In "The Pie," a short story by Gary Soto, the narrator uses figurative language to lead the reader down a spiraling passage into spiritual guilt, stealing, and gluttony. For example, when the narrator states he knew enough about hell to stop him from stealing and that somedays he recognized the shadows of angels flopping on the backyard grass, and other days, the narrator, "heard far away messages in the plumbing that howled underneath the house," (Soto). The quote "far away messages in the plumbing that howled underneath the house," is an example of personification, giving the reader the idea that Soto is describing the plumbing, an inanimate, object, using living traits; referencing that the plumbing is screaming out to the narrator as the
