The Pie

A detailed Summary of The Pie


In the autobiographical narrative "The Pie," Gary Soto tells of a sin he commits as a child and later feels guilty about. Although he knew stealing was wrong, that knowledge still did not keep him from taking a pie from the market. With the use of religious diction, vivid imagery, repetition, and pacing, Soto tells his readers of his life-changing experience, and what he thinks is the meaning of sin.

The author uses religious diction throughout the narrative. Although as a young boy, Soto was "holy in almost every bone," (line 1) he still stole the apple pie. He says he "knew enough about hell" to keep him from stealing, yet he did it anyways. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but blames his sin on boredom. Earlier, he saw "shadows of angels" (line 2) in his backyard, and heard the pipes howling underneath his house, which he describes as being "God howling" in line 8.

"The Pie" is full of colorful and vivid imagery. The use of this rhetorical strategy helps the re


Gary Soto's essay can almost be summarized by the final line: "I knew sin was what you took and didn't give back." What the young boy knew was the wrong thing to do was just that. He commits a sin when he takes the pie without paying for it, therefore taking something without giving anything back. From this line, we can also see that he learns his lesson of stealing and sinning, because the reader senses a tone of remorse and regret in the sentence.

aders to see what Soto saw as a child, on that day in which he stole the pie. All of the five senses a human possesses are described in the story. One example of the sense of taste in the story is "I laid more pieces on my tongue, wet finger-dripping pieces... it was about the best thing I had ever tasted." (line 21) Readers will hear "the plumbing that howled underneath the house," just as Soto describes (line 3). In line 15, Soto smelled the pie he had taken and "breathed in its sweetness," which conveys the sense of smel

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gary Soto, Gary Soto's, Soto Neither, underneath house, , religious diction, described story, line 25, doing wrong, shadows angels, pie market, vivid imagery, tasted line, apple pie,

Approximate Word count = 662
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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