La modernidad del Pachuco

I have genuinely loved the work of every Nobel Prize winner we have studied so far in the class, but at this precise moment in time Octavio Paz is blowing everyone else out of the water! I feel a strong kinship with Paz, perhaps because I feel as though he and I view the world and our countrymen through a similar lens. I myself am extremely analytical and hyper-observant of social tendencies, norms, patterns of behaviour, etc.. I find myself constantly questioning the very same aspects of my society that Paz questions about Mexican society and so I find his essays to be fantastically interesting, thought-provoking and culturally intuitive.

I was shocked to find Paz’ observations about the Mexican persona to be devastatingly accurate over sixty years after the fact. I got halfway through the first essay before it occurred to me to check the publication date, because although the actual book I was reading looked like it had seen better days, Paz’ observations were either quite modern or timeless. Descriptions of the Pachuco sounded a great deal like many of the troubled youths that join gangs in the United States and Mexico. These young men can be seen sporting bright, flashy colours, rhinestone studded clothing, gaudy jewelry or “bling,” all the while oblivious to just how insecure and threatened this spectacle makes them look. Like a peacock fanning its feathers to appear powerful and intimidating, many of these youths likely choose to rebel in this format out of a mixture of fear and a lack of belonging. Just like the Pachuco, however, they ultimately lose out on the entirety of their cultural inheritance by refusing to partake, while paying homage to the thwarted society with their clothing, thus failing to ever fully reject society.

It is fascinating to contemplate the troublesome relationship between the United States and Mexico, plain old ignorance and racism aside, in light of the many starkly contrasting fundamental beliefs Paz has reported. For instance, Paz claims that in Mexico defensiveness is emphasized over aggression in matters of manliness. Paz also sides with José Gorostiza in the opinion that the USA is essentially lost in a wilderness of mirrors, having created their world in their own mirror image, but no longer able to recognize themselves in it. In contrast, Paz posits that Mexicans feel as though they did not create their own circumstances, but rather were torn from the centre of creation and suspended between hostile forces. Paz insists that Mexicans feel any divulgence of confidence or display of weakness is an abdication, while Americans are, for the most part, more open and trusting in their relationships. The impression I am getting so far from “El Laberinto de la Soledad” is that the Mexican people have been irreparably damaged from their totalitarian governments and the resulting atmospheres of fear and repression. The atmosphere of fear and suspicion described by Paz in “Máscaras Mexicanas” is palpable. I could actually feel myself tensing up as I read this essay. The feeling that, for the Mexican, “life is combat” indicates to me that their governments have really done a number on them! I found this essay to be both sad and brilliantly informative. I wonder how much of his observations still apply today…