"A toy from the city," (Sijie, 4) the headman continued, "
go on, burn it!"
The village inspects both Luo's and the narrator's belongings and finds the narrator's
violin. They pronounce that it is a
toy, and are about to destroy it when Luo intervenes and tricks the village by saying the violin plays a song called "
Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao". The violin is meant to be a connection to city life. It is basically the last possession that the narrator has that reminds him of his old home. Allowing him to keep it is allowing a small chance of hope for him to be able to leave the mountains and return home to the city.
