Who is Isherwood Williams from Earth Abides and what is their importance?

Ish is a young man who is working toward his college degree when the virus strikes. Ish, as he's known, is bitten by a rattlesnake just as the virus outbreak apparently hits it peak. sh is somewhat proud of himself. He believes that his intellect is superior to those around him and because of that he carries an incredible burden. He spends most of his life after the virus believing that it's up to him to resurrect civilization. He carries on the idea for many years thinking that he must teach the children to read and write and to do mathematics.