The thing was there, in her dressing-bag, symbolically suspended over her head and his.
"The Greater Inclination"
Edith Wharton
The action, symbolically interpreted, illustrates the fatalist's doctrine that man is nothing but a toy in the hands of dark and dangerous powers.
"Prophets of Dissent Essays on Maeterlinck, Strindberg, Nietzsche and Tolstoy"
Otto Heller
However, no modern Biblical scholar accepts these passages in this literal light, for it is known that they were written symbolically, or as parables, and were not intended to be literally interpreted.
"The Human Side of Animals"
Royal Dixon