Humanity has a very fluid and unsure meaning in the novel because there is only one person representing the old humanity. The strange thing, is that even though the vampires are not human they have created their own society. This shows that they are attempting to create something that is similar to humanity, but are still working towards it due to them being a highly new society. Neville sees himself as the sole survivor of humanity, and the only person who is "normal" on the new Earth he lives on. By only seeing Neville we see the capabilities and horror that is left when humanity only has one sole survivor.
Seeing the novel from Neville's perspective can lead to confusions about the meaning of humanity, and Ruth is the character that leads to even more confusion. How are we to understand what it means to be human if we are given two different sides of a conflict that have their own ideas of what humanity is we are unable to see the true humanity. This is something that can even be applied to today's time. Humanity is forever evolving and changing, and we are able to see how humanity's downfall destroyed him and the old humanity that we are so used to. This is something that has happened and will happen in the future, and we will have a changed society and new view of humanity. This novel uses our deepest imaginations to create and think up our own image of a new society that is or will be created. Choosing to kill himself leads to the confusing dilemma of how and when we must choose to kill off our ideas, humanity, and society instead of letting it fall down around us completely. Empathy is a clear indicator of humanity, and Ruth (the vampire) is the character that is showing the most empathy by giving Neville the choice to end it on his own terms. Humanity, in the case of this novel, has no direct or true meaning and is fluid because each person has their own idea of what it means to be human.
