In high school it seems almost impossible to stay alive, fighting day to day with gossip, staying awake, and the endless piles of homework. But for Robert Neville in the book I Am Legend, the battle for survival is all too real. In an apocalyptic world filled with vampires roaming for the taste of human flesh, Robert is faced with the task of not only staying alive, but staying sane, which is the main conflict of the entire novel.
Externally, the conflict is man versus nature, whereas Robert is desperately trying to remove the vampires before they remove him. By day he works at sharpening stakes, stringing garlic, and repairing his house, which is only re-damaged at night when they come. With the impossible struggle of existence, is nearly impossible for him to advance and search for actual human life beyond his own. Not only have the vampires overtaken the world around him, but his family as well, plaguing his wife and young daughter, making Robert struggle to fight for his life when he can barely stay above the surface of complete insanity.
Little vampire
The Vampire Deutsch: Der Vampir
Le Vampire,engraving by R. de MoraineIn a house completely alone for two years, Robert finds himself going mad, escaping the taunts and howls of his nightly visitors through music, art, and whiskey. His internal conflict is his borderline depression, hatred towards the new world, and constant bitterness. A new interest in the cure takes hold of him, but with the constant call of a bottle, Robert can't clear his head enough to stare through a microscope. He must change himself, his terrible habit, and fight this problem in order to work. With a conflict as addictive as drinking, and as deadly as a screaming sea of blood suckers, Robert is pushed to a limit as he struggles for the ultimate...