HBO’s series The Last of Us throws a lot of information at you pretty quickly, especially after the time skip when Joel is in the Quarantine Zone in Boston. Life looks extremely different there, and a few times he uses something called ration cards. This part might have been a little bit confusing if you don’t know what those are or what he was using them for. Here’s what you need to know about what ration cards are in HBO’s The Last of Us.
Ration Cards in HBO’s The Last of Us Explained
Ration cards are used in real life during war or emergency scenarios. They’re distributed by the government or whatever authority is in charge in exchange for food and sometimes supplies that are helpful for survival.
They can also be referred to as ration stamps, and they are used as a currency outside of money because they can only be exchanged for specific things. Usually, this system is put into place to maintain steady control of how much food and supplies are distributed when commodities are scarce (hence why they are called “ration” cards).
In HBO’s The Last of Us, we see Joel standing in line to receive a stack of ration cards after a day of working. In the Quarantine Zone, people are given ration cards after completing jobs. Joel asks for more work so he can receive more cards.
There are glimpses of what people can spend ration cards on; for example, one shot shows shoe laces costing one ration card each and boot laces costing two each.
At one point, Joel also receives extra ration cards and cigarettes from Lee, a FEDRA (Federal Disaster Response Agency) military officer in a secret exchange for pills. Evidently, these cards are very valuable since Joel stocks up on them as much as possible.
That’s everything you need to know about what ration cards are in HBO’s The Last of Us. Be sure to check back with Twinfinite for more coverage on the series; we’re here to answer all of your questions, such as what was in the note Marlene gave to Kim and where The Last of Us takes place.
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