The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz - Essay Example

Essay, History and Political Science Topic: The Labyrinth of Solitude The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz relates to the defense mechanism of the inner world of the Mexican people which he terms as solitude. To arrive at his conclusion, he digs deep into the turbulent history of Mexico beginning with the fall of Aztecs and their conquest by Cortes and documents the development of Mexicans as a struggle between the missionaries of the Catholic Church, the Army, the oligarchy, capitalists and the colonists. It is this amalgam of heritages and blood that has given rise to Mexican race of people which one might call “mestizos”. Paz turns spiritual to explain the desperate search for identity by the Mexicans thus: He urges the Mexican people to wake up from their dream state, know the ground realities, and act on in the world outside with the practical approach, without the feeling of self-pity of self-condemnation. In that state of inner concentration, he states that Mexicans will realize that they are a cosmic race freed from all sorts of negativities and confusion. That will be the beginning of real progress for the Mexicans. 1) The Mexican “national character”. Octavio Paz tries to provide the national dimension to solitude, essentially a personal trait. Wit intelligent arguments the author proves his point that solitude can be a national characteristic, the trait of an entire culture or nation. He argues that solitude is intrinsic to the historical character of Mexico and as such it is the key to understand its history in its proper perspective. Though not a negative trait, solitude is linked to melancholy and for Mexico it originates in a psychological complex of defeat, according to the author. The reasons can be found in the political history of Mexico, its own authoritarian rulers to begin with. People live under oppression and suppression under such rulers and will not have the opportunities for the free and full growth of their individual personalities. Subdued individual personalities make a subdued and dispirited society and nation. The process began with the rule of its own authoritarian rulers followed by the authoritarian Spanish conquerors that were cruel and ruthless and they were then replaced by the authoritarian oligarchies during the era of independence. Another factor by which the people of Mexico were overawed was the intimidator posture of United States. People were not exposed to peaceful disposition under all these conditions and their inner resentment was brewing often resulting in violent expressions. But the same cannot be categorized as inferiority complex. Paz explains this psychology of the people by rendering poetic justice to their attitudes. Mexicans are brave people with repressed emotions and as such incidents of unpredictable violence occur in Mexico when people are compelled to find an outlet to express their resentment and anger. Their impassivity is just the mask and their solitude is meaningful, profound and vast. Inferiority complex is a negative trait but the Mexican people have positive outlook towards life, and even after going through the grueling experiences under different kinds of oppressive rulers their morale is not crushed and their internal world is not bruised. Their solitude is by choice under the given circumstance for a given time during which a Mexican prefers to be alone. Paz writes “Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another” (p.195). The solitude mentioned by Paz has the historical sanction in Mexico. The internal conflicts of the Mexican people were so intense and prolonged, that they lost contact and interaction with the rest of the world. They were compelled to stand aside from their own history and live in a closed culture and developed a desire to remain hidden from the world. Thus they were hailed as the people with masks. 2) The Mexican concept of “machismo” Octavio Paz opines that “machismo” is a mask that Mexican men wear to enable them to hide lack of confidence and fear. But too much should not be read into this explanation and that is not the final word he says on the subject. He qualifies the statement with further explanations. The real problem is discovering the identity. The strength and superiority they try to show off is tempered with weakness attributed to lack of well-defined identity due to historical reasons. The blow to the identity was from the historical times, from the era of Spanish conquest to the recent times. The historical event Vaz singles out for his articulation relates to Malinche, the Mexican Indian and the lover of Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes. It is a sort of double tragedy for the Mexicans to digest as they hate both, the Indian who surrendered to the love of the Spaniard and the Spaniards who conquered using repressive measures. These psychological wounds have not healed for the Mexican society, which they consider as insult to their essential dignity. Such psychoanalytical ideas are interpreted as “machismo” as an apologetic response to the Spanish conquest and a revolt against authority. Understood properly this psychological problem finds expression in physical courage and stubbornness with an aggressive maleness. If a question is put to a Mexican male what is the exact import of “machismo” he may say manly and to act in a resolute manner when faced with challenges to masculinity. The description of machos involves several confusing characteristics, both positive and negative. It is also situational. Machos tend to degrade women on one hand and praise them on the other. As per the Mexican law, men can divorce an adulterous wife, but the woman may exercise that right if the act took place in the family home. As was in ancient Spain, wife-beating is commonly practiced but largely goes unreported. However, it is an illegal act. It is believed that the influence of Catholic Church has affected the thinking on sex by Mexican men and they fear covert homosexuality. In certain Indian cultures beating wife has been given strange justifications; according to such sections of the people if she is not beaten in this birth, she will suffer in the next birth. Macho men often become overemotional and sentimental when drinking, as such many Ranchero songs portraying the men as being used and put upon by adulterous women! Many experienced travelers say that Mexican border cops are the most “macho” of the lot, using this characteristic to extract money from Americans as well as their own people and rape local women. 3) Mexican attitudes concerning the role and position of women in society Mexican women are passive, submissive and open by nature. One should not hasten to blame men for that position and also should not conclude that Mexican is a male-dominated society. The docile nature of women is known as marianismo. The dividing wall in the society between men and women is clear but not stern in the moral sense of the term. Women are in that position in the society by choice, willingness and acceptance in all areas like socialization, division of labor and education. In Latin America women love and are loyal to their traditional models of femininity. As such sexism is an indefinable and intricate intellectual issue. They are proud of the existing models and are convinced that their agenda provides them access to power and even the activists of feminism are in favor of preserving femininity and respectability and think that the existing position of women in no way hinders their bargaining power to secure additional rights. The family serves as the focus of socialization, relationship, and control and diffusion of property in Latin American society, and any changes in family structure take place over a long period of time. Paz writes “Love is an attempt to penetrate another being, but it can only be realized if the surrender is mutual.”