Heroes Yesterday and Today

Many have heard of the classic tale of Beowulf, the heroic slayer of monsters and dragons. Nevertheless, few have read the story of how he ventured from his own land to help a neighboring tribe battle a “. . . God-cursed brute. . .” (Lawall 1182) and his mother, a “. . . a monstrous hell-bride, . .” (1208). After single-handedly ridding Heorot, the neighboring kingdom, of two such evil creatures, he travels back to his own homeland to retell his deeds to his king (1219). Many years and feuds later, the kingdom was inherited by Beowulf, who grew old ruling his tribe with wisdom (1227). But, after he thinks that he has become invincible in his strength and ability to fight any wrong, a dragon wakens and wrecks havoc on the land (1230). With eleven young warriors at his back, Beowulf kills the fearsome dragon, although he is also slain in the process (1237, 1238).

A different story, by far, is the tale of the last man to inhabit Earth in I Am Legend. This is the record of Robert Neville's last years in Los Angeles battling a vampiric new species that were the results of a bacterial pandemic (Matheson 143). It describes his day-to-day life shaping wooden stakes, growing garlic, and then the nightly routine of barricading himself in his house while the vampires roam freely outside (15, 18, 28). After several years of this daily routine, Neville decides to find out what causes this vampiric state, instructs himself on how to use a microscope, and conducts his own research in his home (86). After finding out what he is dealing with, and knowing that he doesn't have the expertise to fight it, Neville passes several more years single-handedly fighting these monsters at night (119).

Then, one day he unexpectedly finds a woman walking th...

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...1209), Grendel's mother's strength and slyness (1208), and the dragon's “. . .outlandish. . .” body (1234). In I Am Legend, Neville must fight monsters that are humanlike in appearance, but grotesque on the inside. This vampires resemble people Neville knew before the pandemic: children, women, and co-workers (Matheson 29, 58). Though different in appearances, both men fight the monsters that would be most terrifying for their time. This also brings into account of what their fears were. While Beowulf and his people most feared the wild, gruesome and hideous beasts, Neville's fears were embodied in a manlike shape that did not conform to normal behaviour.

Works Cited

Lawall, Sarah N. "Beowulf." The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1174-247. Print.

Matheson, Richard. I Am Legend. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2007. Print.