Silvio Astier's Journey: From Theft to Despair in The Mad Toy
The Mad Toy: A Summary of Each Chapter
Chapter 1: The Thieves
In the first chapter, "The Thieves," Silvio Astier is a 14-year-old boy who feeds his imagination with books about thieves and adventurers. He meets Henry and then Izurbeta, nicknamed the "Forger," a boy his age who is close to beginning to steal. It is Enrique who initiates him into crime until, with the help of a third boy, they form "The Gentlemen's Midnight Club."
Silvio discovers the delight of easy money without working. It is a time of happiness for him. With money available, the city takes on pleasing contours. The three boys plan a robbery at a library and execute it with skill. However, when Henry returns home, a police officer is investigating, which leads to a chase. Henry runs to Silvio's house, and both feel the danger of losing their liberty. They go through agonizing minutes while the police go down the street. They had already talked before, and Silvio was emphatic: With the great danger, it is clearly not so easy to do, and the consequences are scary.
Chapter 2: The Works and Days
The second chapter, "The Works and Days," begins with Silvio's family having to move to a different neighborhood due to their economic conditions. Silvio is displaced and loses contact with his friends. They go to live in a poorer neighborhood. He is now 15 years old, and his mother begins to pressure him to work.
Silvio lives and works in a library owned by an Italian immigrant, D. Gaetano, and his wife. He has to humble himself by shaking a cowbell at the establishment to attract customers. One afternoon, he decides to pass by the house of a wealthy lord who had promised to get him a job, but the lord receives him very badly and yells at him to withdraw and not bother him anymore.
Chapter 3: The Mad Toy
In the third chapter, entitled "The Mad Toy," Silvio is 16 and has returned to his mother. A neighbor advises him that the Military Aviation School is recruiting young people to be mechanics. Silvio decides to go for that opportunity, and in fact, after displaying intelligence, the recruiters are convinced that even though the inscriptions had been locked up, they should accept him. And he succeeds.
He leaves school aimlessly wandering the streets, generating one of the most expressive scenes of the novel, where, more than painting the town, he describes the mental state of one who travels and lives. He ends up spending the night in a tenement, where a gay guy who works in prostitution is bullied. In the morning, Silvio leaves the tenement and wanders the city, creating another scene of desperation by an individual who has no place in the city and is forced to be in constant motion, trying to bring life. He buys a gun and intends to go to Europe to work on a ship but is denied work at the port. He tries to kill himself, but the gun fails, and Silvio is saved.
Chapter 4: Judas Iscariot
In the fourth and final chapter, entitled "Judas Iscariot," Silvio works as a peddler of papers. He meets a man nicknamed "El Rengo," who intends to carry out a robbery at the house of an architect. It is a new opportunity to get easy money. However, a few hours before starting the plan, "El Rengo" goes to the architect's house and tells him everything.