There is an unusual question offered by this story. Perhaps, by relinquishing one thing of value, one can get another thing of value by the principles of sacrifice. In the story, this mechanism is hidden in symbols. He longs for a guitar, but he can't seem to find one, and because isn't already a guitarist, his parents are hesitant to spend the money. Finally, he sets out on a quest to earn the guitar, but when he has exhausted his efforts, he simply gives God the money, at church, and then discovers he already had a guitar.
By discovering the family guitar, there is another symbol depicted. The symbol is the guitar itself, which is a symbol of music and art, as well as creation and point of view, because he wants the guitar for self-expression. But he thinks of that expression in an individualistic way at first. When he finds his treasured guitar, it isn't a guitar he bought with his own money. It is an heirloom from his family, from his communal identity.
The portrait is one where although Fausto is tenacious, he is unable to make things happen for himself, but when he feels true desire, he knows there is some destiny in it. He has to be willing to pursue the guitar in order for the story to work. Without his sacrificing, without his longing, would he have still been as happy as he was about the guitar? Probably not. The guitar is worth as much as all that work he did to try and earn it, just to be given it as a gift.
