Summary-
The novel begins with Robert Neville going through the day doing his "normal routines". In an apocalyptic world, Robert is possibly the last human alive. The town is abandoned so Nevile can roam the town in search for materials he needs to defend himself from an onslaught of vampires. He has garlic hung around his house to ward off the vampires when they come in the night. During the afternoon, Robert makes stakes in order to kill vampires in slumber during the day. In the daytime, Robert has the upper hand, but during the night, the vampires barrage Neville's house. He plays music as he waits for the approaching nightfall. The attack starts with Robert's longtime friend, turned vampire, Ben Cortman shouting for Robert to leave his house. The vampires can't approach the house because of the garlic but they throw stones and shout vulgar statements to lure Robert out of his "base". The most dangerous part were not the rocks or the shouting, but the vampire women's seduction. They tried to lure him out by "posing" while removing clothing. It has been five months since the vampires have been coming to his house. At night, he dreams of his wife, Virginia, who has been dead for five months. It has been the same monotonous routine day after day. In the morning, he wanders around town killing vampires who are "sleeping". He ponders why he is still living. By opening the door, he can just end his suffering. He concludes that he is scared of death, and is too stupid to kill himself. He remembers Kathy, his daughter constantly who died around 5 months ago. He questions his morality through the killing of vampires. They need to survive, and in many ways they are no worse than the corrupt politicians or factory owners. He eventually comes to the conclusion that it is moral because he is the last man alive. He kills off of necessity. He goes to the crypt of his wife to bring flowers. In her tomb was a vampire, so Neville dragged him outside. When he went back out to leave, he found the vampire dead. He hypothesizes that it is daylight that kills the vampires. To test his hypothesis he goes and gets a vampire from the next house and drags her onto the street in the view of the sun. She died. He had lost track of time. Nightfall was approaching. He returns to his house to see vampires inside and around his house. He crushes some with his car, but he manages to lock the door after the vampires got out to chase the car, and hide. He finds out that his house is in a ruin. He cries as he sees his house wrecked by the vampires. Luckily the vampires had not touched his generator. That meant electricity was still powering his house. For about a week he rebuilt his house, gathering materials in the day, and building at night. He dives into a flashback about his wife. It was during a dust storm and she got sick. They complain about the condition of the United States after World War III. Insects were everywhere and they might carry diseases. After the house was rebuilt he made it his goal to find out about the vampires to easily kill or cure them. He question why the cross, sun, garlic, and mirror work on the vampires. He uses vampire test subjects for experiments and interrogations. Another flashback, this time with Virginia dead. He refuses to bring her to get burned in a fire like government officials made mandatory to prevent the spread of the disease and buries her away. A few days later, there is a knock at his door, and Virginia is standing on his doorstep. She has become a vampire. The scene then switches to the Los Angeles library. He researches in the science room and concludes that the vampire epidemic was due to a bacteria. It explained the sun because certain bacteria cease to exist in the daylight. It also explained garlic which could contain an allergen to the bacteria. He wonders how the disease spread so quickly. He first thinks its the insects that are transmitting the diseases, but when a dust storm hits his house again, he has an answer. It was the dust storms. They contained the bacteria that lead to the downfall of mankind.
Quote-
"At one time, the Dark and Middle Ages, to be succinct, the vampire’s power was great, the
fear of him tremendous. He was anathema and still remains anathema. Society hates him
without ration" (Matheson 15).
Reaction-
The quote above is a very important theme of the novel. The vampires have been hated because of their power and their mysteriousness. They were ostracized from society for no particular reason other than that. This leads to a great moral debate over the vampires. Vampires need to drink blood to survive. It brings up questions such as...Are we vampires to cows? It is a matter of survival. Neville makes himself believe that what the vampires are doing is wrong, but he is at the same time using vampire test subjects and watching them die. This novel was amazing. It is sort of like a mystery novel and a horror because vampires are attacking Neville, but at the same time he has to figure out what caused the vampirism and find a cure. Matheson brings many revolutionary ideas to the world of literature. He proposes the idea that vampires are formed due to a bacteria. There is very little physical conflict. The conflict in this novel in more internal as Neville resists his temptation for the women, suicide, and his questioning of morality.
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