The No-Guitar Blues

“And besides, they hated rock music. They were into the conjunto music of Lydia Mendoza, Flaco Jimenez, and Little Joe and La Familia. And, as Fausto recalled, the last album they bought was The Chipmunks Sing Christmas Favorites.”

Soto uses allusions here to develop the story’s world and Fausto’s background as a Mexican American youth. While many parents hate rock music, Fausto says that the soundtrack to his daily life is conjunto, a type of Mexican folk music, developing his specific context. Ironically, guitars also feature strongly in conjunto music, so these comments by Fausto foreshadow his parents’ understanding of his desire to play guitar and eventually giving him the guitarrón.

“‘I can’t promise,’ she said turning back to her tortillas, ‘but we’ll see.’”

Fausto’s mother gives him a noncommittal answer after he asks for a guitar, and the response of “we’ll see”—familiar to many children and teens—creates a quotidian dynamic. This everyday exchange blends with the more specific cultural imagery of his mother rolling tortillas to create a sense of realism and a picture of Fausto’s home life.

“He knew his mother was right. His father was a warehouseman at Berven Rugs, where he made good money but not enough to buy everything his children wanted.”

This excerpt characterizes Fausto’s family and social class more specifically—his family is working class, comfortable but not wealthy. While Fausto’s parents might like to buy Fausto and his siblings some “extras,” they cannot afford to. This excerpt also illustrates Fausto’s maturity, as he considers the impracticality of his request.

“He hopped on his sister’s bike (his had two flat tires) and rode north to the nicer section of Fresno in his search of work.”

The story hints that Fausto often must make do with what he has; here, his bike is nonfunctional, and he must use his sister’s. Dividing Fresno into two halves, the one where Faust lives and the “nicer section,” emphasizes the economic divide within this community.

“At that moment a dim light came on inside Fausto’s head. He saw that it was sort of a fancy dog, a terrier or something, with dog tags and a shiny collar. And it looked well fed and healthy.”

This excerpt simultaneously demonstrates Fausto’s ingenuity and furthers the story’s conflict. The scheme is creative but dishonest, and the well-known image of a “lightbulb moment” is subverted, presented as a “dim light” rather than a bright one. This foreshadows Fausto’s guilt over his actions. The descriptions of the fancy dog underscore the socioeconomic gap between Fausto’s community and the wealthy area where the dog lives. The dog’s sudden appearance strengthens the story’s connection to the original Faust myth, in which Mephistopheles appears to Faust disguised as a dog.

“He felt bad about lying, but the dog was loose. And it might even really be lost, because the address was six blocks away.”

Soto characterizes Fausto through his internal monologue. Lying does not come naturally to him, and his attempts to justify his actions are ploys to assuage his own conscience. Like the dim light, these thoughts further set up the possibility of Fausto feeling guilty later in the plot.

“The wife looked at her husband, then Fausto. Her eyes twinkled triangles of light as she said, ‘Well, young man, you’re probably hungry. How about a turnover?’”

Through subtext, Soto hints that Helen and her husband are aware that Fausto’s tale about Roger is untrue. However, they are in a position to help Fausto and empathize with him. While Fausto has focused on the divide between working-class Fresno and this rich neighborhood, this scene blends the two communities through sharing food. This is symbolized through the turnover, which Fausto notes looks like an empanada.

“Fausto looked at the bill and knew he was in trouble. Not with these nice folks or with his parents but with himself.”

Fausto’s conscience is activated once he sees the amount of money the man gives him for finding Roger. Further developing the theme of Following One’s Conscience, this scene begins Fausto’s spiral into guilt. It doesn’t matter that his parents or the couple don’t know the truth; he knows, and he immediately feels unsettled about what he has done.

“He wanted to run to church for Saturday confession, but it was just four-thirty, when confession stopped.”

In a deviation from the Faust myth, Fausto is unwilling to commit to his “deal with the devil” and immediately wants to repent. The fact that this is Fausto’s first thought speaks volumes about his morals, which further supports the theme of Following One’s Conscience. He stews in his guilt for the rest of the day, which hints at the resolution when he donates the money to the church.

“The next day he dressed for church without anyone telling him. He was going to go to the eight o’clock mass.

‘I’m going to church, Mom,’ he said. His mother was in the kitchen cooking papas and chorizo con huevos. A pile of tortillas lay warm under a dishtowel.”

This excerpt is a testament to Fausto’s moral compass—he is going to make up for his actions without anyone telling him to do so. His actions further underscore the theme of Following One’s Conscience, as they demonstrate that his guilt is still top-of-mind the next morning. This passage also deepens the depiction of his cultural upbringing: He is Catholic, and Soto uses more Spanglish to describe Fausto’s mother’s cooking to create realism in the scene.

“When Father Jerry began by saying that we are all sinners, Fausto thought he looked right at him. Could he know?”

Fausto’s self-consciousness at church supports the theme of Following One’s Conscience, as he wonders whether his guilt is as apparent to others as it is to him. Since his actions are out of character for him, Fausto is worried that he will be perceived negatively by others.

“He wondered how they got rich. And how that dome clock worked. He had asked his mother once about how his aunt’s clock worked. She said it just worked, the way the refrigerator works. It just did.”

Reinforcing the Effects of Socioeconomic Disparities, this passage demonstrates that like the dome clock simply working, some things just are what they are. The wealthy couple is rich, and Fausto’s family is not. At the same time, the dome clock is present in both their house and Fausto’s aunt’s, shrinking the gap between the two families. Fausto’s aunt got her clock for her 25th wedding anniversary, so the image’s recurrence here evokes the American dream—through perseverance and faith, economic barriers can be overcome.

“He said a Hail Mary and sang, and when the wicker basket came his way, he stuck his hand reluctantly in his pocket and pulled out the twenty-dollar bill. He ironed it between his palms, and dropped it into the basket.”

A major plot moment, this excerpt describes Fausto’s act of absolution by donating his ill-gotten gains. Adding to the theme of Following One’s Conscience, Fausto chooses to uphold his personal principles over getting something he desperately wants. This casts Fausto in a positive light, portraying him as a character to be admired. The “Hail Mary” has a double meaning here, meaning the literal prayer and a heroic, last-ditch attempt to win or put things right. Fausto is hoping that this grand gesture will absolve him, and it works—he immediately feels less guilty, and he ends up getting a guitar.