Contemporary Mexico: Insights from The Labyrinth of Solitude (Essay Sample)

Firstname Lastname Instructor’s Name Course Number  DATE \@ "d MMMM yyyy" 9 October 2016 Contemporary Mexico: Insights from The Labyrinth of Solitude Few books describe contemporary Mexico as well as The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz. The consensus among some of the book’s critics is to treat it as a collection of essays with more fiction than as a record of history. On the face of it, there is no thesis that one can gather from it owing to its lack of empirical evidence. Its emphasis on ancient Mexican myths (Aztec,) the myths and archetypes created after the first European contact, and the myths present in Mexico at the time Paz wrote his book, give credence to this argument. However, The Labyrinth of Solitude does manage to articulate some truths about Mexico and Mexicans. It uses images and symbols such as Llorona, La Malinche, which capture the struggle with identity and a lot of soul searching among Native Americans trying to come to terms with the present geo-political climate, family structure, the prevailing myths, and the genocide that marked the European invasion (Hurtado). Paz portrays the Mexicans as superficial, hiding their true emotions behind masks. The Mexicans portrayed in the book are both real flesh and blood, and mythical at the same time. This makes it hard to use his book as a coherent record of Mexican history. However, one must consider the psychological turmoil and suffering that the common Mexican, and their Native American forbearers, have experienced during their lifetimes. One would imagine that, rather than openly show this affliction, many would rather wear ‘masks’ of smiles, and seek solace in a wide array of myths. Paz may have used it to show glimpses of the ‘literary’ solace that many Mexicans seek from the harshness and brutality that they suffered after the European invasion. He uses the Pachucos to add emphasis to the solitude brought forth by a failure to fit into society. On closer look, however, it becomes apparent that these are young men reeling from the psychological devastation of war. The Pachucos are misfits in the present society. They are victims of a broken family structure that suffered from war and genocide. The Labyrinth of Solitude gives death as a reason for the solitude. The Mexicans have come to celebrate death and at the same time loathe it. The Day of the Dead was not a national holiday until the 1960s when the Mexican government adopted it. Native Mexicans marked it even before Spanish colonization, but its commemoration dates changed after that. It has seen its adoption across cultures. Mexicans, as Native Americans, have endured the most of genocide and mass killings (Stannard). This was a common phenomenon in the Americas during the European invasion. According to Stannard, only one in twenty natives present during the first encounter with Europeans stood in the aftermath of the bloodbath that ensued. That said, stories such as the unrelenting resistance of the natives, and the Mayan woman who was fed to the dogs, depict a form of bravery in stark contrast with Mexicans said to hide behind masks. The more plausible cause of self-denial, as the masks show, may be the struggle with identity. Mexicans are stuck between two cultures, the Native American culture, and the Spanish culture. Paz seems to portray that this is a phenomenon peculiar to the Mexicans. In The Sons of La Malinche, shows the changing La Malinche meaning and symbolism. There is an attempt to reconcile this icon with the different things that she has represented over the years. She embodies treachery, yet some consider her as the mother of the New Mexicans. Contemporary Mexican Art has often portrayed her as an evil temptress, and her name is synonymous with disloyalty. To identify her proper place in Mexico’s history, there is a need to trace the social and political changes that blight her narrative. At the time Paz wrote the first essays that later formed this book, Mexico was still reeling from the indirect effects of the Mexican Revolution. The changing meaning of La Malinche mentioned earlier is proof of the country’s changing political landscape. At the time of the European occupation, she was the traitor that sold the natives’ secrets to the Spanish. At the time of the Mexican Revolution, s...