problem solving

In I am Legend, Robert Neville is perhaps the sole survivor of a gruesome plague that has ravaged humanity.  Vampires roam the streets during the night and cower in fear of the sun during the day.  There is no running water or power in the city in which he lives.  Robert’s only way to survive is to fend the vampires off during the night and slowly decrease their numbers during the day by driving wooden stakes right through their hearts.  Being a world like this creates a lot of problems for Robert.  But, he is able to overcome them by remaining fearless and using ingenuity and knowledge.

            Robert lives in a world without water or power.  This is one of the main obstacles we see him overcome.  Robert designs his own generator to power his house.  He uses rain catches to collect water into giant tanks which are hooked up to his house.  Robert’s improvised and ingenious thinking helps him to overcome this problem. 

            Another problem Robert faces is that his house is under attack every night from the vampires.  Robert solves this problem in a few ways.  He built a giant fence around the house made of wooden planks and also burned down the houses near his to prevent the vampires from jumping over the fence and onto his roof.  Some other methods are more traditional.  These include garlic hung around the fence and crosses on top of it.  He also has nets strung above the fence to catch the rocks that the vampires throw at the house.

            Robert also faces the challenge of finding food.  He scavenged from the local supermarkets for a while but a lot of the food there went bad.  In his backyard, he has set up a garden where he grows edibles and he gets non-perishable items from a warehouse a few towns over.  This is how Robert gets food and survives.

            Robert Neville is a really interesting character.  He is able to think outside the box and survive in a totally hostile and frightening environment.  His ability to continue to live amid the constant challenges and violence that threaten him daily makes for an amazing story.

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