The No-Guitar Blues

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.