely living dog that had survived the vampire attacks. With his hope renewed, he then attempts to search for a cure, but he is just one person… and he’s fighting against the entire world.

            Robert shows that if you are determined and that you have hope, you have a chance to achieve even the most impossible goals. He may be the only human left in existence, but he believes he has the chance to make things right again. He is gifted with immunity to the disease, though it is also a curse to even be alive to experience these things. His body has received a greatly weakened version of the vampire disease. He has miraculously fought it off and his body has built up antibodies against it so he will be unable to ever receive the disease again. Robert's aim is to live; he does not intend to give his life up to be happier. He is haunted everyday by the vampires undead or alive that gathers around his house every night, and by his past. His old, normal life has been ruined and is replaced by literally a living nightmare. Despite this, he believes that one day, he will find someone like him. His wish is to live a normal life again and he thinks that working together with someone else, he could eliminate the unholy creatures off the earth and reestablish humanity.

            Robert also faces a problem. One day, if he makes one little mistake, it would be the end for him. Or if he really is the last living person… he wouldn’t know what to do, putting himself out of his misery or continuing on with his current life. This book also shows that being the hero would be a huge burden. He is the only hope left and he feels like he can’t back out of it. He has been the one chosen to have this immunity and he can’t ignore his role. He has to go on if he succeeds or not. It shows that you have to do what you have to do; you have to keep on trying and go on with what you believe in because it is your responsibility.