Survival Politics: Liquid Modernity and the State of Nature in The Last of Us
Abstract
Post-apocalyptic narratives offer bleak visions of the future in which catastrophic events have rendered life almost impossible. Yet these same narratives also create imaginative spaces for exploring new social formations and ways of restructuring communities around the imperative of survival. These stories frequently negotiate between two opposing ideologies: a model of individual survival based on willpower and self-reliance, and a collectivist model grounded in unity and collaboration. Drawing on Hobbes’ notion of the state of nature and Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity, this paper examines how the first season of The Last of Us (2023–), HBO’s acclaimed adaptation of the popular video game, constructs its post-apocalyptic landscape through competing visions of individualism and collective action. Following a man and a teenage girl as they navigate a post-apocalyptic United States, the series reflects contemporary ideological anxieties surrounding both the urgency of survival and the long-term possibility (or impossibility) of rebuilding a functional community. Ultimately, The Last of Us dramatizes the political and moral complexities of survival in an uncertain and fluid world.
Keywords
post-apocalyptic narrative, The Last of Us, Individualism, Collectivism, State of Nature, Liquid Modernity
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