Rhetorical Analysis Of Gary Soto The Pie - 796 Words

The Pie Rhetorical Analysis In the autobiographical narrative â€Å"The Pie† by Gary Soto, the author recreates the experience of his guilty six-year-old self as he describes his first experience with stealing. He effectively portrays his worst sin through his use of contrast, repetition, and imagery. While contrast describes the existence of both the Holy ways and temptation of human desires that Soto faces, repetition emphasizes the guilt that he is feeling, and imagery aids the reader in imagining the guilt and satisfaction that Soto is feeling through the eyes of a six-year-old. Soto’s use of contrast shows the drastic differences between his devout Christian side and his human side that calls him to temptation.†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"[I] walked to the door, grinning to the bald grocer whose forehead shone with a window of light...Tears blurred my eyes as I remembered the grocer’s forehead† (Soto 1-2). This repetition expresses that Soto i s having trouble forgetting the person he affected with the crime, implying that he is generally an innocent boy that is suffering from a deeply guilty conscience. Repetition can again be seen as Soto continually glances at the pie tin after he had scarfed it down. â€Å"The pie tin glared at me and rolled away...I looked and saw the glare of the pie tin† (Soto 2). The pie tin, now serving as a physical symbol of his sin, constantly reminds the author that he did something morally wrong and permanent; the fact that Soto mentions seeing the empty pie tin more than once emphasizes just how much guilt the young boy is now feeling. These moments of repetition ultimately reveal Soto’s extremely paranoid mind that is filled with regret from stealing. Soto’s use of imagery serves as an aid to the reader to better understand the author’s perspective, which is that of a six-year-old boy. Prior to stealing the pie, the author uses imagery to describe his temptation to steal. â€Å"My sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting my underarms† (Soto 1). The imagery here illustrates both the irresistibility of the temptation to steal and the immaturity of the young boy as he can’t take his mind off of anything but what is in front of him. After stealing the pie, Soto