Baudrillardian Concepts of Hyperreality and Simulacra in McCarthy’s The Road

The study attempts to analyze the Cormac McCarthy s The Road in the light of Baudrillard Theory. The discussion is based on Baudrillard theory of Hyperreality and Simulacra. Cormac McCarthy in his book The Road (2006) it begins in an apocalyptic environment after an event has struck the earth and its population. There is a father and his son in a journey along the road. The characters are not given a name. The boy s mother has committed suicide before. The story is narrated mostly in third person. They head towards the south as they have little food and they have little hope for the future. The story ends with still mysteries and questions about the fate of the family and humanity in general. It can be said that there is elimination of hyperreality and simulacra in the novel as there is the decline of civilization. Baudrillard s hyperreality and simulacra explained the situation in the consumer society in which the real was lost. Thus it can be said that the catastrophe in the novel has resulted in the elimination of the civilization, consumer society and thus hyperreality and simulacra in the consumer society. But it should be pointed out that there is also hyperreality created due to the catastrophe because things are no longer what they used to be and some human made structures have lost their function, similar to the map in the Borges fable pointed out by Baudrillard. One of these structures is the road. The road is supposed to be full of cars but here it is empty.