History Literature / TheLastMan

* ShoutOut: The book cover re-uses the ''Art/WandererAboveTheSeaOfFog'' painting.

''The Last Man'' is an 1826 ScienceFiction {{Dystopian}} [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Apocalyptic]] novel written by Creator/MaryShelley, supposedly taking place in the 21st Century. Its depiction of this century is, unsurprisingly, somewhat similar to retrofuturism, though with less emphasis on technological change than many stories set in the future. As the title indicates, it details a plague that sweeps throughout the world, infecting and decimating the entirety of Mankind, and survivors trying to maintain their will to live in addition to trying to fight off against hostile human settlements. The central focus is a man named Lionel Verney, an orphan whose troubling behaviour leads him to the former (the monarchy having been abolished) King of England‘s son, Adrian, where the two of them become friends and chronicles Lionel's life from this first meeting all the way to adulthood.

* AllAreEqualInDeath: This idea comes up throughout the book.

''The Last Man'' is an 1826 {{Science Fiction}} {{Dystopian}} [[{{Main/TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt}} Apocalyptic]] novel written by Creator/MaryShelley, supposedly taking place in the 21st Century. Its depiction of this century is, unsurprisingly, somewhat similar to retrofuturism, though with less emphasis on technological change than many stories set in the future. As the title indicates, it details a plague that sweeps throughout the world, infecting and decimating the entirety of Mankind, and survivors trying to maintain their will to live in addition to trying to fight off against hostile human settlements. The central focus is a man named Lionel Verney, an orphan whose troubling behaviour leads him to the former (the monarchy having been abolished) King of England‘s son, Adrian, where the two of them become friends and chronicles Lionel's life from this first meeting all the way to adulthood.

The story is known for being initially having a troubled time in regards to publication, due to its dark and heavy themes of loneliness and loss, only beginning to receive appreciation by the 1960s. Even so, Mary Shelley later in her life wrote that it was one of her favorite books. ''The Last Man'' has various elements and a tonal atmosphere that is very similar to the {{Dystopia}}n genre, [[UnbuiltTrope which was yet to be popularized]] a century later with works like Literature/BraveNewWorld and Literature/NineteenEightyFour.

* AbsentMindedProfessor: In sharp contrast to Victor from {{Frankenstein}}, Merrival seems almost indifferent to life and death, barely acknowledging the apocalypse happening around him and instead studying the orbits of the planets and speculating about the future of Earth’s environments. When his family dies, he finally understands the seriousness of the situation.

* AfterTheEnd: In the final chapter, Lionel is the last human, leaving him alone to witness the earth be reclaimed by nature after the extinction of the human race.

* AftertheEnd: In the final chapter, Lionel is left as the last human, leaving him alone to witness the earth after the extinction of the human race as it is reclaimed by nature.

* AftertheEnd: In the final chapter, Lionel is left as the last human to witness as the earth is reclaimed by nature.

* FailedFutureorecast: Despite happening in the late 21st century, all European monarchies are still in place, aside from the recently-uncrowned British monarchy, the Ottoman Empire still exists, and so on. That said, the book correctly foretold that Greece would become independent from the Ottoman Empire (Greece’s war of independence was ongoing when it was written) and later go to war with them.

[[caption-width-right:297:” ''I raised my unanswered cry, lifting up the only voice that could ever again force the mute air to syllable the human thought''” - The Last Man.]]

* LoyalAnimalCompanion: A sheepdog takes an immediate liking to Lionel, him being the first human he had seen in quite a long time.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: Despite happening in the late 21st century, all European monarchies are still in place, aside from the recently-uncrowned British monarchy, the Ottoman Empire still exists, and so on.
** That said, the book correctly foretold that Greece would become independent from the Ottoman Empire (Greece’s war of independence was ongoing when it was written) and later go to war with them.

* ForegoneConclusion: The title is about the last remaining human in the world, who turns out to be Lionel by the end of the story. The book chronicles Lionel's life from teenhood (with some background information on his childhood being explained beforehand) up until he's what remains of human civilization.

[[caption-width-right:297:”I raised my unanswered cry, lifting up the only voice that could ever again force the mute air to syllable the human thought” - The Last Man.]]

* TomeOfFate: In the novel’s introduction in 1818 Mary Shelley explains that she discovered inside the Sibly’s cave near Naples, a series of prophetic writings by the Cumaean Sibyl on a collection of leaves and she has translated them into the novel’s current narrative set in the 21st century.