(p.42)This is the ultimate good that can exist in a family relationship. Many political upheavals in Latin America have not radically altered the lives of women in the region which indicates the staunchness of women as for their loyalty to the Mexican customs and traditions. 4) The significance of the Mexican Revolution and its impact on Mexican history and culture. Women in the Mexican Revolution Before the Revolution women lived a traditional existence and their activities were restricted to the domestic front and their men also played limited role in politics and had little social and economic clout. Revolution brought about many opportunities for women and they exhibited their skills as writers, soldiers and politicians. Zapata’s army consisted many women in ranks as well as in the cadre of officers. Once women were accustomed to the lifestyles of the army they were not inclined to return to their original lifestyle, after the revolution was over. This marks an important turning point in the history of progress of rights of women. Importance of the Mexican Revolution Mexico had a feudal-style social order and economic system. Opulent landlords exercised their rights like the medieval kings, they owned large estates, exploited their workforce who remained in debt rendering them struggling for the basic necessities for survival. The economy was agrarian and mining. Porfirio Díaz modernized a large part of Mexico, got railway tracks that facilitated quick movements of products but the fruits of all modernization were shared exclusively by the rich. Mexico was still backward as compared to other nations and some distinct changes were necessary to be in the race for economic and industrial development. Though revolution was inevitable, much of the infrastructure created was destroyed by the mindless acts of the people and when normalcy was restored, thousands had died and the economy was in ruins and Mexico had lost much of its existing gains. Mexico abounds in natural resources including oils and minerals. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and people are industrious, as such the country recouped the losses in the revolution speedily. But the political leadership was still steeped in corruption and in the 1934 election the nation got an able and honest leader in Lazaro Cardenas and the nation progressed quickly. The present younger generation does not know much about the architects of the revolution. But the permanent impact of revolution is on the cultural front. The fight led by Emiliano Zapata against corruption has worked well, he has initiated imaginative land reforms and maintained ideological purity and he is hailed as an international icon for a just fight against a corrupt system. Mexico’s artists and writers found new vistas in the post-revolution era for expressing their creativity. The mural masters like Diego Rivera, created remarkable murals about the revolution. The writers like Carlos Fuentes wrote novels and stories related turbulent era of the revolution and movies with the backdrop of revolution were produced. The gory events of the revolution were described well but Mexico’s search for identity continues even today. The history of Mexican Revolution makes the strange reading. The ill-armed and ill-trained revolutionary armies prevailed by their determination. They lacked resources and yet they fought on and they were ready for the ultimate sacrifice-their lives—for the cause of revolution. The well-trained armies of the old regimes were hired mercenaries and slaves and they fought under compulsion but without the inner will to fight. They had no cause of which they were proud of. But the Mexican peasant revolution lacked imaginative leadership and their following was mainly in rural areas. They had no support in towns. As such all the valor and sacrifice of their peasants helped the Mexican bourgeoisie to occupy the portals of power but once they reached the Presidential Palace, they were willing to betray their peasant allies for their own selfish political gambles. He writes that the Mexican experience is an "orphan hood, an obscure awareness that we have been torn from the All, and an ardent search: a flight and a return, an effort to re-establish the bonds that unite us with the universe."(p.20) Paz makes sincere efforts to describe the Mexican of the present and at the same time he is aware that the present identity is the sum total of the impact of the important events through which the Mexican people had to undergo. His articulation about identity leads him to the topic of “Mexican Masks”. Paz argues that it is the mask of self-defense and the outcome of refusing to accept the reality about one’s personality. It is not visible, but latent within. The Mexican keeps his distance from the world and the people. He is not in complete agreement with his own self. The society that exists in Mexico is not due to the acts of deliberate creation and it has become the self-regulating apparatus. The qualities of endurance and long-suffering cohabit with misgiving, mockery, and distrust. He articulates about the ancient significance for the silence of Mexicans which is the sum total of the sacrifices of the people and rebellions that dominated the history of Mexico. "The Dialectic of Solitude" Paz mentions is nothing to with the Mexican history as such it is the outcome of the struggles that the Mexican people underwent. It has deeply impacted the psyche of Paz that the churning process in his inner world has transcended the borders of mind, and he speaks about universal humankind and spirituality. Reason cannot exist there in his quest to find out the reasoning of human existence. The wise saying goes ‘silence is the sweetest sound on Earth’. The solitude articulated by Paz belongs to that category and in that state man’s only want is communion with the universal or infinite. He will not be interested in that state, to be in touch with the transient. The present type of solitude experienced by the Mexicans stems from two centuries of agonizing history and the types of struggles the people underwent. The current situation is mere witness to that bygone period. Conclusion Every society has its own exclusive character and uniqueness that has been shaped over hundreds (or thousands) of years. For instance, Octavio Pazs The Labyrinth of Solitude is an excellent book about the Mexican psyche that tackles subjects extending from cultural identity to the logic behind regional jargon. Mexicans are yet to stay positive as far as their inner psyche is concerned. That solitude is an admixture of economic, social, cultural agonies the people of the nation underwent during the last two centuries. Paz argues about the necessity for an individual to stay alienated to preserve one’s integrity and honesty. When the intellectual gets more involved with the political setting, his opinions can often become prejudiced by other factors such as political drive and pressure to follow. Paz concludes that Mexicans need to learn the fundamentals of life more by individual introspection than by the interpretations of the various tragic incidents that shaped the nation’s history and molded the cultural life. What has been done good or bad, by the various forces cannot be undone, but the solitude that Paz articulates is not the weak surrender but the dynamic challenge that is ahead of the Mexicans, which they are bound to accept and win. Work Cited Paz, Octavio. The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings. Grove Press; New York; 1994 Read More