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Conner Mullen

Professor Gregory McClure

Writing 39B

8 February 2017

I Am Legend Rhetorical Analysis: A Cold, Internal War

In Richard Mathesons I Am Legend, lone survivor Robert Neville is in a constant battle

with the vampires surrounding his home, but also with himself. Richard Matheson consistently

implements rhetorical devices such as repetition to extend Nevilles issues. Matheson creates

situations that gradually reverse the audiences thought of Robert Neville as a hero throughout

the novel; eventually, he becomes the monster. Through philosopher Nol Carrolls The Nature

of Horror, Robert Neville is categorically contradicting, extraordinary in the ordinary world,

threatening, and impure, making him a monster. This transitions symbolically to current events

happening while Matheson was writing I Am Legend; the Cold War was in progress and

influenced Matheson heavily. He uses the novel to explain his thoughts on the Cold War, where

Robert Neville is the United States side and the vampires are the Russians. This shadows the

racism during this time as the Americans see the Russians as inhumane, parallel with Mathesons

display of the vampires. Ruth is introduced later into the novel as the alternative hero that

Neville cant be, due to his self-battles with alcohol, loneliness, and loss of sexual activity. Ruth

becomes the prime example that the vampires arent necessarily aliens in this world, but their

own society trying to survive. Relating to the Cold War, the novel explains through Ruth, who is

on the opposite side, how Americans are coming to realize that the Russians arent these

inhumane aliens as first thought during the war, rather people too. It also implies that through
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Nevilles self-battles, Americans are the not perfect heroes either and are equal to the Russian

people.

First, Richard Matheson allows the audience to perceive Neville as the typical hero of the

novel, but later introduces a rather opposite side to Neville in certain scenes to slowly revert their

perception of his heroism. As the last man in this world, the readers lean towards Neville as the

hero trying to save the human race, which Matheson utilizes with these scenes to create a conflict

for the reader. For example, Matheson describes Neville as repeatedly saying Leave me alone,

leave me alone, leave me alone! (9). This excerpt slightly hints towards the everyday internal

conflicts Matheson described Neville as having. Additionally, this rhetorical device of repetition

reinstates Mathesons illustration of Nevilles mental problems. To further this claim, Matheson

writes Then why dont you stop pouring alcohol into yourself? he thought. Why dont you shut

the hell up? he thought (10). Almost instantaneously, the reader lessens their heroic perspective

on Neville as Matheson chose to write this argument with himself at such an early point in the

novel. Mathias Clasen, a Danish scholar, states in Vampire Apocalypse, all the while

struggling with deep loneliness and dejection (315). Using the trope of Neon Sign Hideout,

which defines as a majority knowing a location which seems to be hidden, Matheson can create

the setting of the vampires around Nevilles property, endlessly disturbing him at night and

causing his mental issues portrayed (TV Tropes). It is evident Matheson clearly meant to display

Nevilles negative qualities as a contradiction to the perception of his heroism.

Eventually, Robert Neville becomes the monster of I Am Legend due to Matheson

portraying him as self-struggled and threatening. In relation to Nol Carrolls definition of a

monster, being threatening and impure due to categorical interstitiality, Neville is the monster

(55). To verify Neville as threatening, there is multiple scenes where Matheson writes him as
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driving stakes through the vampires hearts. For instance, Matheson mentions He forced it

down. It was insane, there was no rational argument for it (15). There is no justification to

Neville performing these acts of driving stakes through their hearts during the day. To be

categorically interstitial, Matheson makes Neville the last human, becoming the hero, but then

strays from the heroic actions and instead writes Neville to have mental issues and depression,

becoming an alcoholic, and having sexual fantasies about vampires. Neville can not be

categorized as a hero and isnt completely a villain due to his nature as the last surviving human,

making him categorically interstitial. Also, he is extraordinary in the ordinary world due solely to

this confliction. Fulfilling Carrolls definition of a monster, Neville is the monster in the novel,

not the vampires as first thought.

Symbolically, I Am Legend s purpose is to deliver Mathesons view on the Cold War

during the 1950s. Robert Neville represents the American side and the vampires are meant to

represent the Russian side. Matheson used vampires as a way to describe how he felt about the

Russians, while he is meant to be Robert Neville. Clasen develops some of the anxieties

Matheson had in the 1950s as fear of nuclear and biological warfare and also fear of being

all alone in a dangerous world (317). Matheson clearly shows these fears through Nevilles

experience throughout the novel. The vampires are a prime example of Mathesons fear in the

character of Neville, due largely to the symbolic fear of the Russians. The vampires are

significantly symbolic to Mathesons beliefs since they are the predators in the horror story,

where the Russians are meant to be seen as the predators of the Cold War. Overall, the symbolic

resemblance of the vampires to the Cold War leads into the symbolism of the rest of the novel.