They're just ambiguous. Look above and below this. To maintain image you say you get it. But do you really understand that ****?
"Oh its a dog. It represents his struggle with God." Or maybe its just a dog. And the author needed a rhyme for frog or cog or fog.
They say it has to fit a form that we ought to be taught. But its someone else's thoughts. Don't pretend you're in their head. Just admit you don't know and ask questions instead.