• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.26
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• pp.445-463
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• 2012

Beltenebros is Antonio Mu?oz Molina's third novel. Its plot originates in a criminal act. Darman, the main character, arrives in Madrid to kill a traitor of the undercover organization to which he himself belongs. Treason is paid with death and Darman is in charge of the executions. The intricate story of espionage and intrigue is absorbing. Unlike other novels of the genre, in Beltenebros we can witness a unique psychological development of the main character. In his fiftieth anniversary, Darman becomes conscious of the painful and devastating effects of his criminal acts on the lives of the people he has crossed paths with. Then, for the first time, he acts like a Romanesque heroe by killing Valdivia-Ugarte, a deceitful mole who has been manipulating the strings of the plot to his own benefit. The story unfolds along an almost uniform progression of chronological time, only interrupted by random memories of a past that twenty years ago destroyed Walter's life, and in which Darman and the rest of the characters are all implicated. Few references to the Spanish Civil War inserted in the discourse are, however, of paramount importance as the depiction of a historical trauma, as a triggering force for the episodes of the novel, or as justification to Darman'scrimes as well as those of the clandestine Comunist Party. Indeed they were the victims of the conflict and the winners inflicted upon them hatred, repression, treason and disloyalty. As in other Mu?oz Molina's novels, the literary space, in this case Madrid, propels the development of the plot, and plays a protagonist role only equal to that of the main characters. It is in Madrid where Darman lives until he becomes prisoner of the enemy army, or where the symmetrical deaths of Walter and Andrade take place. Other spaces inhabit Madrid: the Universal Cinema, symbolic territory of the secret and hidden, where the story, as well as the relationships of the characters start and end the warehouse; or the Bo?te Tab? the nightclub that frequents Valdivia-Ugarte through secret passages connected with the Universal Cinema.