The significance of William Saroyan's short story "Gaston" is that it shows the importance of judging people by their inner qualities instead of their outward appearances. Most people would squash a bug without really thinking about it. Yet the father in the story chooses not to do so. He tries to empathize with the little creature, imagining how he feels. He even gives the bug a name, Gaston.

The father's tolerant attitude even extends to a flawed peach, which he refuses to throw away, even though it's been damaged by the very same bug. He uses the peach and the bug as moral examples, to instruct his daughter in the importance of valuing the world around us and everything in it, with all its many flaws and imperfections. The little girl also learns that it's not what's outside, but what's inside that counts. Her father may live in a shabby house—just like Gaston—but ultimately that doesn't matter. It's what's inside the house that makes it a home, and what's inside the dweller of the house that makes that individual what they truly are, be it bug or human being.