26 pages • 52 minutes read
Gary SotoThe No-Guitar Blues
Fiction | Short Story | YA | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Overcoming Class Divisions
This short story centers on a working-class boy, Fausto, and his attempts to get the guitar he wants, first through hard work and then through a ruse. His day takes him to the city’s wealthier side of town, and he decides to get his money by lying to a rich couple. However, Fausto learns that despite the real economic divide between social classes, he and this couple have more similarities than differences. While structural inequality exists and persists in the story, Fausto learns that this inequality does not necessarily come from interpersonal animosity.
Fausto’s status as a working-class teen is established in the story’s opening passages when he reflects that he can’t simply ask his parents for a guitar. He imagines his parents’ reply to such a request—“Money doesn’t grow on trees” or “What do you think we are, bankers?” (Paragraph 3)—and using idioms to express these ideas reflects that they’re often repeated in Fausto’s home. He distinguishes between wants and needs, reflecting that his father’s salary keeps the family healthy and safe but doesn’t leave “enough to buy everything his children want[]” (Paragraph 9). It’s clear that Fausto is willing to work for the money he needs, but it is also clear that the system is unfair; while he attempts to make money by mowing lawns, raking leaves, or running errands, he is thwarted. This detail shows that despite popular narratives about hard work always resulting in success and wealth, there are structural obstacles in the way. Fausto cannot simply work and earn what he needs, leading him to seek out other ways of earning money.
Fausto decides to deceive a wealthy couple to get his money, thinking that they have a lot more to give. His perception of class difference is astute, and the differences between social classes become apparent when he crosses over an invisible border during the six-block journey to return Roger to his home. The story takes place on a Saturday, and while Fausto’s father is not home and presumably at work, both the husband and wife are at home, showing that they have more leisurely schedules. This is reinforced by the husband’s silk robe and slippers and the couple’s nice furniture and decorations. However, the couple doesn’t quite match Fausto’s ideas of rich people—they are hospitable, inviting him inside and feeding him a turnover. This makes him relate to them more; indeed, the wife behaves similarly to his mother, acting as a nurturing figure and even baking pastries that seem just like his mother’s empanadas.
The similarity between turnovers and empanadas symbolizes how people are essentially the same, even if they occupy different social classes, and the couple’s behavior shows that they’re more interested in extending a hand to Fausto than shutting him out. The story hints that they know he is lying, but they insist on rewarding him anyway, understanding that Fausto, who lives near a vacant lot, needs the $20 more than they do. In seeing that these rich people are kind and not unlike him and his family, Fausto feels guilty and cannot keep the money. He gives the money to the church to make up for his deceit and is rewarded with his longed-for instrument. With this, Soto asserts that people are all essentially the same and that positive change can be made when people from different social classes work together rather than against each other.
Following One’s Conscience
“The No-Guitar Blues” is a straightforward morality tale, a story in which a character struggles with their conscience and makes a clear statement about doing the right thing. Fausto is tempted by the prospect of easy money and decides to deceive a wealthy couple to get what he wants. While he tries to justify this to himself at times, his internal dialogue reveals a constant struggle with his conscience, showing that Fausto knows deep down what is right and what is wrong. His inability to keep and use the reward money demonstrates that he is not willing to sacrifice his principles to get ahead—even if it means forfeiting his dream in the short run. The story rewards him for following his conscience, ultimately asserting that having and honoring good morals is the right way to live in the world.
Soto begins the story by setting a baseline for Fausto’s value system. Willing to honestly ask for what he wants and work to get it, he is characterized as a good kid. He is also kind to animals, giving Roger pieces of his orange and gently luring him to his owners’ house. This emphasizes the stakes involved in Fausto’s internal conflict—deceit does not come naturally to him, and it is only through great temptation that he considers hatching the scheme. His internal monologue shows him wrestling with his conscience, attempting to justify his fib: “He felt bad about lying, but the dog was loose. And it might even really be lost, because the address was six blocks away” (Paragraph 18). Rather than simply believing that he deserves what this couple can give him, Fausto tries to find a justification, a way for his choice to fit within his moral framework. His hesitance demonstrates that he is not accustomed to stretching the truth. This is confirmed when the man hands Fausto a bill from his wallet and Fausto thinks, “How could he have been so deceitful? The dog wasn’t lost. It was just having a fun Saturday walking around” (Paragraph 37). Fausto already knows the “wrongness” of what he has done, and the $20 bill becomes a metaphorical weight; getting what he wants does not assuage his guilty conscience.
It is clear that Fausto does not simply fear external consequences from his parents or this couple, as he reflects that “he [is] in trouble […] with himself” (Paragraph 37). To be in trouble with oneself is to be at odds with one’s own beliefs, and this is exactly how Fausto feels immediately after leaving the couple’s home. He knows that he will not be able to live with himself if he uses the money to buy a guitar, and his immediate thought is that he should attend confession, showing that he feels the need for absolution. Since the church is closed, his situation is prolonged, and his moral dilemma is symbolized by him “[sitting] on a fence” (Paragraph 46). Fausto is in a moment of crisis, torn between following his conscience and giving in to his desire.
Time does not ease Fausto’s inner turmoil, and the next morning, he attends church. His guilt surfaces during the service, even pushing him to believe that his shame is apparent: “When Father Jerry began by saying we are all sinners, Fausto thought he looked right at him. Could he know?” (Paragraph 51). The church scene roots Fausto’s morals in his Catholic upbringing and therefore his Mexican American heritage. In attending church to ease his guilty conscience, Fausto is tapping into his familial, cultural, and personal values, and these give him absolution. After donating his money to the collection basket, he feels “cleared of wrongdoing” (Paragraph 55), ready to accept that he can’t have a guitar right now.
Fausto chooses a clean conscience over his most coveted, wished-for item—the guitar—which speaks to the strength of his character. Soto closes his morality tale by rewarding Fausto for this good behavior; he comes by his guitar honestly, receiving a hand-me-down guitarrón from his grandfather. The guitarrón symbolizes the unification of Fausto’s American dream with his Mexican American cultural values: By following his conscience and staying true to himself and the way he was raised, he can pursue his dream of rock stardom.
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