As the video goes on, outlining what happens in the various different sections of game, it becomes increasingly clear that the devs did, in fact, make it pretty obvious and easy to understand the story using several clear metaphors that are not difficult to interpret.

Thankfully the youtuber's interpretation in the end was one that I think is probably the most supported read by the text, but he kept talking about it as if it was some huge task that required "piecing together" several other community theories.

I just felt this chill go through me at the idea that several adults were struggling this hard with imagery and metaphor that is not particularly subtle. The internet complains about literacy crisis, but I had usually just attributed that to people looking for reasons to argue for the dopamine hit, or quickly misreading because they were skimming and not fully engaged.

Not like, genuinely incapable of understanding symbolism.

Matilda's father can read. He's functionally literate. He can do basic math. But he is downright infuriated by the fact that Matilda is able to get enjoyment out of reading because he doesn't know how to himself. And instead of trying, he destroys her book in a fit of rage.