THE LAST OF US

Through A Critical Dystopian Lens

by Dahlia Ado-Ibrahim

The Last of Us is a franchise that arrived in 2013 as a postapocalyptic adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and released on PS3. Now, a decade later, its series adaptation counterpart has emerged, following the same alluring story-line and gaining as much love as the game.

The story is set after an outbreak of a mind-controlling fungus called Cordyceps that wipes out most of the human population, turning them into ‘The Infected’. It follows a guy named Joel, who is set in charge of smuggling a girl named Ellie across the United States by a highly skilled militia. What began as a task to deliver ‘cargo’ for rewards turned into a multifaceted, complex and enduring story about human connection and the extent people will go to protect their loved ones at the expense of their moral consciousness.

I first played this game with my brother when I was quite young and have been hooked ever since (ask anyone that knows me). One of the main reasons why, apart from the amazing game engineering and characters, was the psychology behind it. We have recently been discussing dystopian worlds in English class, trying to understand how the destruction of one aspect of our world could reveal another aspect of humanity’s true nature. In The Last of Us, aspects of law have been completely removed, meaning morals have been as well. The relativity of morals is explicitly portrayed in this franchise, effec- tively by making the hero himself a morally flawed character. The franchise challenges boundaries, both in our world and the dystopian world these characters inhabit, showing that taking away a pillar of society as big as law and world order can be decimating. However, it can also show how we reinvent our moral code, what we consider morally-right or wrong. The concept of how flexible morality truly is depending on its societal context has been explored before, and The Last of Us tries to challenge this same idea in the player, or viewer. It brings up a ubiquitous question over and over again: what would YOU do in this situation?

Hopefully we don’t have to face any zombifying fungal infections soon, but it’s interesting to think about what we would do in situations where an aspect of our society is altered, or completely eradicated. Do you think your morals would remain the same, or do you think they’d succumb to the world around you?

If you’re intrigued by the concept of critical dystopias, or just want to be entertained, watch – or play, up to you – The Last of Us. Remember to bring a tissue box along and be careful of the kind of mushrooms you eat, just in case…