Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-5383-2068
Abstract
This article argues that normalcy and trauma are processes central in understanding the narratives of the video games saga The Last of Us. As such, the article will, after a brief introduction, offer the theoretical framework, in which identity, avatarization, normalcy, and trauma will be defined. These terms are key for the analysis: with the players’ connivance, the narrative delves into the identity of the main characters of the saga so that players can infer how they aim to find a normalcy that is, because of the circumstances that the game offers as the plot, unattainable. Afterwards, the article will develop an analysis of the narrative, focusing, in the last part, on Ellie as a vehicle through which normalcy and trauma—the primary process that motivates characters to attempt to reconstruct normalcy—appear more explicitly. Finally, the article will offer some conclusions regarding this topic. The main aim of the article, thus, is to argue that normalcy not only is a recurrent theme of the narrative, but also that it is central in understanding how the game interacts with the players, especially through Ellie and, by contrast, with Joel and Abby, and how the narrative is conveyed.
Recommended Citation
Garcia, Jaime Oliveros
(2025)
"Reconstructing Normalcy: Identity and Trauma in the Last of Us Video Games Saga,"
Kritika Kultura:
No.
46, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13185/1656-152X.2154
Available at:
https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss46/5
