Gary Soto described himself as a six-year-old boy with rich imagination under the influence of his religious background. The six-year-old Soto saw angels and heard God in his imagination. Even though his imagination was deeply associated with religious teachings, he could not resist the temptation of his favorite food, pies. The conflict between his religious knowledge and his desire was the tension the writer Soto meant to create in "The Pie."

作者這篇 "The Pie"，生動地描繪出他六歲時的想像力。身負天主教背景，當他看到草坪上的陰影，就幻想自己看見天使，聽到水管傳來的聲音，就想像那是上帝的訓示。這樣一個身受教義影響而且想像力豐富的孩子，卻仍然抵不過食物的誘惑；作者運用自己孩提時期的文化教養與慾望之間所產生的衝突，鋪陳出通篇散文的張力。