This book is comprised of nine essays: "The Pachuco and other extremes," "Mexican Mask," "The Day of the Dead," "The Sons of Malinche," "The Conquest and Colonialism," "From Independence to the Revolution," "The Mexican Intelligence," "The Present Day," and "The Dialectic of Solitude." Each of these essays focuses upon Mexican culture in relation to the human experience of solitude. Paz considers how people both are naturally alienated from one another and pursue alienation for themselves.
Beginning with the study of the rise of the Pachuco in the 1940s/50s, around the time of this book's publication, Paz observes how alienation from two cultures led to an entire generation of spiritual orphans. The Pachucos didn't fit on either side of the border and thus became increasingly isolated from community. Eventually they turned into hard people who rejected every approach from the external world. Similarly, Paz points out how people in the States also isolate themselves by pursuing belief systems of antiquity which dictate separation from other cultures and people groups.
Tracing Mexican history from Native Americans to the 1950s, Paz observes how the culture at times embraces and at others combats isolation. The "Mexican Mask," as he calls it, is the phenomenon where Mexicans hide their true emotions and passions inside in order to protect themselves. In such a rapidly changing culture with many local rivalries this approach made sense in the past, but it has served to create division and more loneliness among Mexicans. In contrast events like the Day of the Dead invite unity and celebration of differences. Concluding with "The Dialectic of Solitude," Paz posits how all humans are subject to solitude. Life, between birth and death, is a liminal space of uncertainty. Paz calls for a merging of ideas, between paradoxes, inviting people to become vulnerable and self-critical in order to become free to join with one another.
