The moment Fausto saw the group Los Lobos on “American Bandstand,” he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life—play the guitar.
The opening line sets the motivation for all that is to follow. By the time the story draws to a close, however, this simple ambition has become an almost mythic quest more in keeping with its literary legacy which inspired the name of its protagonist. This is a modern day retelling of the legend of Faust who famously made a bargain with the devil to get what he most desired. This teenage Latino version won’t meet any actual demon like the Mephistopheles who tempts the older European version, but then again the Bible says that Satan can take many forms so who knows for sure. Implicit in this opening is its drawing upon a more recent myth of pop culture: that just about every musician became popular during the late 1960’s and 1970’s was inspired by watching the first appearance by The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. The opening line also acts to remind white readers that kids like Fausto were not used to seeing people who looked and spoke like them in rock bands appearing on national TV.
They hated rock music. They were into the conjunto music.
As Fausto ponders how to get the money to afford to buy a guitar, he imagines how his parents would react if he asked them to buy the guitar. He justifies ahead of their time rejection with a list of a few of their favorite conjunto musicians, but this is also a very subtle foreshadowing of the reversal of fortunate which climaxes the story since an instrument actually played by one of the members of Los Lobos is also used in conjunto music. Perhaps most interesting, however, is that Fausto's belief that his parents hate rock music is never actually confirmed through dialogue or action.
He saw that it was sort of a fancy dog
This quote is an expression of the perception of Fausto at his moment of epiphany. He had hoped to earn money honestly by doing yard work in the richer part of town, but that didn’t turn out well. As he sits eating an orange, a stray dog is attracted by the smell. The language is perfect; exactly how a boy might describe a dog that wasn’t a mutt, but was instead a breed he’d heard mention but wasn’t exactly sure of. A fancy dog belongs to fancy people and fancy people have money. And so a plan is born.
A man in a silky bathrobe and slippers opened the door
Fausto was right! The fancy dog did belong to fancy people. Not only was the dog’s owner dressed in silk, but he was still in a bathrobe on a Saturday. Fancy and with so much money he didn’t even have to get dressed on the weekends.
"I found your dog by the freeway."
And here’s where it starts to go wrong for Fausto. In fact, it is a lie. The dog was nowhere near the freeway, but the danger of his being there made it more likely they would offer a reward.
"How about a turnover?"
The real gulf between Fausto and the owner of the dog is found here. When the wife asks if he’s hungry and would enjoy a turnover, Fausto doesn’t know what she means and asks what he’ll have to turn over. She then serves him a delicious homemade dessert and this act changes everything. All his preconceptions about the type of people who own a fancy dog melts away at this act of kindness to a total stranger. By the time they bring up the idea of offering a reward, his guilt urges him to reject it, but his desire for that guitar overwhelms his conscience.
When Father Jerry began by saying we are all sinners, Fausto thought he looked at right at him.
Fausto’s guilt is already starting to kick when he breaks from the usual routine and decides to attend early Mass at church the following day. The effects of the guilt amplify everything his perception. How could the priest possibly have been directly accusing him; the entire thing had just happened the day before and nobody but Fausto knew about the lie. The priest likely says the same words or words to that effect at every mass every week and Fausto has probably heard him say and never thought anything of it. But the fix is in; he cannot possibly keep the money now. When the collection plate comes round, he shocks the congregation by placing the $20 bill into it.
It was the happiest day of his life. No, it was the second-happiest day of his life. The happiest was when his grandfather Lupe place the guitarron, which was nearly as huge as a washtub, in his arms.
In return for not taking money he did not deserve and for donating it to help out the less fortunate, Fausto is doubly blessed. He removes the burden of sin and the crushing weight of guilt from his back and he gets one of those over-sized guitars just like the guy in Los Lobos was playing on TV.
