The search for presuppositions of a people's thought is not new. Octavio Paz and Samuel Ramos have both attempted to describe the assumptions underlying the Mexican character. Paz described Mexicans as private, defensive, and stoic, characteristics taken to the extreme in the "pachuco." Ramos, on the other hand, described Mexicans as being distrustful and having feelings of inferiority, characteristics taken to the extreme in the "pelado." Literature also provides preconceptions about Mexican Americans. The Chicano literature of the 1960's and 1970's often calls for voluntary submission to the assumptions and concepts of "la raza" and of "carnalismo," or allegiance. The works of E. C. Orozco, Rodolfo Gonzales, Henry B. Gonzales, and Armando Rodriguez, among others, attempt to define a Chicano nationalism, Chicanos, Mexican Americans, and Chicano goals. Examination reveals that Mexican American literature had a predominant theme that: (1) organized deprivation and perceived oppression into complaint, emotional appeal, and protest; and (2) stressed the cultural heritage of Mexican Americans; and (3) based its acceptance on assumptions of ethnic pluralism. However, the Chicano movement has changed; protest is no longer essential. As part of a shift toward moral relativism in the larger society, the Chicano movement has lost meaning and the sense of a religious view of life. Mexican Americans should determine the meaning and cost of freedom. (SB)