%0 Journal Article
%T The Last <i>Real</i> Man: Foreshadowing Men¡¯s  Social Issues and Movements in Matheson¡¯s <i>I Am Legend</i>
%A Gerhard P. Shipley
%A Deborah H. Williams
%J Advances in Literary Study
%P 93-110
%@ 2327-4050
%D 2023
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/als.2023.112007
%X We interpret <i>I Am Legend</i> as a metaphor for the sociopolitical collapse of patriarchal hegemony, and as foreshadowing several contemporary issues and movements affecting and involving men. In our interpretation, Matheson¡¯s last real man is immune to the ideologically infectious ¡°wokeness¡± that transforms almost everyone else into ¡°un-men,¡± leaving him the equivalent of a modern socially and sexually isolated ¡°MGTOW monk¡± or ¡°Incel.¡± He is so feared for his ¡°toxic¡± views and behaviors by the emerging ideologically moderate ¡°quasi-men,¡± that he must be ¡°cancelled¡± along with the equally extreme un-men as destabilizing threats to the new society. He experiences the same loss of control, powerlessness, alienation, and estrangement experienced by many so-called ¡°traditional¡± White men today. This includes his sexual frustration and reactive violence which reflects the misogyny exhibited by the Incel movement and his ultimate manipulation and betrayal by a woman which reflects the fears of the MGTOW movement.
%K Matheson
%K &lt
%K i&gt
%K I Am Legend&lt
%K /i&gt
%K Masculinity
%K Woke
%K Cancel Culture
%K MGTOW
%K Incel
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=124214