 According to literary critic David <unk> , the labyrinth of the novel 's title refers to " a series of <unk> that are contingent upon matters of history , geography , and biography ... that consistently and conclusively result in a dead end " — in this case , the General 's own death . His final voyage along the Magdalena River involves a doubling back and forth from one location to another that leads him and his followers nowhere . The labyrinth does not lead to happiness ; instead , it results in madness from constant <unk> on the past and an impossible future . At the end of his life , the General is reduced to a <unk> of his former self . The labyrinth also recalls the labyrinth built to imprison the <unk> in Greek mythology , and the endless travelling and searching of ancient Greek heroes . In <unk> 's view , " The Labyrinth mirrors the <unk> and <unk> of the hero in search for meaning and resolution to the <unk> of life " . 
