The article deals with the notion of accident from a wide point of view integrating philological, philosophical and historical data. The meaning of accident is analyzed according to the image of the world in the post-industrialized societies, from a set of theorical reflexions developed by Octavio Paz during the 60's; finally, there is a brief discussion about the possible connections between the notion of accident and the hispanic literacy production in the 20th century, specifically in the field of narrative.