selections
of Octavio Paz's El laberinto de la soledad "Day of the Dead"
selections
of Octavio Paz's El laberinto de la soledad
"In these ceremonies. --national, local, union, or family‚-- the Mexican opens up to the outside world. All of them give an opportunity to reveal himself and to talk to God, the nation, friends, and family. In these days, the Mexican yells, sings, and throws firecrackers. He unloads his soul."
p. 49.
Some phrases from Paz on the meaning of dying.
"Death defines life.
Death is a mirror which reflects vain gesticulations of the living.
Our deaths illuminate our lives."
"Each of us dies the death he or she is looking for, the death we have made for our self.
Death, like life, is not transferable"
"Tell me how you die and I will tell you who you are,"
p. 54.
"history a true poem in search of fulfillment..."
p. 84.
Mexico's indigenous people's conceptions of life and death.
Religion and destiny ruled their lives, as morality and freedom rule ours."
p. 55.
The languages of the dead: Nahuatl (spoken by over 1.5 million Mexican people)
is the origin of these words:
Death also lacks meaning for the contemporary Mexican. It is no longer a transition, an access to another life more a lie than our own. But although we do not view death as a transcendence, we have not eliminated it from our daily lives.
The Mexican, in contrast (to western nationalities), is familiar with death, jokes about it,caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it; it is one of his most favorite toys and her most steadfast love."
p. 57.
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