'' The Labyrinth of Solitude '' ( ) is a 1950 book-length essay by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz . One of his most famous works , it consists of nine parts : " The Pachuco and other extremes " , " Mexican Masks " , " The Day of the Dead " , " The Sons of La Malinche " , " The Conquest and Colonialism " , " From Independence to the Revolution " , " The Mexican Intelligence " , " The Present Day " and " The Dialectic of Solitude " . After 1975 some editions included the essay " Post data " , which discusses the massacre of hundreds of Mexican students in 1968 . ( Paz abandoned his position as ambassador in India in reaction to this event . ) The essays are predominantly concerned with the theme of Mexican identity and demonstrate how , at the end of the existential labyrinth , there is a profound feeling of solitude . As Paz argues : Paz observes that solitude is responsible for the Mexican 's perspective on death , '' fiesta '' , and identity . Death is celebrated but at the same time repelled because of the uncertainty behind it . As for the fiestas , they express a sense of communality , crucially emphasizing the idea of not being alone and in doing so , help to bring out the true Mexican that is usually hidden behind a mask of self-denial . This represents the way in which the Mexicans have inherited two distinct cultures , the Spanish and the Indigenous , but by denying one part of their identity , they become stuck in a world of solitude
massacre
Tlatelolco massacre
The Labyrinth of Solitude