The key give away is: “It came 17 years ago to this day, and shows no intention of going away.”
Why 17 years? At 18, the kid’s a legal adult and generally expected to leave the parents’ house. 17 is when the parents start encouraging (demanding) the kid have a plan. i.e. college.
With this context, going back to how the guest first appears: “They answered the bell on that wild winter night, there was no one expected, and no one in sight.” ...the parents banged.
The ‘bell’ is a metaphor for ‘uterus.’
“There was no one expected.” The parents weren’t trying to conceive.
‘Wild winter night’ Not much clarification needed here.
The creature shows up on an urn: pregnancy test. The stick is generally used when urinating, so that would make the urn a metaphor for a toilet.
The creature spends its time with its nose to the wall. This is one of the historically acknowledged ways to discipline a misbehaving child.
The story then goes on to explain how the creature...
...eats a lot (like a growing child)...
...listens to loud music...
...muddies up the place...
...fell into depression on Sundays, when school is set to start up again on Monday...
...threw temper tantrums...
...refused to sleep normal hours...
The fact that despite all the frustrations the creature brings with it, nobody ever thinks to kick it out of the house. That’s because they can’t legally. That’s why 17 is so significant.
