I Am Legend

by Richard Matheson

I Am Legend is a beautifully written short novel that could have been longer. As writers in the Seton Hill WPF program, we are cautioned to “show, not tell” and critiqued for information dumping—providing critical information as a narrative “dump” rather than showing it through action. I found Matheson’s prose gorgeous, but his crucial plot twist faulty since it was told, in dialog, as a colossal info-dump delivered by Ruth.

I loved, "He kept turning from one side to another, his eyes searching around the room as if there were something to be found, as if he had mislaid the exit from this house of horror." Rare are the writers who can decode everyday mannerisms and illuminate them in ways that seem like a revelation yet still retain familiarity.

I also loved, "He turned away from the bar as if he could leave the question there. But questions had no location; they could follow him around." Another revelatory description, as undoubtedly many have turned away from questions in just that sort of physical way, only to find their questions still linger.

Matheson creates metaphors that are brilliant in their originality, like, "A package of needles exploded in his head and he slumped down on the cold floor…"

The book proposes two different forms of vampires: those who have died and those still alive. I wish Matheson had gone into greater detail about this distinction, which is an original one in vampire lore, I believe. How did he know which was which? If they were all vampires, how did he come to realize that some were still living?

 Near the end of the book, we discover that the living vampires are intelligent creatures who have made progress in creating a new civilization. This is the book's curveball: Neville has been hunting and killing vampires without realizing they are thoughtful human-like beings.

Readers are given no hint that their society-building exists, let alone has advanced to the point where they have resumed civilized functions such as manufacturing. We don't see it happen. It is a considerable development to be delivered by exposition alone, and that left me feeling cheated, as though the author were saying, "surprise! The vampires are people!" The book is perhaps meant as an allegory—Neville sees the vampires as "different" and deserving of death—but they have been attacking his home and trying to kill him, so that doesn't hold up. Neville doesn't have a choice and must defend himself. He doesn’t relish it, except in his hunt for Cortman. But the undead Cortman has been taunting him for years.

Granted, there would have been no shock value if Neville had begun to suspect that the living vampires could rebuild society. But couldn't Matheson have given us a glimpse into some of the vampires' advancements while keeping them mysterious? Then this enormous plot turn would have more credibility and would provide a payoff instead of coming out of the blue.

The vampires have been able to mitigate their thirst for blood by taking drugs. "A pill" has been developed, Ruth tells Neville. When did they develop the ability to create medicinal compounds to reduce their craving for blood? Wouldn't that have taken more time? How was it manufactured, let alone distributed? Do they drive, now, too? If so, wouldn’t Neville have seen their cars? Did he have a “zone” around his home where vampires did not drive? So many questions. I found the world-building lacked credibility in this novel’s short form. And that got in the way of my appreciating any symbolism in the book.

If the living vampires had retained their intelligence and humanity, why wouldn't they have reached out to Neville to let him know, even if by written communication, that they were human-like and wanted to work toward a détente? If they had remembered enough about their former lives to develop medicines, they would surely have realized why Neville was hunting them. They know they crave blood and sleep in the daytime. They know they're vampires, and therefore a threat to him. I don’t believe they would have seen him as a legendary monster.

Even with their intelligence and capability for human relationships, the vampires are still an abomination, as we thought from the beginning. I am not moved from my early opinion of them, so for me, the plot doesn’t turn.