Solidifying the mysterious image of the “legend” by removing his death from the public’s eye allows her to satisfy her need for uncertainty and keep the suspense alive. If the society sees that Neville is no more than a man who can easily be destroyed, they might begin to realized they don’t need to rely on their new government to keep them safe quite as wholly as they originally thought. Perhaps she wishes to protect the image of Neville because she truly is in love with him however, more likely, it’s because, as a high standing official, she wants to keep the society guessing about what threats are really out there. However, by the end of the novel, Ruth’s desire is to rob the society of the public execution of Robert Neville. It is the desire to acquire information, thus stabilizing her society and satisfying her need for certainty that drives her manipulative lies. However, in order to do that, she has to convince him she’s not infected. She needs to find out all the information he has regarding the vampires and her new society. Before entering his house, Ruth spends her days and nights spying on Robert Neville. The driving need for Ruth is her need for certainty. She wants to maintain the mystery of the “legend,” which demonstrates a need for uncertainty. However, in the end of the book, Ruth decides she doe not want the image of Neville to be shattered. She needs to figure out who this “legend” is and what he knows so she can bring information back to her newly forming society. In Richard Matheson’s I am Legend, Ruth acts as the monster who lies to and manipulates Robert Neville. Need: Uncertainty- the need for surprise/mystery.Reaction: “If I allow him to kill himself with these pills, I can keep the “legend” alive, and not shatter the image of Robert Neville.”.Action: Ruth needs to maintain the mystery of the “legend” of Neville by removing the ability to do a public execution.Need: Certainty- need to stabilize your surroundings.

Reaction: “If I lie to him and get him to trust me, I will be able to get the info I need to stabilize my society.”.Action: Ruth needs to spy on and lie to Robert Neville to acquire information that will help her new society.

I am legend monster light