The world of La trampa …—the last novel in the trilogy Los mercaderes …—is characterized by an isolation between the self and others; between the self and itself; pervasive solitude; separation caused by death, divorce and faulty communication. The universal separation symptomatic of alienation is communicated and reinforced in this work of fiction by a form and structure which corresponds to and discovers the thematic content…. In addition to the interrelationship between the characters and the outer world in which they move, there exists a correspondence and interdependence between the past and present. The theme of alienation emerges in the novel through each character's delving into the storehouse of memory, as well as acting in the present. However, external action for its own sake is underplayed, the novel concentrating instead upon static internal action as a means of portraying fragmented, alienated characters.

Matia, the protagonist who reappears in...