 He read off the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn't think much of it.Literary scholars have interpreted this series of numbers as different Biblical references, as an underlining of Friend's sexual deviancy, or as a reference to the ages of Friend and his victims.The narrative has also been viewed as an allegory for initiation into sexual adulthood, an encounter with the devil, a critique of modern youth's obsession with sexual themes in popular music, or as a dream sequence.