When Mrs. Crater realizes that Tom Shiftlet has taught her deaf/mute daughter to say the word bird, she becomes hopeful that she can persuade him to marry Lucynell. This has been one of her goals since Shiftlet showed up, but now it begins to seem more real. Therefore, she wants him to teach Lucynell a word that speaks to love and courtship:

"Teach her to say 'sugarpie,'" she said.

The text then says:

Mr. Shiftlet already knew what was on her mind.

Thus begins a long negotiation between Mrs. Craven and Shiftlet. Mrs. Craven wants to get her daughter married while Mr. Shiftlet wants the car and whatever else he can wrest out of Mrs. Craven, especially cash. They finally make a deal. Shiftlet and Lucynell marry, and they drive off in what Shiftlet really desires, an auto. He has every intention of dumping Lucynell as soon as he can.

Both Mrs. Craven and Shiftlet see Lucynell primarily as a chip to be bartered over, not as a human being—and they also see each other as objects to be used. On one level, Mrs. Craven is asking Shiftlet to teach Lucynell an endearing term of affection, but notably it is the term of a thing—a pie. Even if the two were to call each other sugarpie, they are still relating to each other in material terms, not as spiritual beings.

The term indicates that Mrs. Craven, as much as Shiftlet, can't see the spiritual worth in Lucynell, viewing her just as damaged goods she needs to get rid of. However, the color symbolism that surround Lucynell, such as blue, the color of the Virgin Mary, and white, the color of purity, point to a larger and more important spiritual reality: humans are the children of God and graced by God.