According to literary critic David Danow , the labyrinth of the novel 's title refer to " a series of labyrinths 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 involve a doubling back and forth from one location to another that lead him and his followers nowhere . The labyrinth do not lead to happiness ; instead , it result in madness from constant pondering on the past and an impossible future . At the end of his life , the General is reduced to a spectre of his former self . The labyrinth also recall the labyrinth built to imprison the minotaur in Greek mythology , and the endless travelling and searching of ancient Greek heroes . In Danow 's view , " The Labyrinth mirror the wanderings and travails of the hero in search for meaning and resolution to the vicissitudes of life " .