Gary Soto The Pie Summary

“The Pie” by Gary Soto is a short story about the author reminiscing about himself as a six year old boy stealing an apple pie at a German Market. Then, later on in the story feeling he committed a sin when he stole and ate the apple pie. Soto recreates the experience of his guilty six year old self – in a guilt written autobiography- through the use of personification, symbolism, and allusion to effectively describe his worst sin. Throughout the story, the use of personification is presented to express the guilt he feels for stealing. After Gary commits his “sin” of stealing the pie he feels his “tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting [his] underarms.” The use of this personification shows how Soto tried to ignore his guilt until his internal struggle began to grow too much to ignore. Then again, he describes his guilt as he believes he hears “the proximity of God howling in the plumbing underneath the house.” For that reason, Soto believes that God is angry at him for his sin when he sacrificed so much for him. Thus, Soto demonstrates human qualities to emphasize his guilty …show more content…
This is observed through “the bald grocer whose forehead shone with a window of light.” Soto therefore leads to helping the audience understand the way of his younger thinking in this moment. To explain, Soto believes that God is watching him when he commits his “sin,” somehow warning him to not continue with this crime. Soto acknowledges this as he eats the pie and later admits “the water soon filled me more than the pie.” The water symbolizes a way of Soto trying to receive God’s forgiveness. Furthermore, the water made him feel more whole than the pie because even though the pie was “the best thing [he] ever tasted” it is not more important than his relationship with God. In short, Soto uses symbolism to help represent his fight between his guilt and his morals in his