Robert Neville: Epic or Tragic Hero
I Am Legend, a movie with a thick plot and many complex aspects to it, is about a man by the name of Robert Neville played by the famous actor Will Smith. In the movie, his character is a lone survivor of a horrible infection in New York City. This infection turned the other humans and animals that were infected into horrifying vampire like nocturnal creatures who came out to search for normal uninfected humans. Unfortunately, Robert Neville and his dog Samantha were the only living creatures in the city that were not affected by this infection. Their blood was very attractive to these “vampires” so they did all they could to attack them. Robert Neville had a lab in the basement of his house to experiment to find a cure for this infection. It turned out in the end that his blood was the missing factor because of the immunity that his body had. Now, the question is, was Robert Neville an epic or tragic hero?
An epic hero is a hero who is on a quest in pursuit of a goal that can affect the nation or cultural ways and on a quest for something of great value. This hero also possesses divine supernatural qualities and seems to be superhuman in the way that he is braver, stronger, and more powerful than others. While this epic hero is on his quest, villains who are uglier and more evil try to keep the hero from what he is set to do. The divine world or god-like world interferes with the human world. With these qualities, it is clear that Will Smith plays the role of an epic hero.
In the beginning of the movie, we begin to understand the problem that has taken place in New York City. An infection has overtaken the area and the people. Neville’s wife and daughter were free from the infection and were allowed to be evacuated from the city to where they will remain safe. Neville also was free from the infection, but he felt that being an Army officer it was his duty to stay back and try to help rectify the situation. It ended up...