Point of View

The story is told in the third person from the point of view of Robert Neville, the protagonist. Throughout the novel, the reader sees what he sees and shares his thoughts and moods. We gradually learn how the state of affairs came to be through flashbacks that Robert recalls. There was the war that brought the plague in its wake, the insect bite he received from the vampire bat, his friendship with Ben, and the last days of his wife and daughter. When Robert meets the dog and later Ruth, he is afraid they are vampires, and we view these characters through Robert's eyes. We are given the same information Robert has, and we base our opinion on whether the character is trustworthy from that.

Sometimes, though, information that is known to Robert is initially withheld from the reader, as when he injects a vampire with...